Game Thread: Saturday Night Football: Lions @ Cowboys, 12/30/23, 8:15 ET

[Mebert]

That jumped out to me as well, but then it states: "that's standard procedure"

"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Brad Allen was not present for the pregame meeting with Campbell. That’s standard procedure. It’s not known whether Campbell explained that a shell game of sorts would be played before the play to confuse the Cowboys. It’s hard to imagine Campbell articulating that."

I wasn't sure what to make of it. SOP that the ref isn't there? SOP that Allen isn't there? Poorly written article and meant to say it is SOP that Allen would be there?

Not sure. Maybe only the lead official does not? but that would be crazy.

 

[jarntt]

Not sure. Maybe only the lead official does not? but that would be crazy.

Exactly. That would make no sense that a pre-game meeting is help but without the most important official

 

[Mebert]

Gene Steratore has a pretty awesome breakdown. He said this was an untimed down, and Brad Allen should have made sure he had the right guy, but the fact is he was fooled, and he pointed out the Lions should have realized he reported the wrong player. This is a great conversation that breaks down a solid argument for both sides.

 

[Old Lion]

Just have the players have a black or white flag with their number on it and hand it to the ref. Even an nfl ref cant screw that up.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

NFL has no plan to change procedure for reporting as eligible

With the Eagles losing to the Cardinals on Sunday, Saturday night's outcome in the Detroit-Dallas game becomes even more significant.

www.nbcsports.com

So Belichick like...Also explains why Decker's comment was: I did what coach told me to
Part of the reason for reporting is so the opposing team knows, which is why the ref announces it on the microphone.

there is no need to change the procedure.

Just need to change the ref that cant follow the procedure.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Just have the players have a black or white flag with their number on it and hand it to the ref. Even an nfl ref cant screw that up.

can I get odds on that bet?

 

[Hank Kingsley]

 

[eaglesnut]

Here is the crazy part of that article.



The one guy who got confused by everything did not bother to show up to the pre-game meeting where the Lions go over their planned trick plays. No wonder he was confused. He chose to be ignorant of the plans.

He was told by the league to skip it so he could use his confusion as an excuse. Very shady. And coordinated. Not moral or just.

 

[Edonidd]

Assuming it's just this ref not knowing the rules. But I'm sure the NFL will explain to us that during the process of reporting as eligible Decker did not complete the process because he didn't touch his right wrist to his forehead or some other obscure arcane rule that has always been the rule.

So I was mostly right. The NFL came out today and wouldn't say the call was wrong. But did say that if the call was wrong it was because Detroit reported to the Ref wrong. And that when the ref went over and told the defense that 70 was eligible (out of earshot of the offense) The Lions should be responsible for correcting his mistake. Also directly before the snap with less than 10 seconds left on play clock they announced over the Mic the eligible receiver. But the Lions didn't have any Timeouts so no way to fix it.

In other words the Lions did not complete the process of the eligibility reporting to completion.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

So I was mostly right. The NFL came out today and wouldn't say the call was wrong. But did say that if the call was wrong it was because Detroit reported to the Ref wrong. And that when the ref went over and told the defense that 70 was eligible (out of earshot of the offense) The Lions should be responsible for correcting his mistake. Also directly before the snap with less than 10 seconds left on play clock they announced over the Mic the eligible receiver. But the Lions didn't have any Timeouts so no way to fix it.

In other words the Lions did not complete the process of the eligibility reporting to completion.

the ref fucked up
NFL is just trying to save face.

 

[Manster7588]

there is no need to change the procedure.

Just need to change the ref that cant follow the procedure.

Maybe make a rule where ONLY the player declaring himself eligible approach the refs. There's a reason offense cannot have to many men in the huddle, it's so the defense isn't being deceived. Campbell was trying to cause confusion on Dallas it backfired.

 

[UK Cowboy]

Yep, it would be the re-match. The Rams will give the Lions all they can handle, imo.

Rams would be even money to beat Detroit IMO

 

[jarntt]

Some times you can get too smart for your own good Coach Campbell.

I'll say it again. If you want to state the refs should have handled this differently (and we all I think can 100% agree they should have) you have to also state that doing so would have meant announcing Decker as an eligible receiver and thus, likely (not definitely), resulted in the Cowboys not ignoring him in his pattern. The whole reason for this rule is to let the defense know who wearing an ineligible # is and isn't eligible. The whole play is likely different if the ref announces Decker as eligible.

 

[belcherboy]

Rams would be even money to beat Detroit IMO

As a Lions fan, I want nothing to do with the Rams...even if it is a home game. It certainly would make for compelling tv though (Goff vs Stafford, both battling their former team to which they were traded).

 

[belcherboy]

Some times you can get too smart for your own good Coach Campbell.

