FOX NFL rules analyst and former NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino has offered an interesting explanation for the controversial “ineligible man” penalty at the end of Saturday’s contest between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

Amon-Ra St. Brown’s touchdown reception with 23 seconds left cut Detroit’s deficit to one point. Dan Campbell called for the Lions to attempt a two-point conversion that appeared to be successful when Goff threw a successful try to offensive tackle Taylor Decker.

 

However, Decker was penalized for being an ineligible man downfield, having apparently failed to report to the officials. Goff’s last two-point attempt was an incomplete pass to James Mitchell, allowing the Cowboys to squeak out a 20-19 victory.

Speaking with Peter Schrager in Sunday’s edition of “NFL on FOX”, Blandino explained that responsibility falls on Decker for failing to report. Blandino accused Detroit of trying “to disguise” who was eligible when Decker, Penei Sewell and Dan Skipper all went to the officials before the play:

The Lions will wrap up their regular season with a home tilt against the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.

BREAKING: ESPN’s Adam Schefter Drops Massive Update On Refereeing Crew From Lions-Cowboys Game (VIDEO)

Official Brad Allen’s referee crew was a major storyline in yet another primetime NFL game this season.

The Detroit Lions are still irate over a controversial penalty on a late two-point conversion attempt in Saturday’s 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys during the aftermath of the game.

 

It appeared the Lions took the lead in the final 30 seconds with a late two-point conversion on a trick-play completion to offensive tackle Taylor Decker. However, Allen’s crew said Decker never reported as eligible and penalized Detroit.

The Lions still had two shots at it but they failed to get into the end zone on either attempt and lost by one point.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said a Lions official told him the penalty was the “worst call he had ever seen in a game.”

That wasn’t all he revealed.

 

Schefter explained on Sunday that the league uses mixed crews for the playoffs and will grade Allen’s group after Saturday’s contest.
“A large part of Brad Allen’s crew is not going to be officiating in the postseason,” he said. “They’re going to get downgraded, and the chances are that many of them are not going to be involved in the postseason.”

Saturday’s result was significant in terms of playoff positioning in the NFC since the Lions entered the week with an 11-4 record, which was tied with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the conference.

That bad call is sure to have major ramifications as a win would have allowed Detroit to continue to vie for the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.