Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is aware of the theory the NFL helped the Dallas Cowboys win on Saturday night. He gave his opinion on the idea the NFL is hurting the Lions’ opportunity to earn a better seed in the playoffs.
The Lions were on the short end of a controversial call in Dallas. The Lions claim they went through the proper procedure to declare an offensive tackle eligible to be a receiver. The officiating crew calling the game said they didn’t.
The NFL took two game-winning points away from the Lions. The Lions, unable to convert their subsequent two attempts at a two-point conversion with 23 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, were defeated 21-20 by the Cowboys. The Cowboys could host the Lions in the playoffs based on that call.
Dan Campbell speaks on the Cowboys’ win
Many Lions fans are claiming the NFL rigged the Cowboys’ win. According to Nick Shook with the NFL, Campbell told Lions fans not to believe that narrative:
“For any average viewer who might interpret Allen’s ruling — which was either a mistake, the result of unfortunate miscommunication, or a combination of both — as displaying bias against the upstart Lions, who have maintained they followed player reporting protocol properly and didn’t see the fruits of their process, Campbell disagrees with that notion and pushed back against even entertaining such thought.
“Don’t buy into that. Don’t live in that world, man,” Campbell said. “That will just pull you down. If it makes you feel any better, the NFL is against every team, all right? Because look, I was in New Orleans, so, I know what that feels like. And, but you know what? We walked away. Even in that game, we had chances to win before all that happened, but that one ended it. That was it, man.”
Campbell is saying the right things to the media before the Lions postseason. He doesn’t need officials coming into the game with bias against Detroit for salty comments after Week 17.
The NFL needs to clean up their officiating before the playoffs. There’s no reason why officials can’t get basic procedure calls right. If the NFL continues to allow poor officiating crews to change endings, more and more fans will claim the league is rigged in the sports betting era.
That’s not good for long-term business.