Lions insist NFL officials erred with penalty on crucial 2-point conversion

ARLINGTON, Texas — If the Detroit Lions never have to play another game at AT&T Stadium, it will be too soon.

Nine years after the Lions lost a heartbreaking playoff game to the Dallas Cowboys after officials picked up a penalty flag for pass interference, they suffered another gut punch at the hands of officials Saturday.

Jared Goff rallied the Lions to a touchdown with 23 seconds to play only to have the go-ahead 2-point conversion nullified by an illegal touching penalty on left tackle Taylor Decker. The Lions failed on two more 2-point tries, including an interception that was nullified by an offsides penalty, and the Cowboys recovered the ensuing onside kick for a controversial 20-19 victory.

At issue on the Lions' first 2-point play — a pass from Goff to Decker that appeared to give the Lions a 1-point lead — was which offensive lineman reported as eligible.

Decker said he went to referee Brad Allen and declared himself eligible, and video of the moments before the play show Decker and Penei Sewell approaching Allen behind the line of scrimmage as swing tackle Dan Skipper ran on the field as an extra offensive lineman.

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Allen announced Skipper was eligible before the play, and reiterated that account in a pool interview after the game.

"All I really want to say on it, just so I don’t get myself into trouble is, I mean, I did exactly what coach told me to do and went to the ref, said report, and yeah, I don’t know," Decker said. "It was my understanding, too, that Dan brings up the possibility of those sorts of plays pregame, so I did what I was told to do and did how we did it in practice all week. That’s probably all I’m really going to touch on with that."

Campbell said he goes over all trick plays his team may use with officials before games, something he said he did Saturday.

"I explain everything pregame, to a T," he said. "OK, I did that. Seventy (Skipper) reported, 68 (Decker) didn’t, we threw it to 68, that was the explanation."

Skipper, whose hands were up by his chest as he ran on the field — linemen typically rub the numbers on their jersey with both hands to indicate they are an eligible receiver — said he did not report as eligible.

"I didn’t say anything, let’s move along," he said in a terse postgame interview. "I did not say a word to the official. I’d like to not (expletive) get fined. Thanks guys, sorry."

Allen, in his pool report, said Skipper reported as eligible and Decker did not.

"So, we had a situation where if you were going to have an ineligible number occupy an eligible position, you have to report that to the referee," Allen said. "On this particular play, No. 70, who had reported during the game a couple of times, reported to me as eligible. Then he lined up at the tackle position. So, actually, he didn’t have to report at all. No. 68, who ended up going downfield and touching the pass, did not report. Therefore, he is an ineligible touching a pass that goes beyond the line, which makes it a foul. So, the issue is, No. 70 did report, No. 68 did not."

Allen said he told the Cowboys defense Skipper reported as eligible before the snap, and that a second flag was thrown on the play for illegal formation, because Skipper, as one eligible receiver, was covered on the line by another eligible receiver.

Goff, who argued vehemently against the penalty as officials huddled to discuss it on the field, said he was "pretty confused" when he saw the flag on the ground.

“What I do know, and I don’t know if I’ll get fined for this, but I do know that Decker reported, I do know that Dan Skipper did not and I do know that they said that Dan Skipper did," he said. "It’s unfortunate."

The Lions (11-5) still had chances to win after the penalty.

Rather than attempt the tying extra point, the Lions kept their offense on the field to go for two from the 7-yard line, a decision Campbell explained as, "We were going for the win."

Goff had Kalif Raymond open in the back of the end zone on the second 2-point try, but he was hit as he threw by Osa Odighizuwa, and Markquese Bell intercepted his pass on the goal line.

Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons was offsides on the play, however, giving the Lions a third 2-point try from the 2-yard line, but James Mitchell couldn't hold onto a low Goff pass in the left flat.

"We had two more shots at it," Goff said. "Didn’t get either of them, but yeah, it's unfortunate it came down to what it did and I don’t think it was — there was no, 'Ah, the fix is in.' It’s not that. They just messed it up and it happens and it’s part of the game, but unfortunately, it happened on that play."

Goff finished 19-for-34 passing for 271 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He threw for 75 yards on the Lions' final drive, completing all six of his pass attempts (not including three spikes to kill the clock) to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta.

St. Brown had six catches for 90 yards and LaPorta caught seven passes for 84 yards to set new a franchise single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end (860).

Trailing 13-10 early in the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott led a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks to give the Cowboys a 17-13 lead.

Goff threw his second interception two plays later, but Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy mismanaged the clock, settling for a 43-yard field goal but leaving the Lions with enough time to mount their final drive.

McCarthy called three pass plays after the two-minute warning, when the Lions had two timeouts remaining. One of Prescott's passes fell incomplete, giving the Lions an extra 40 seconds or so of possession.

Campbell said he expects to see the Cowboys again in the playoffs "in a couple weeks."

"It’ll be good," he said.

The Lions are tied with the Cowboys for the third-best record in the NFC, behind the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, and likely will be the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The 49ers will be the No. 1 seed if they win their final two games, and the Eagles are in control of the No. 2 seed. The Lions need the Eagles and Cowboys to lose once or the 49ers to lose twice to get the No. 2 seed.

As the No. 3, the Lions, who close the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings next weekend at Ford Field, will be guaranteed at least one home playoff game for the first time since the 1993 season.

"To a certain extent I'd say (it feels like a win was stolen from us)," linebacker Alex Anzalone said. "I feel like, at the end of the day, we lost the game and we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can do better and not let it come down to a single play on the road. It's tough, but we have a lot to look forward to and we have a lot to build off as a team."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.