1/8/15
This is the story in the sports world that just won't go away. Sadly, this one incident is completely overshadowing the job the Cowboys did in overcoming lots of adversity in their comeback win over the Lions. By making it about that one play, you actually discredit the whole game. If the Lions had won the game, this non-call would be an afterthought. After having this incident thrown back in my face over and over by a few Lions fans and seeing the replay of it from several different angles, I decided to put my 2 cents in.
Here's my take on the (non) pass interference call:
My opinion is not popular, but I don't think the flag should have ever been thrown in the first place. First of all, here's what people don't want to talk about: Matt Stafford made a terrible throw. The ball hit the linebacker in the middle of the back, in the numbers, so it was never going to be caught. Why didn't he lead his tight end? Why didn't he look at the defender's backside and throw it there? I'll tell you why: his other receivers were covered and he didn't have anywhere else to go, and he figured that if he threw it at the defender, he could draw a pass interference call. In other words, he was looking to get bailed out by the refs for a bad throw. The refs are there to manage the game, keeping it fair and honest, not to bail QBs out for bad throws. The non call wouldn't have even been in play if the QB threw a better ball. Instead of throwing it at the defender's back, he should have threw it farther and over him.
The bad throw was the first issue. The 2nd issue with the non call was that tight end Brandon Pettigrew actually pushed off twice. I heard a few analysts say that defensive holding should have been called too, but what about the defender having his face mask grabbed? They also said that linebacker Anthony Hitchens didn't locate the ball, but made contact with the receiver who was looking back and playing the ball. If you look at the play from all angles, you see that there was very little contact, and that the TE engaged the contact first. The majority of the contact from the LB was him trying to get the TE's hand off of his face mask. Their bodies don't necessarily collide, and for everybody that said Anthony Hitchens was face guarding.......there is no such thing in the NFL. There were a few things that could have been called on that play, but if defensive pass interference was called, all the refs would have been doing is bailing the Lions out on a bad throw-a pass that never even had a chance of being caught.
I have also heard just as many gripes about Dez Bryant not getting flagged for going on the field without a helmet. I'm here to tell you that it was a dead ball, which means it not an automatic penalty for players stepping on the field in that situation. People are getting it confused with this:
Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 (j) prohibits "removal of a helmet by a player in the field of play or the end zone during a celebration or demonstration or during a confrontation with a game official or any other player."
This is the rule that's in question, but it defines an infraction as a player in the field of play, as in "involved in the play". Players and coaches go on the field from the sidelines in every game, referees ask them to step back, and if the player or coach doesn't leave the field in a timely manner, then they can be flagged. When Dez went out on the field, a ref asked him to leave, and he did. It's a judgement call that's left up to the refs, and they felt that because Dez obeyed when he was told to go back to the sideline, it didn't warrant a flag. If they automatically flagged everybody that crossed the white line during a dead ball, they would be throwing flags all day long just for that.
Since we want to talk about "home cooking" for the Cowboys and all the missed calls they got away with, what about all the calls the refs missed against the Lions?
For example:
1.) The Cowboys got flagged for offensive pass interference when our receiver was PUSHED into another defender.
2.) Tony Romo's helmet got slapped more than once.
3.) Dez Bryant got pushed down in their red zone after he beat his man, and if he doesn't trip, it would have been a touchdown.
4.) The Lions got away with running into Chris Jones, the Cowboys' punter.
5.) Jason Witten got mugged on one route and never got a flag for it. As a matter of fact, the ref pulled it out and started to throw it, then put it back in his pants.
6.) The Lions even had a receiver setting an illegal pick and get away with it.
At the end of the day, the entire game was horribly officiated for both teams. There were a lot of blatant missed holds as well as other things for both teams. As a matter of fact, there has never been, or ever will be a game that is perfectly officiated. It's obvious that the refs screwed up on The Great Non-Call, and at best there was a mechanics breakdown. In other words, the call should have never been announced and then overturned. I already gave my opinion on the call, but I'll leave it up to the "experts" and the NFL to determine whether they ultimately got the call right or wrong. One thing I do want to make clear is this:
That screw-up by the refs DID NOT determine the outcome of the game.
The players and coaches determined the outcome on their own. Lions fans (and non-Cowboys fans) want to blame the 3rd team on the field, the referees, for another Lions playoff loss. They would be wrong in doing that. The refs didn't have a perfect game, but neither did the Detroit Lions, which brings me to my next point:
Too many people believe that The Great Non-Call was outcome-determinative for the game as a whole. Let's ignore the fact that Tony Romo was clutch down the stretch, the Cowboys were more aggressive, and had better adjustments in the 2nd half. Let's also ignore the fact that the Lions coaching staff froze like a deer in headlights......but the pass interference no-call was the difference in the game? C'mon man!! The Lions had 67 plays on offense, and they controlled 66 of them, and that ONE play end the game? So, you mean to tell me that the Lions didn't have a single play after that? After that play it was 4th and 1 at the Cowboys' 46 yard line. You had Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush, and Brandon Pettigrew.....some of the best players in the game.....4th and 1!! You don't have a play in your playbook that can get a yard? C'mon man!! At that time the Lions led the game 20-17 with over 8 minutes left.....and decided not to go for it??? I can't imagine the Patriots punting in that same situation. If the Lions went for it and got that yard, and picked up 2 more first downs, more than likely they win the game.
