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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Charles Curtis

The Taylor Decker penalty controversy that cost the Lions a late 2-point conversion vs. Cowboys, explained

Taylor Decker Co (Organization) Lions Brad Allen Cowboys Dan Skipper Jared Goff NFL

OK, buckle up for this one. It’s a bit of a doozy when it comes to NFL rules and some confusion involving players and officials.

In the Detroit Lions’ 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Jared Goff and Co. pulled off what might have been the game-winning two-point conversion, a pass to offensive lineman Taylor Decker that would have put them up 21-20.

But: No. There was a flag. Decker was called for illegal touching, as offensive lineman aren’t allowed to catch forward passes … UNLESS they report in to a referee that they are eligible as a tight end, something that would be announced by the ref over the loudspeaker so the defense and everyone else is aware.

So what happened? Let’s break it down:

First, here's the awesome play that was for naught

Check this out:

Again, it was a penalty against the Lions, so it wiped out this play.

Taylor Decker says he reported eligible to the referee

This is the entire crux of the argument for the Lions. In this video you can see Goff tell Decker to go report in to the referee:

Decker himself said he talked to the ref:

However, there was some confusion here, because these videos show both Decker and No. 70 Dan Skipper go over to the official:

We’ll get to that in a sec.

The referee, Brad Allen, announced Skipper (No. 70) not Decker as eligible

OK, so this is where things get fuzzy. Decker — as you saw above — said he reported in. But per referee Brad Allen in a pool report, it was Skipper who did it:

Videos show Decker appearing to get the nod

Check this angle out: Decker and another player walk toward Allen, and some people think Allen nodded at No. 68 (Decker) and not at No. 70 (Skipper), who was running up as Allen walked away:

Sooo … uh, what happened here?

Some Cowboys thought Decker was eligible

 

But not head coach Mike McCarthy:

Was this on Decker?

A question being asked by some people after the game:

Either way, this is a mess all around, and no one is happy with the explanations for it.

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