Let me begin by saying that there is no way in hell that there is any type of conspiracy when it comes to the Detroit Lions and NFL officials. Some are convinced that the NFL hates the Lions and that is why so many bad calls or missed calls have gone against them over the years. If you believe that, you also believe the earth is flat.
That being said, on Sunday, the officials missed what should have been a delay of game penalty against the Baltimore Ravens that would have pushed them out of field goal range. Had it been called, the Ravens would have had to attempt a Hail Mary (which they probably would have connected on) rather than a 66-yard, NFL record field goal attempt by Justin Tucker, which, of course, he bounced in for the win.
On Monday night, Chris Burke of The Athletic pointed out a ‘hard to believe’ fact about the officials from the Lions’ loss to the Ravens.
“This is kinda hard to believe, but the referee (Scott Novak) and back judge (Terrence Miles) from yesterday’s Ravens-Lions game also were part of the officiating crews for the Lions-Packers Hail Mary game in 2015 *and* the Lions-Falcons 10-second runoff game in 2017.”
Once again, I do not believe there is any conspiracy here but it sure is interesting!
This is kinda hard to believe, but the referee (Scott Novak) and back judge (Terrence Miles) from yesterday’s Ravens-Lions game also were part of the officiating crews for the Lions-Packers Hail Mary game in 2015 *and* the Lions-Falcons 10-second runoff game in 2017.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) September 28, 2021
There has been many times over the years that the Refs have shafted the Lions. A few years back they was beating Dallas in Dallas in a playoff game. It only takes a call here and there to change momentum, yes, questionable calls. Did Calvin Johnson catch that pass, you know, the Johnson rule. Could mention a few others. By the way, the Lions are not my team. The earth is flat. Refs control momentum.
The same officials/referees that supposedly missed the delay of game on the Ravens’ play before Tucker’s record-breaking 66Y FG also overturned the call on the field of no TD on the Lions’ previous drive (despite no evidence that the ball crossed the plane before the RB was ruled down by contact). Earlier in the same game, they overturned the ruling on the field that the Ravens had recovered a fumbled lateral pass from Swift to Goff. Anyone who watched the entire game…and not just the last two minutes…knows that Lions fans need to take several seats. They earned that L, even after getting several gifts from the zebras; they should wear it with pride, and just be happy this game was even as close as it was.