The Lions had all the momentum, going up 14-0 in the first quarter, and even got their lead up to 20-7. They were dominating the game, only to give the momentum to the Cowboys in the 2nd half. The Lions only had 130 total yards in the 2nd half. People want to blame the refs, but what about the 3 turnovers, 8 penalties, and going 4-11 on 3rd down conversions? Call it what you want to, but the Lions still had control of the game. One more time.....4th and 1 at the Cowboys' 46, and instead of trying to get that yard they gave the ball back to that explosive Cowboys offense. Not only did they not go for it, but they even took a delay of game penalty to get a better spot for their punter. It turns out that the spot didn't matter, because the punt only went 10 yards. In other words, HE SHANKED IT!! What it all comes down to is that the Lions didn't trust their offense, that's why they didn't go for it.
Now let's give the Cowboys some credit for what they did to win the game. They won the battle of coaching adjustments, they converted several huge 3rd downs and an enormous 4th down. Speaking of that 4th down, I have to give some MAJOR props to Tony Romo and Jason Witten for the adjustments they had to make on that play.....to Witten for making the adjustment to get open and to Romo for waiting on him to get open and not forcing it. The Lions defender undercut the route to take it away, and Witten had to make the adjustment to come back on the route. If he ran the route the way he normally runs it, he wouldn't have been open. I also have to give some credit to Jason Garrett for trusting his offense in that situation and having the courage to make that call. The Cowboys also outscored the Lions 17-3 in the 2nd half and held them to 130 yards of total offense.
Out of 67 plays, everybody wants to look at that ONE play and say the game was fixed, a conspiracy. This conspiracy stuff is just ludicrous. Why did the NFL "allow" the Cowboys to lose 3 straight win-or-go-home Week 17 games in a row if they wanted the Cowboys in the playoffs for ratings? Why would the refs use that one call to fix the game? Wouldn't they take points away from the Lions or give points to the Cowboys on a non-call or a bad call? While we're at it, if this game was really fixed why would the NFL suspend Ndamukong Suh, who is the Lions' best player on defense, and then turn around and let him play? Lions fans can go ahead and kid themselves that the refs took the game away from them, but the truth beyond that one play that's in question, is that the Lions came up short when they had chances to put the game away, while the Cowboys succeeded. That's the margin between victory and defeat.
Let me put it to you another way:
-The refs DID NOT cause the Lions to fold in the 2nd half.
-The refs DID NOT cause Jim Caldwell to punt instead of choosing to go for it on 4th down with the lead in Cowboys territory.
-The refs DID NOT cause that shankopotamus. (Shank you very much Sam Martin!!)
-The refs DID NOT cause Jason Witten to get open on 4th and 6.
-The refs DID NOT buy extra time for Tony Romo and Terrence Williams on that last TD pass.
-The refs DID NOT cause Matt Stafford to fumble TWICE on his final drive.
At the end of the day, one team overcame bad officiating and the other team didn't. The bottom line is that the Cowboys still had to make plays and the Lions still had to collapse. By not trusting their offense and choosing to punt in Cowboys territory, where a TD would have iced the game, they were playing not to lose. Given the whole situation, there was every reason in the world for them to try to get that one yard. The Lions converted 10 4th down conversions in the regular season, which was tied for 2nd most in the NFL. Their chances of winning the game skyrocket if you get that yard, and if not you have the #2 defense in the league, which is more than capable of getting a stop. Besides, you are on the road against a heavy favorite, so you have to take some chances if you want to win the game. The non-call has nothing to do with that.
Even if non-Cowboys fans are 100% right and all those calls went against the Lions, it wouldn't have mattered if they had the ability to hold on to that double-digit lead. The Lions fell off a 14-story building, but instead of anybody talking about how it happened, everybody is complaining that maybe things would be different if the building had been 12 stories. The Lions had plenty of chances to make that controversial non-call irrelevant. One more thing, the Lions would have had a bye this past week and hosted a Wild Card winner if they would have won their regular season finale against the Packers. This might be a stretch, but when you go on the road in the playoffs in any sport, you should expect a little bit more adversity. The Lions could have avoided all of that.
I'm not trying to come across as an arrogant or biased Cowboys fan, but that's just how I see it. The controversy of The Great Non-Call will last a long time, and it will overshadow what was otherwise a good game. It will eat away with the Lions and their fans, but it definitely wasn't the entire reason for the outcome of the game.
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