The Detroit Lions scored a touchdown to pull within one point of the Dallas Cowboys with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game at AT&T Stadium.
Lions coach Dan Campbell kept his offense on the field and elected to go for two. Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed the pass to left tackle Taylor Decker in the end zone, giving Detroit a 21-20 lead.
But there was a flag thrown on the play.
Officials nullified the score by calling the Lions for illegal touching, ruling that offensive lineman Dan Skipper (No. 70) and not Decker (No. 68) had reported as eligible.
“I explain everything pregame to the [officicating] team,” Campbell said after the game. “I did that ... The explanation [given to him by officials after the penalty] was that 70 [Skipper] reported.”
Campbell, who was visibly upset by what had just transpired, added that he didn't 'want to talk about it' anymore.
Skipper spoke with the media in the locker room after the game and said he “did not say a word to the ref,” and replays appeared to show that Decker was speaking with with head referee Brad Allen before the play, not Skipper.
“All I really want to say on it, just so I don’t get myself into trouble, I did exactly what coach told me to do,” Decker said, via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News. “I went to the ref and said, ‘Report.’ It’s my understanding, too, that Dan [Campbell] brings up the possibility of those sorts of plays pregame. I did what I was told to do and did it how we did it in practice all week. That’s all I want to touch on with that.”
ESPN's officiating analyst, John Perry, spoke with SportsCenter Anchor Scott Van Pelt after the game, and opinioned that Allen never saw Decker attempt to report as eligible.
"I think in this case, when you watch Brad [Allen], and his movements, and him focusing on No. 70, I don't think Decker and Brad ever connected."
In the pool report released after the game by Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, Allen said Skipper reported as eligible and Decker didn't.