The explanation Dan Campbell received some officials on the controversial “ineligible man downfield” penalty at the end of the game simply makes no sense.

After Amon-Ra St. Brown scored a touchdown with 23 seconds left, the Lions opted to go for two instead of a game-tying extra point attempt. Jared Goff found Taylor Decker in the end zone for two, but the play was called back because of an ineligible man downfield penalty.

 

The Lions got a third attempt to win it thanks to a Micah Parsons offside penalty, but Goff’s last pass attempt fell incomplete. Dallas recovered the onside kick to secure a 20-19 victory.

In his post-game presser, Campbell said that No. 70 (Dan Skipper) reported eligible.

Apparently, the officials told Campbell that two people couldn’t report eligible, which is why Decker was penalized. However, there is no rule that bars a team from having two players report eligible on a play:

 

Needless to say, the NFL has another mess with its officiating system on their hands that must be addressed. But history tells us they’ll probably sweep it under the rug and do absolutely nothing to enhance the quality of officiating.