NFL uses video of Lions-Cowboys snafu as example for properly reporting as an eligible receiver
Days after an officiating snafu at the end of the Detroit Lions’ 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday cost the visitors a one-point lead with :23 left, the NFL used video of the debacle in an officiating memo sent to teams. The topic at hand was properly reporting eligible.
The video in question shows Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper first running out and reporting as an eligible receiver in the first quarter of the game on Saturday. Then it moves to the end of the game, with Skipper running out on to the field late and not actually reporting to official Brad Allen — an intentional tactic that the Lions were using and Allen was apparently aware of — as an example of reporting properly.
Skipper maintained after the game that he did not say anything to Allen. Lions left tackle Taylor Decker came over to report eligible and made the motion required and also said after the game he verbally reported to Allen. Allen said in the pool report after the game that No. 70 — Skipper — reported eligible.
Allen then reported Skipper as eligible and the Lions go-ahead two-point conversion pass to Decker — which would’ve been a legal play if Decker had been declared eligible as intended — was wiped off the board for a penalty.
“To allow the defense an opportunity to match personnel to avoid deception, and to ensure fairness, the player must immediately report the change in his eligibility status to the referee, who will inform the defensive team and will make an announcement to the stadium before that play. It is the responsibility of the player to be sure that change in status is clearly communicated to the referee by both a physical signal with his hands up and down in front of his chest and to report to the referee his intention to report as an eligible receiver,” NFL SVP of officiating Walt Anderson said in a narration of the clip.
Because Skipper was the lineman who Allen reported as eligible, the play was also eventually an illegal formation, something the video notes.
And while Campbell, Decker, Skipper, quarterback Jared Goff and basically the rest of the Lions organization made clear after the game that Decker reported, Skipper didn’t and Allen got it mixed up at the expense of a potential key road win — impacting the NFC playoff picture — the NFL seems to be sending a less-than-subtle message: What the referee says goes, right or wrong.