It wouldn’t be a brutal Detroit Lions loss without some officiating controversy.
The Lions were in the midst of a furious comeback to keep their season alive, but two offensive pass interference penalties erased a pair of go-ahead scores in the final seconds of the game.
The first came on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. It was a classic pick play, and Lions rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa was called for running into the Steelers’ defensive back, allowing St. Brown to spring wide open.
Typically, this is going to get called if it doesn’t look like the receiver is running a route. Contact like this is not permitted if it’s more than 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage. It’s pretty close to the goal line when the contact was made, so it’s debatable. Additionally, one has to wonder if it was the Steelers defender redirecting TeSlaa into the other defensive back that caused the pass interference.
A few plays later on the final play of the game, Goff targeted St. Brown, who was stopped short of the goal line, but eventually lateraled it to Jared Goff, who leapt into the end zone for the game-winning score. But again, the Lions were called for pass interference, with officials arguing a push-off from St. Brown. Take a look:
The officials gathered for well over a minute to discuss what they were going to call. And after a lengthy discussion, they said it was a touchdown, but the pass interference obviously negated the play, and with zeroes on the clock, the game was over. Per the official rulebook, when an offensive penalty occurs with no time remaining, the game is over.
It’s probably worth noting that the Lions would’ve gotten the benefit of what probably should have been forward progress stopped on the St. Brown lateral had the penalty not been called, but it doesn’t matter.
Do you agree with the calls or do you think the Lions got hosed (again)?
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