dallas cowboys vs detroit lions game

[detroitlions2014]

this is what one of my friends said about lions cowboys games All these apologies to the lions from the nfl for boge calls but yet nothing is set fair in all honesty do you think an apology works for screwing over a team with a dream in all fairness let them play for it period rematch with new refs to get the game set str8

[RevanFan]

this is what one of my friends said about lions cowboys games All these apologies to the lions from the nfl for boge calls but yet nothing is set fair in all honesty do you think an apology works for screwing over a team with a dream in all fairness let them play for it period rematch with new refs to get the game set str8

The refereeing was awful against both teams. There were bogus calls all throughout the game. No apologies should be given. The game was not lost by bogus penalties. It was lost by Detroit blowing it. The penalties just helped a bit more than normal. Detroit still had every opportunity to win.

If anything is to be learned from that game, it is that the NFL needs to reconsider its postseason referee strategy.

[Sidelion]

The refereeing was awful against both teams. There were bogus calls all throughout the game. No apologies should be given. The game was not lost by bogus penalties. It was lost by Detroit blowing it. The penalties just helped a bit more than normal. Detroit still had every opportunity to win.

If anything is to be learned from that game, it is that the NFL needs to reconsider its postseason referee strategy.

Yep, Dez Bryant being allowed to yell at the refs (15-yard penalty) with no helmet on (another 15-yard penalty), the refs picking up a flag for blatant interference, and Dallas getting away with blatant holding=obviously Detroit's fault. I'm sick of that bullshit excuse - it's always been the same thing when a team's win is thoroughly assisted by the refs. I heard the same thing when the Tuck Rule decision was made from Pats' fans, I'm hearing it now from Cowboys' fans. All you're doing is brewing even more bad blood. Just stop.

http://regressing.deadspin.com/yes-the- ... 69/+kylenw

At the time of the pass, despite having donked off much of their advantage all on their own after ceding leads of 14-0 early and 20-7 late, the Lions were still sitting comfortably ahead, with a win probability of 79 percent. It dropped to 69 percent after the flag was picked up, and then again to 58 percent after Sam Martin, convenient goat, sent a punt 10 yards. [...]

Flag not picked up: Detroit ball, first-and-10, Dallas 28-yard line, 8:18 remaining: 85 percent Detroit Win Probability
Flag picked up (punt to Dallas 20): Dallas ball, first-and-10, Dallas 20-yard line, 8:10 remaining, 67 percent Detroit Win Probability
Flag picked up (10-yard punt): Dallas ball, first-and-10, Dallas 41-yard line, 8:10 remaining, 58 percent Detroit Win Probability
Flag not picked up (Detroit scores field goal in ~1:30): Dallas ball, first-and-10, Dallas 25-yard line, 6:30 remaining, 82 percent Detroit Win Probability
Flag not picked up (Detroit scores touchdown in ~2:00): Dallas ball, first-and-10, Dallas 25-yard line, 6:30 remaining, 91 percent Detroit Win Probability [...]

You hear a lot of "We had plenty of chances to win" and the like after this kind of game, and that's all true enough. Maybe if Detroit's defense hadn't allowed 16.3 yards per pass on third and fourth down attempts, things would have been different. But as much as a singular play like a Beastmode run or a Russell Wilson scramble can upset the determined facts of a game, a call or non-call can do the same.

[El_Macaquito]

The Detroit Lions choked. Only 3 points in the second half. Please, get over it. When the NFL let Suh play the game, I didn't see any Dallas fan crying.

[RevanFan]

The Lions lost the game. They beat themselves up. I will, however, give you that three different penalties occurred on that play. None were called. Holding Dallas, facemask Detroit, unsportsmanlike conduct Dallas. There were also several holds on Dallas and Detroit that were not called, and some illegal hands to the face on Detroit that were not called (Cowboys lineman had their helmets knocked off by hands to the facemask several times.) The game wasn't blown by refs for a few reasons. One, there was quite a bit of time left for Detroit. The refs didn't say punt, and the refs didn't shank the punt. Also, there were so many bad calls that I feel it was close to even. Dallas was slightly favored, but there were a lot of no-calls on Detroit as well. Just not ones that were as noticeable and as badly handled. Think about it, if the refs had just picked up the flag before announcing the penalty, no one would be talking about it with this much anger.

[petroleum]

The game wasn't blown by refs for a few reasons.

The refs may not have won the game for Dallas, but they certainly blew the game--as the bulk of your post supports. Unfortunately this is, predictable, being turned into Dallas Vs Detroit when it should be "look how crappy a job these officials did! Is there no accountability?"

Why not make penalties reviewable? If you need the same indisputable evidence of any other challenge then we don't need to be worried about close judgment calls any more then when reviewing catches or fumbles.
Why not stop breaking up officiating crews for the playoffs?
Why not introduce some accountability for the referees? No more of this "oops, we screwed up. Too late to do anything about it. Don't worry, the officials will be better next week (or the week after that), we promise".
Why not fix the rule book? How many time have you heard something like "offensive holding happens every play, it is just up to the officials to decide when to call it"? Time to re-write the rule so that the officials can call the penalty every time without destroying the game. Or this pre-season when there was such a focus on pass interference; what was the reaction of the players, coaches and (especially) announcers? "The officials will never have the guts to throw this many flags during the regular season because it will slow the game down too much." If the rules are unenforceable how they are written then how they are written needs to change.

