The Lions hosted the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football in Week 14. The game began with both teams trading field goals before a Detroit punt and Dallas penalty backed the Cowboys up on their second drive. That's when linebacker Jack Campbell sacked Dak Prescott in the end zone.
The Lions celebrated a safety while announcers Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit checked with rules analyst Terry McAulay to confirm it was the right call. McAulay said that if any part of the ball was over the line, it was a safety.
That's when the officials on the field announced that it wasn't a safety. McAulay and Michaels disagreed, but the Cowboys punted the ball away and the broadcast went to commercial.
Here's the official review of the reversal of the Lions safety. #TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/DNpi7ce36C
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) December 5, 2025
By the time they returned, the NFL had provided Prime with the footage that they said proved Prescott was out of the end zone when the sack began.
Here's the angle that was used to overturn the safety that was called on the Cowboys pic.twitter.com/KtoRZw8jgO
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) December 5, 2025
"It does appear from ... this straight down the line [angle] that the entire ball is out of the end zone on this one," said McAulay. "So given this angle, they did get it correct."
It was a disappointing call for the Lions, but they did march down the field on the ensuing possession to score the first touchdown of the game.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Prime Announcers Needed Convincing After Replay Robbed Lions of Dak Prescott Safety.
