Thursday's NFC North showdown between the Lions and Packers has lived up to its Thanksgiving Day primetime billing so far, with both sides dialing up some of their best offensive plays in a high-scoring affair through three quarters.
Green Bay went up 31-21 over Detroit in part thanks to a controversial touchdown they scored late in the first half. The Packers were set up in the Lions' red zone and going for it on a 4th-and-short when the team appeared to commit a false start before the snap. The game's refs initially threw a flag for a false start before taking it back and claiming LaFleur had called a timeout in time.
Did he? A field-level video replay strongly suggests that he did not.
In the video below, you can see a Green Bay offensive lineman commit a false start, which then prompted LaFleur (seen in the top left corner) to signal for a timeout. It's possible LaFleur verbally shouted for a timeout before making the 'T' gesture, but given that his play-calling sheet was fully covering his mouth before that moment, it's extremely hard to prove.
LaFleur was covering his mouth with the play sheet as the false start was happening, so I can’t imagine he verbally asked for a timeout.
— Richard Silva (@rich_silva18) November 27, 2025
A big miss by the refs.
pic.twitter.com/LiUbLpmLmt
Fox's Tom Rinaldi claimed LaFleur indeed tried to verbally call a timeout ahead of time, but the refs didn't hear him due to the roaring home crowd at Ford Field. Fox announcer Kevin Burkhardt, on the other hand, seemed to sympathize with the angry Lions fans and said on the broadcast, "They got a break."
Another look at Matt LaFleur trying to call timeout.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 27, 2025
Announcer Kevin Burkhardt: “They got a break.” https://t.co/3tnACzL1OA pic.twitter.com/kfpmdCBO2G
The postgame pool report should provide more clarity on exactly what the refs saw or heard on their game-changing call—one that could unfortunately prove to be a deciding factor in what's been a close contest so far.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Video Shows Matt LaFleur’s Late Timeout Call That Bailed Out Packers Before TD.