But none of that is going to happen because the NFL knows that Cowboy fans will defend or at least dismiss the officials mistakes, because they don't want to sully their victory, and Lion fans will just look like poor looser. This will blow over in a week or two, just like every other officiating error, because fans don't care about quality and consistent officiating enough to threaten the NFL's bottom line.

[ycleped]

The Lions lost the game. They beat themselves up. I will, however, give you that three different penalties occurred on that play. None were called. Holding Dallas, facemask Detroit, unsportsmanlike conduct Dallas. There were also several holds on Dallas and Detroit that were not called, and some illegal hands to the face on Detroit that were not called (Cowboys lineman had their helmets knocked off by hands to the facemask several times.) The game wasn't blown by refs for a few reasons. One, there was quite a bit of time left for Detroit. The refs didn't say punt, and the refs didn't shank the punt. Also, there were so many bad calls that I feel it was close to even. Dallas was slightly favored, but there were a lot of no-calls on Detroit as well. Just not ones that were as noticeable and as badly handled. Think about it, if the refs had just picked up the flag before announcing the penalty, no one would be talking about it with this much anger.

There was blatant holding on Dallas's O-line every other offensive play that wasn't even called...

Rewatch the game if you are able to and pay extra attention to the offensive line. You'll soon see that the reason the Detroit Lions' defense was giving up so many big play and allowing so many first downs was because of their 'lack of pass rush', which in reality, was Dallas HOLDING almost every single play.

IIRC, Early in the game, Detroit got called for "holding" which was really just a good block. The next drive, Dallas's right tackle blatantly grabs Ansah's shoulder as he is getting by and it ISN'T EVEN CALLED. I remember thinking at that moment, "boy are the refs really screwing Detroit"...

Late in the 4th quarter, on third-and-7 from the Detroit 13, Romo's short pass to Lance Dunbar lost 2 yards, but linebacker DeAndre Levy was called for holding Dunbar. The Cowboys scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays later on third-and-goal from the 8.

3:40 in 4th -- Defensive holding penalty on DeAndre Levy on third-and-7 at Lions 13-yard line
Win prob. change: 39.0% to 20.5% -- Diff.: -18.5%

Levy basically shoved Dunbar to the ground and while on the ground, Dunbar caught a pass thrown to him from Romo. This GREATLY decreased Detroit's win probability: holding them to a field goal on their final drive would have been crucial.

But wait, what is the definition of defensive holding again?

A penalty on the defense that is flagged when a defensive player uses his hands to pull and hold the opposing offensive player while outside the 5 yard mark of the line of scrimmage.

Hmmmm... IIRC, Dunbar LOST two yards on that play. WAIT! THAT WOULD MEAN... that Dunbar was BEHIND the line of scrimmage when he was shoved to the ground!!! Since when did 2 yards become 5 yards???? Oh wait... it didn't...

In my opinion, that bad call hurt the Lions WAY more than the PI call because there was hardly any time left and holding the Cowboys to a field goal would have almost ensured a victory for the Lions.

Conclusion: the refs screwed both Detroit and Dallas, but they screwed Detroit 5x as much.

And bad calls mean more when they have greater implications on the path of the game. When the refs did end up screwing Dallas, it was earlier in the game and the calls or no-calls did not have that great of an effect.

Towards the end of the game, though, that makes the screwing MUCH WORSE. Thus, the Lions actually got screwed probably like 8x as much as Dallas did.

[RevanFan]

The game wasn't blown by refs for a few reasons.

The refs may not have won the game for Dallas, but they certainly blew the game--as the bulk of your post supports. Unfortunately this is, predictable, being turned into Dallas Vs Detroit when it should be "look how crappy a job these officials did! Is there no accountability?"

Yes, I agree. It was a poor choice of words. I meant that Detroit lost the game, but the refs blew their responsibilities.

Like I said, if there's anything to be learned from this game, it's that the referee teams shouldn't be split up for the playoffs. They clearly don't know how to work together.

[ultimatum77]

it should be noted that the nfl head of officiating dean blandino was on jerry jones party bus last year.....jerrah knows where to spend the money hehehe

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -on-calls/

detroit got screwed bad, the LB Hitchens did not have his head turned to play the ball, the facegaurding explanation smells of bs b/c 10/10 times that is called PI if the defender does not turn to play the ball.

Jerry better bring his checkbook to Lambeau b/c earning a win against rodgers and co will not be that easy this weekend.

[RevanFan]

detroit got screwed bad, the LB Hitchens did not have his head turned to play the ball, the facegaurding explanation smells of bs b/c 10/10 times that is called PI if the defender does not turn to play the ball.

Keep in mind that he couldn't turn his head because Pettigrew was grabbing his facemask.