Rex Ryan Furious with Cowboys-Lions Refs on Late Call: ‘This is a Huge Mistake’
Listen, I’m rarely one to blame the refs. Sure, there are bad calls, but those happen on both sides. I see sports like life: Sometimes, things just aren’t fair, and you have to forge ahead, even in the face of bad calls. But, I’ve never seen anything like what happened last night (Dec. 30) at the Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys game. Brad Allen’s late penalty that took away the Lions’ 2-point conversion is hard to ignore. Today, many NFL insiders are saying this was a bum call, and they’re mad about it. In fact, Rex Ryan is super mad with the Cowboys-Lions refs, and even more so that Detroit is getting heat for it.
With 23 seconds left on the clock, the Lions took a one-point lead when offensive tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass in the end zone on a two-point conversion try. But, those points were taken away after the play. Decker was flagged for illegal touching, even though there is video footage showing he seemingly reported as eligible before the play. Plus, Campbell goes over all the “trick” plays with the refs before the game. That call resulted in a Dallas victory, 20-19. By the way, on a side note, sorry Dallas friends, but your team didn’t look great last night. For playing a game that mattered as much to the Cowboys as this one on home turf, to have it come down to a blotched call and beating the Lions by one point just isn’t a good look.
Rex Ryan appeared Sunday morning on ESPN and expressed his distaste in what went down with the Cowboys-Lions refs.
“This is a huge mistake. But the thing that bothers me the most is that we’re putting blame on the players. Stop. The players did everything right,” Ryan said. “Quit covering somebody’s butt. Be a man and take responsibility. It’s BS.” Adam Schefter of ESPN also took to X to say the call was “the latest and most egregious example that the NFL has an officiating issue.” The NFL is silent right about the whole thing right now, but they’ll likely respond at some point. They probably will after today’s games. What’s more, Allen’s reffing crew is expected to be demoted and ruled out for the playoffs, according to Schefter. This isn’t the first time this season Allen’s officiating has changed the course of games. Reach out to me with your thoughts on Facebook here and other socials here. Find my podcast here.