I'll say it again. If you want to state the refs should have handled this differently (and we all I think can 100% agree they should have) you have to also state that doing so would have meant announcing Decker as an eligible receiver and thus, likely (not definitely), resulted in the Cowboys not ignoring him in his pattern. The whole reason for this rule is to let the defense know who wearing an ineligible # is and isn't eligible. The whole play is likely different if the ref announces Decker as eligible.

It seems that the Lions did everything they were suppose to do in the game, and even made it clear before the game what they would be doing in this situation. I just find it hard to give any blame to anyone but the officials in this situation. They are paid to do this and messed it up.

 

[jarntt]

It seems that the Lions did everything they were suppose to do in the game, and even made it clear before the game what they would be doing in this situation. I just find it hard to give any blame to anyone but the officials in this situation. They are paid to do this and messed it up.

I'm not excusing the refs, but obviously not or the official would have announced Decker as eligible. Part of your job is to make sure the official clearly hears and understands you. There was obviously some miscommunication. Regardless, I'll say AGAIN, if everything was done correctly the refs would have announced Decker as eligible and he "likely" would have not been ignored by the defense. What would have happened on the play had he been announced will never be known, but there is no guarantee the play would have been successful.

note: to be clear I'm not saying there is a guarantee it wouldn't have been successful either

 

[fightinfunbags]

Some times you can get too smart for your own good Coach Campbell.

I'll say it again. If you want to state the refs should have handled this differently (and we all I think can 100% agree they should have) you have to also state that doing so would have meant announcing Decker as an eligible receiver and thus, likely (not definitely), resulted in the Cowboys not ignoring him in his pattern. The whole reason for this rule is to let the defense know who wearing an ineligible # is and isn't eligible. The whole play is likely different if the ref announces Decker as eligible.

This argument would play better if the Cowboys were in man and not zone. 6 bites on play fake and then reacts to him and gets depth. Anyway this gets sliced we come back to the same outcome. The Lions got screwed by the utter incompetence of an officiating crew being unable to manage a game correctly.

 

[belcherboy]

I'm not excusing the refs, but obviously not or the official would have announced Decker as eligible. Part of your job is to make sure the official clearly hears and understands you. There was obviously some miscommunication. Regardless, I'll say AGAIN, if everything was done correctly the refs would have announced Decker as eligible and he "likely" would have not been ignored by the defense. What would have happened on the play had he been announced will never be known, but there is no guarantee the play would have been successful.

note: to be clear I'm not saying there is a guarantee it wouldn't have been successful either

I just don't see any evidence that it was done incorrectly by the Lions. It appears from the disciplinary action taken by the NFL, and the video footage, that the Lions did what they were suppose to do. The play worked as called and it should have been the ballgame. I think the refs just messed up the numbers. It wasn't fair to the Cowboys, and it's not a playoff game, so it doesn't bother me that much, but I just don't understand how people are critical of Campbell and the Lions. Perhaps more evidence will come out showing they did something wrong, but it appears to me (a biased Lions fan) that the Lions did everything they could to prep the refs for this situation, and followed procedures. I think this mistake falls solely on the ref.

 

[jarntt]

I just don't see any evidence that it was done incorrectly by the Lions. It appears from the disciplinary action taken by the NFL, and the video footage, that the Lions did what they were suppose to do. The play worked as called and it should have been the ballgame. I think the refs just messed up the numbers. It wasn't fair to the Cowboys, and it's not a playoff game, so it doesn't bother me that much, but I just don't understand how people are critical of Campbell and the Lions. Perhaps more evidence will come out showing they did something wrong, but it appears to me (a biased Lions fan) that the Lions did everything they could to prep the refs for this situation, and followed procedures. I think this mistake falls solely on the ref.

I don't know exactly because I can't hear the conversation that took place on the field. Is there audio of it? My understanding is that SOP is you make a hand gesture to your uniform number to eliminate any confusion. Was that done? Regardless, AGAIN, if everything was done correctly which seems to be what you are saying should have been done, that includes the ref announcing Decker as eligible. If Decker was announced as eligible the outcome may have been different.

 

[jarntt]

This argument would play better if the Cowboys were in man and not zone. 6 bites on play fake and then reacts to him and gets depth. Anyway this gets sliced we come back to the same outcome. The Lions got screwed by the utter incompetence of an officiating crew being unable to manage a game correctly.

Regardless of what defense you are in, you are supposed to be aware of and you have certain responsibilities. Your responsibilities don't include covering an ineligible OL, which as far as the Cowboys knew, Decker was, because he wasn't announced as eligible.

Also, watch Bland covering Reynolds (and carry him across the field) and let me know if you think it is a pure zone coverage. It's a little less clear with St Brown on the other side because he never leaves what could be the DBs area. If Decker were announced it seems Wilson would have no one but him to cover and might have done so