The Lions beat the Packers on Sunday in a game that brought Green Bay to 4-3, good for last place in the NFC North, a half-game behind Detroit’s 4-2.
The Lions received help from officials throughout their journey.
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Detroit’s 20-17 victory was a close battle down the stretch, marked by questionable calls on passers that didn’t go Green Bay’s way. For a game with these stakes, there was a lot of noise surrounding these calls – almost all of them criticizing the officials for the way they called the play.
There were two tough calls against Green Bay that stood out. The first came with 4:06 left in the third quarter and Detroit held a 17-14 lead.
“It’s a gift”
Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw an incomplete pass on third-and-10 that appeared to set up a Detroit punt. But Packers linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. was called out for a soft-and-rough call on the passer that Fox play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt called a “gift.”
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Cox barely touched Goff’s torso with both hands as he fell to the turf. Goff responded with a spectacular sell job, landing on his back with his legs in the air.
On the replay, Tom Brady called it “no big deal at all.” Official Fox analyst Dean Blandino said, “I don’t like it as being brutal.”
But the call was the call, and it gave the Lions a first down when they otherwise could have kicked their own 48. Detroit ran eight more plays from there to the Green Bay 6-yard line before the drive ended with a failed fourth-and-5 conversion.
Another brutal call helps set up a winning FG
The next questionable call came with 2:40 left and the game ended in a 17-17 tie.
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This time, Goff completed a pass for a first down to tight end Sam LaPorta on second and eight. Defensive tackle Karl Brooks hit Goff just as the QB released the ball.
He didn’t hit Goff low. He didn’t hit it high. He didn’t hit him late. He didn’t push his weight toward Goff.
Brady again protested the call.
“My God, what is this?” »Brady proclaimed. “…It’s certainly not mistreating the smuggler.”
Blandino described the play as an “educational tackle on tape.”
A penalty was nevertheless requested. Instead of an 18-yard gain to the Detroit 45, the play pushed the Lions to the Packers 40. The Lions drove to the Packers 4-yard line and for a game-winning field goal by Jake Bates as time expired.
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Would Detroit have managed to reach the winning field goal without this brutal decision late? We will never know. But we can say with certainty that this decision worked in Detroit’s favor.
All-Pro Packers passer Micah Parsons remained sidelined for Sunday’s game as he continues to recover from surgery to repair a torn ACL last season. But he was watching and sharing his thoughts on refereeing on social media.
“Let’s go to flag football if every time a QB is hit, it’s roughing up the passer!” Parsons wrote marking the NFL and NFL referees.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was visibly upset during the game. He bit his tongue when asked about the calls during his postgame press conference.
“I don’t even want to comment on the sanctions,” he said. “It just is what it is. You have to play above it.
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“I thought there were some tough decisions, but that’s how it is.”
Packers safety Xavier McKinney didn’t bite his tongue, however.
“I would rather get fined and try to help my team because I see what’s happening and I see it’s killing us,” McKinney said. “We all see it. We all see what’s going on. Everybody sees what’s going on, the fans see what’s going on. … You don’t even review what you call. …
“Even if they look at it, they’re like, OK, that’s not it. I ask other referees and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m not there.’ It’s a lot of bullshit that doesn’t make any sense here.”
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