The Detroit Lions came up just short in their late comeback attempt against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but that certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort from wide receiver Kenny Golladay.
Realizing that the Lions needed all the help they could get with Matthew Stafford sidelined, Golladay found a way to trick the officials into awarding the Lions a couple of extra yards on their final drive of the game. With Detroit trailing 20-13 and about 20 seconds remaining in the game, Golladay caught a pass from Jeff Driskel and appeared to gain about a yard. He quickly popped up and spotted the ball himself so Driskel could spike it, and he gave his team an extra two yards in the process.
Kenny Golladay spots the ball himself almost two yards ahead of where went down.
Ref: OK cool, thanks Kenny that looks okay.pic.twitter.com/J3nWLTwqKF
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) November 10, 2019
Things were moving so quickly that the officials seemed to not notice, but Golladay clearly pulled a fast one. The Bears stopped the Lions on the next couple of plays to seal the win, so fortunately the stunt from Golladay didn’t impact the result.
Golladay is having a breakout season this year with 38 receptions for 697 yards and eight touchdowns through nine games. The Lions will need him to keep performing at a high level with the uncertainty surrounding Stafford’s injury, and you have to give the third-year receiver credit for finding an edge any way he can. While morally questionable, that self-spot move was pretty savvy.
