The Lions want answers from the NFL on the officiating gaffe at the end of their loss to the Cowboys last week, which likely cost them the 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. They've yet to get any as of Tuesday morning.
"No, haven’t heard back yet," Dan Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket.
The NFL did make something of a statement Monday through the national media, with Mike Florio reporting that "the league views the situation as an effort by the Lions to engage in deception and gamesmanship that backfired" when Detroit sent three offensive linemen to official Brad Allen before running a two-point conversion that ended in a pass to Taylor Decker. The idea was to confuse the Cowboys defense as to which of the three players would be an eligible receiver, which is perfectly legal.
"Defenses disguise coverage, isn’t that deception?" said Campbell. "So what the hell?"
Trouble was, it mostly confused Allen. He wrongly assumed that Dan Skipper was the one reporting because Skipper had reported as eligible earlier in the game, even though it was Decker who verbally reported to Allen. Either Allen didn't hear Decker or didn't take the time to sort it all out, with Penei Sewell in the group of players in front of him as well.
The NFL's other apparent defense of Allen is that he wasn't in the pregame meeting when Campbell explained this exact procedure to the officials who would be on the Lions' sideline. As Campbell said, "That's the norm." The two officials present for the meeting took the play to Allen, who talked it through with Campbell on the field prior to the game. Campbell made sure to spell out the details.
"If anything comes up (in the meeting), he asks you before the game when you’re out there in pregame warmup, which he did," Campbell said. "So listen, everything was explained. This is why you go through everything, so there’s no confusion."
Campbell said he even showed the officials the design of the play on a piece of paper, just as it's presented to the players. When it came time to call it with the game on the line, he trusted that Allen would get it right.
"You’re not worried about the officials, because you’ve already explained it," he said. "You’ve already explained the whole thing. It’s the defense you’re trying to confuse. They’re going to know what it is because the number’s going to be called out over the PA, you’re just hoping somebody falls asleep. They see Skipper run out and they’re like, 'Oh, it’s the jumbo tight end again,' and they don’t realize that 68 is the one who reported eligible. If they’re on their stuff, it’s not going to matter, anyway. If they’re listening, they’re going to know 68’s eligible, unless it gets called wrong."
Of course, that's exactly what happened. Allen announced 70 (Skipper) as eligible and Campbell didn't have any timeouts left to intervene. The play worked, until Allen's late flag erased it -- and took the Lions' potential 20-19 win with it. It's since devolved into a game of he-said, she-said, with Allen claiming Skipper -- not Decker -- reported, Skipper and Decker insisting the exact opposite, and the NFL now pointing the finger at the Lions.
The Lions might get a response from the league eventually, but it looks like they'll bear the blame for Allen's mistake.
"Look, it happened and it is what it is," said Campbell. "We move on."