Official Brad Allen’s referee crew was a major storyline in yet another primetime NFL game this season.
The Detroit Lions are still irate over a controversial penalty on a late two-point conversion attempt in Saturday’s 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys during the aftermath of the game.
It appeared the Lions took the lead in the final 30 seconds with a late two-point conversion on a trick-play completion to offensive tackle Taylor Decker. However, Allen’s crew said Decker never reported as eligible and penalized Detroit.
The Lions still had two shots at it but they failed to get into the end zone on either attempt and lost by one point.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said a Lions official told him the penalty was the “worst call he had ever seen in a game.”
That wasn’t all he revealed.
Schefter explained on Sunday that the league uses mixed crews for the playoffs and will grade Allen’s group after Saturday’s contest.
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“A large part of Brad Allen’s crew is not going to be officiating in the postseason,” he said. “They’re going to get downgraded, and the chances are that many of them are not going to be involved in the postseason.”
Saturday’s result was significant in terms of playoff positioning in the NFC since the Lions entered the week with an 11-4 record, which was tied with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the conference.
That bad call is sure to have major ramifications as a win would have allowed Detroit to continue to vie for the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
