New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t hold back in his criticisms of the NFL for the officiating fiasco that doomed the Detroit Lions during their Week 17 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Rodgers shared his belief that there’s a lack of accountability among referees today, which was evident in the Lions-Cowboys fiasco. He added that there’s no one to blame but the referees for the way it has handled the referees over the years.
Detroit Lions Get Screwed By Referees vs. Dallas Cowboys
For those who missed it, the controversy started with 23 seconds left in the game after Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a Jared Goff pass and drove for the touchdown to cut the Cowboys’ lead to 20-19. Detroit had the option to go for the tie with a field goal or for the win with a two-point conversion.
Dan Campbell and Co. chose the latter and had offensive lineman Taylor Decker line up as an eligible receiver. The strategy seemed to succeed after Goff threw a pass to Decker to complete the conversion for the lead.
The Lions were already celebrating the score, having thought that they have the game in the bag. But referee Brad Allen threw two flags, one for an illegal touching penalty and another for illegal formation.
Allen claimed that it was Dan Skipper (no. 70) who reported as the eligible receiver in the play and not Decker (no. 68). As a result, there was an illegal touching penalty because Decker shouldn’t have been the one to catch the ball. As for the illegal formation, since Skipper reported as eligible, he shouldn’t have been covered up during the coverage.
the evidence is in
a crime was committed
a Lions win was stolen in plain sight
refs are pure trash pic.twitter.com/VErRjxxMCZ
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 31, 2023
The Lions denied that Skipper reported, adding that it was only Decker who reported. It sparked talks that the referee got the names wrong–although video replays show three players going near the referee, including Skipper and Decker.
Regardless, though, the Detroit Lions’ score was waived off as a result of the penalty. In the end, the Dallas Cowboys were able to make a key stop to seal the deal and deny their rivals the W.
New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers Blames ‘Cheap’ NFL
Sure enough, Aaron Rodgers is not happy with what he has seen from the game. The New York Jets quarterback expressed belief that Brad Allen was at fault, noting that the referee left before a proper report for eligible receiver was made.
Video replays of the incident showed there’s clearly a miscommunication because Taylor Decker reported, although the presence of two other players near the referee likely caused the confusion as well.
Despite that, though, Rodgers said that officiating needs to be better.
“I was part of the Fail Mary when the NFL got too cheap to pay the refs what they’re due,” Rodgers said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the end of the Lions game and there needs to be some accountability. It seemed like Brad Allen left before what could be said.”
Rodgers also furthered that since the game has such massive playoff implications, the officiating crew for such games should only be the best of the best.
“We as players know who the best refs are and when you get to the playoffs it should be the top of the top,” he added.
For what it’s worth, though, instead of trying to improve officiating and getting referees to be more accountable, the league recently released a memo noting how to properly report eligible receivers.
Sure enough, that looks like the league is pushing the blame on players and teams rather than referees.
For More Of My Content
For More Of My Content Follow me on Twitter at @BeatKit22. You may also reach out to me personally at kitguinhawa@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and NFL news, click here!
1 Comment
I am gaining even more respect for Roger’s and Any players and coaches who speak the truth about escalating referee errors and even more importantly Blatant Game Steering. The NFL is not much different than the WWE and are incorporated the same way, as an Entertainment Enterprise. It is not illegal to steer game outcomes to increase revenues…