Referee explains why Lions were penalized on 2-point conversion

The controversial ending in Saturday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys appears to be a classic case of he said, she said.

Detroit scored a touchdown with 23 seconds left to cut the Cowboys’ lead to 20-19. Lions head coach Dan Campbell decided to go for two and the win, and it initially looked like the call paid off. Offensive lineman Taylor Decker caught a pass in the back of the end zone off of a play-action fake from Jared Goff.

However, the 2-point conversion was negated after the officiating crew ruled that Decker did not report as eligible. The Lions tried the 2-point attempt again and failed to convert, which eventually led to them losing 20-19. You can see the sequence here.

Decker insisted after the game that he reported as eligible. Campbell also said he made the officiating crew aware during pregame that the play could be coming.

“I went to the ref, said, ‘Report.’ And yeah, I don’t know,” Decker told reporters, via Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. “It was my understanding, too, that (head coach) Dan (Campbell) brings up the possibility of those sorts of plays pregame, so I did what I was told to do, did it how we did it in practice all week, and that’s probably all we can touch on with that.”

Referee Brad Allen share a different account of what happened while speaking with pool reporter Calvin Watkins after the game. Allen said Lions offensive tackle Dan Skipper (No. 70) reported as eligible on the play, as Skipper had done “a couple of times prior” during the game. Allen said Decker (No. 68) did not report as eligible, even though he was part of the on-field conversation with Allen.

“On this particular play, (Skipper), who had reported during the game a couple of times, reported to me as eligible. Then he lined up at the tackle position, so, actually, he didn’t have to report at all,” Allen said. “(Decker), who ended up going downfield and touching the pass, did not report. Therefore, he is an ineligible (player) touching a pass that goes beyond the line, which makes it a foul. So, the issue is, (Skipper) did report, (Decker) did not.”

The video below shows Decker and Skipper walking over to Allen to tell the official something:

Why would Decker walk up to official and not report?

I guess maybe he didn’t but odd to walk there and not no? pic.twitter.com/QX3s2byAL3

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 31, 2023

Watkins noted that two flags were thrown on he play and asked Allen if there were two penalties. Allen said there were two flags because Skipper had reported as eligible and was then covered up on the line of scrimmage, which is an illegal formation. So, according to Allen, the Lions actually committed two fouls on the play — an ineligible touch and an illegal formation.

The only way to know if the officials got the call right would be to obtain audio of the conversation that took place between Decker, Skipper and Allen before the play. Either the Lions players failed to report that Decker was eligible, or Allen misinterpreted what he was told. We think the Lions may have been responsible for the confusion.