A suspicious video from the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions game on Saturday night is going viral on social media that appears to show Taylor Decker reporting to an NFL official he was an eligible receiver for a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.
Decker, an offensive tackle, caught the pass from Jared Goff that would have put the Lions up 22-21 with 23 seconds to go in the game. The officials flagged Decker for illegal touching. The Lions had two more attempts to convert a two-point play and failed, and the Cowboys escaped with a 21-20 win.
Lions players and head coach Dan Campbell were upset after the officials flagged Decker. Decker claimed to report, and video evidence posted on X shows him walking over to an official to allegedly report.
Why would Decker walk up to official and not report?
I guess maybe he didn’t but odd to walk there and not no? pic.twitter.com/QX3s2byAL3
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 31, 2023
A few explanations were given as to why the officials might have made the call. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper ran over to the official as well to confuse the Cowboys about which Lions player was reporting eligible. Skipper claims he didn’t report he was eligible to the official.
The #Lions are trying to run interference to make the #Cowboys think Skipper is running onto the field and reporting when in reality it’s Decker. Slow mo replay showed Skipper saying, “I didn’t say a f—ing word!” Clearly planned and practiced. Brad Allen announced Skipper though. https://t.co/Flos1flGhr
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 31, 2023
Campbell said he stressed before the game that two players couldn’t report. Unfortunately, there was confusion between the Lions offense and the officiating crew.
It seems like a flag was thrown because the officials felt the play was illegal, not because they could articulate why it was illegal.
Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions fans react
Many fans called the game “rigged” after watching the Lions have two game-winning points stolen from them. Here are the best takes on the Lions being screwed over in Dallas.
Lions got screwed. NFL rigged it for the Cowboys no other explanation. pic.twitter.com/cwkcZyqPGa
— Nick (@_nlund) December 31, 2023
JARED GOFF TOLD THE LEFT TACKLE TO REPORT.
THE NFL BLATANTLY RIGGED A GAME. #Cowboys | #Lions
— Chase (@Chase6D) December 31, 2023
Cowboys beating the Lions was rigged ! 🤡🤡 #riggednfl #cowboys #lions #nfl pic.twitter.com/j6bWTqX6hl
— Truth Seeker (@_TruthZone_) December 31, 2023
The Refs were missing calls and were not good all game and IT SHOWED down the stretch
It’s about time the NFL makes changes with the officiating
This completely changed the course of the season for the Detroit Lions in a battle for the #1 and #2 seed. NFL is rigged… pic.twitter.com/wMonuePOEa
— Booner (@boonersports) December 31, 2023
The Cowboys’ MVP went OFF 🔥
-Missed holding call on 92 yard TD
-One penalty on the 2nd most penalized team in the NFL
-Ignored lineman that reported as eligible on game’s deciding play pic.twitter.com/XPlP2JCrSo— Championship Connoisseur (@UMvsEveryone) December 31, 2023
More proof the NFL is rigged. Lions win the game and afterwards the refs decide to throw a flag. Even the announcers can’t believe it pic.twitter.com/uKtoDd75g4
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) December 31, 2023
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2 Comments
A whole lotta sour grapes in this “article” – and cherry-picking. Looks like a fruit salad.
Why did you intentionally leave out the audio of Brad Allen announcing to the entire world that “#70 has reported as eligible”? Why didn’t anyone on the Detroit side say anything then? Not enough time, you say? The clock was stopped. Nope, they knew – or thought they knew – that the refs had the wrong number and let it ride. And it bit ’em.
Decker, 68, was right next to the official, the official was looking at him, then moved downed field as 70 approached and didn’t even speak to the official. After Decker reported in, he and his team mates were more concerned about lining up than the stadium PA system.