The NFL apparently admitted that officials erred in calling a field-flipping pass-interference penalty on Nevin Lawson in the Detroit Lions' 34-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers last weekend, and Lawson said he'd like to see stiffer penalties for officials who get big calls wrong.
"My whole thing is I feel like these refs should be accountable for all the calls that they make," Lawson said in the locker room today. "Think about it: This is our jobs out here, so win or losses or the way how we play the game, if we do certain things wrong, we get fined, we're accountable. So these refs have to be accountable in some type of way. They should definitely have to get some type of consequences for making wrong calls, especially game-crucial calls that could decide wins or losses. So I definitely feel like there needs to be more strict consequences. I mean, if they make a wrong call, I don't know what happens, but I'm assuming, they just, what, get a slap on the wrist and, 'Oh, you made a bad call. Go to the next game.' What's the consequence?"
Told that officials' playoff assignments are determined by how they perform in the regular season, Lawson said, "It needs to be more than that, to be honest."
"I mean, we get fined for doing wrong things on the field," Lawson said. "They should get fined, too, for making wrong, crucial calls."
Lawson was flagged for pass interference on the first play of the second quarter last week, when he grabbed rookie wide receiver Trevor Davis' right arm as the two ran stride-for-stride down the middle of the field. Davis fell to the ground after he and Lawson got their feet tangled near the goal line, and the Packers took possession at the 2-yard line following the 66-yard penalty.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers on the next play, giving the Packers a 21-3 lead.
Both Lawson and Lions coach Jim Caldwell said after the game that they didn't think the play warranted a penalty, and Lawson said the league told the Lions this week that a flag shouldn't have been thrown.
"It's definitely frustrating because, you get that call wrong and the worst part about it is that affected that drive and we gave up a touchdown. So can't get that back," Lawson said. "So the only thing we get is an apology, so it's frustrating. But like I said, we just got to continue to play and move on."
Caldwell declined comment on what the NFL said about the play in its communication with the Lions this week, and an NFL spokesperson said the league does not comment on its communication with clubs about officiating.
"I'm not allowed to comment on any of those kinds of things, information that we receive from the league in that regard," Caldwell said. "We are able to teach from it, though, which is what we do."
Lawson said one of the Lions' assistant coaches told him of the NFL's interpretation of the play. He said it didn't surprise anyone in the Lions' locker room.
"We all knew it," he said. "We all watched film, we all knew it wasn't a pass interference. But like I say, it just sucks. But we can't worry about that. That's the past. We focus on Chicago, so that's what it is."
Going forward, Lawson said he hopes his penalty becomes part of the discussion on whether pass interference should be a reviewable play.
"For us, that would be awesome because, nine out of 10 (pass-interference penalties), I feel like those calls should be reviewable because I don't think a lot of those calls should be called," Lawson said. "They never call a receiver's pushing off, and they do that 99 percent of the time. But they don't call that. So if they could review some of those things, they could see what's really going on."
