The Lions' 31-24 Thanksgiving loss to the Packers was marred by a couple officiating controversies that demanded answers from the NFL.
The first controversy came on the Packers' first touchdown, a 22-yard pass on fourth down from Jordan Love to Dontayvion Wicks where it appeared that Wicks never had complete control of the ball with both feet in bounds. The officials quickly reviewed it and upheld the call on the field of a touchdown.
NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth said in a pool report after the game that "we saw control with his right foot down and his left down in the end zone and then a third step out of the end zone."
Asked if there was discussion about a bobble after his right foot came off the turf, Butterworth said, "No. These receivers are that good, he controls the ball with his hand. But with his hands or arm above his body, while pulling it down, by rule, he can actually pull that ball into his body as he completes the process of a catch."
The second, more egregious gaffe came directly before the Packers' second touchdown when Green Bay's right guard was flagged for a false start on 4th and 1 that likely would have forced the Packers into a field goal only for the officials to rule that Matt LaFleur called a timeout before the penalty.
Television replays showed that the false start clearly happened first. The Packers were granted the timeout all the same and Love threw a touchdown to Romeo Doubs on the ensuing snap to give Green Bay a 17-7 lead.
Asked how the officials came to that conclusion, head referee Ron Torbert said, "The timeout was called before the false start happened." The rest of the exchange between Torbert and the pool reporter is below.
Question: It looked like Matt LaFleur was covering his mouth at the time the penalty occurred. At what point did the official hear him ask for a timeout?
Torbert: Before the false start.
Question: How did you reach the conclusion that the timeout occurred first?
Torbert: We talked about it on the field. We recognized the timeout called, and that the timeout was called before the false start.