Gutsy Cowboys Victory Overshadowed by Controversy, Typical Lions Errors

ARLINGTON, Texas — It will be talked about for days, weeks, years—maybe even decades. It will cause conspiracy theorists to purchase extra aluminum foil and tin hats for their underground silos. It will cause, yet again, many to say: Lions gonna be Lionsy. It will overshadow what was a gutsy, brilliant Dallas comeback victory over Detroit. A comeback that could propel the Cowboys deep into the playoffs.Though TPFP did not decide the Wild Card Game won Sunday by Dallas, 24-20, at AT&T Stadium—so much else did—it was crucial. It allowed the Dallas momentum to continue surging, like an electrical wire, while simultaneously draining the Lions. It led to Dallas winning a playoff game (and not choking) and also meant the Lions—who do all kinds of Lionsy things all the time—have not won a playoff game in close to 8,400 days. Dallas will play at Green Bay in the divisional round.

The NFL had better hire extra personnel to answer its phone calls from angry Lions fans and purchase some extra bandwidth to deal with the angry emails over The Phantom Flag Play. This is going to be bad.

The Phantom Flag Play overshadowed what was one of the most well-played and exciting playoff games of not just this Wild Card Weekend but any Wild Card Weekend in recent history. There were so many other angles, including the fact Dallas' marvelous, frenetic comeback was historic. The Cowboys were previously 0-8 when trailing by double digits at halftime in their postseason history. The Lions led 17-7 at the break.

There were also other ref mistakes. Dez Bryant ran onto the field to protest the very pass interference flag in question (sans helmet) but didn't get flagged for it. That was an obvious penalty.

Yet no play, no call was like the picked-up flag. Detroit was leading 20-17 and facing a 3rd-and-1 on the Dallas 46 with about eight minutes left in the game. Matthew Stafford threw to tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Pettigrew was being guarded by linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who had his back to Stafford and also had had a handful of Pettigrew's jersey.A flag was thrown, but referee Pete Morelli picked it up. In my 25 years of covering the sport, I can't remember too many scenarios where an apparently totally legitimate penalty was overruled. Tweeted Jim Daopoulos, who spent 12 years as an NFL supervisor, about the play: "I wish I had an explanation regarding the flag pick up but I too am completely confused with that ruling…"

Everyone was. It set off a firestorm of criticism from current and former players, media members and others. Lions fans on Twitter armed their phasers and photon torpedoes.

Fox analyst Mike Pereira, who formerly headed the NFL's officiating, said he had never seen a flag pick-up like that before. "It's clearly pass interference," he said. "I strongly believe that was not a good pick-up of a flag."


Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2319213-gutsy-cowboys-victory-overshadowed-by-controversy-typical-lions-errors