The Cowboys needed a win to advance their playoff hopes on Thursday night, and on at least one play, they got no help from the referees.
The critical moment came when the Cowboys trailed the Lions 37-27 with just under 4 minutes to play. Frantically trying to mount a comeback on a night where it seemed Dallas’ defense couldn’t get a stop, the referees called Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson for offensive pass interference.
The only problem? There was no offensive pass interference. In fact, as the replay showed, Lions defender Alex Anzalone grabbed Ferguson.
The penalty, had it been correctly called on Anzalone, would have put Dallas in a prime position to narrow the lead to a field goal. Instead, it led to Dallas having to settle for yet another of the many field goals they had to kick during the game.
“Kirk, I just see him kind of swimming through. I don’t see offensive pass interference,” Amazon Prime rules analyst Terry McAuley said during the broadcast. “He swims through right there, which is perfectly legal, and then gets grabbed. I just don’t see offensive pass interference.”
Again, the Cowboys’ defense couldn’t stop the Lions all night. Would they have won the game had the referees called the play correctly? Who knows?
But that’s not the point. The point is that the referees are being paid to do a job that they are, quite frankly, not doing. Once again, the NFL cannot get through a game without an insane officiating decision that significantly impacts the outcome. So bad has the situation become that a great many NFL fans believe the game is rigged.
And yet, the situation never improves because the NFL doesn’t consider it a real problem until ratings drop and people stop making money.
The Lions went on to win the game 44-30, improving their standing in the Wild Card race. The loss snapped the Cowboys’ three-game win streak and dropped them to 6-6-1.
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