NFL defends call that nixed Lions 2-point conversion in video sent to all teams

The NFL’s officiating department, in a video sent to all 32 teams on Tuesday, defended referee Brad Allen’s controversial decision to nullify a two-point conversion that would have put the Detroit Lions ahead of the Dallas Cowboys late in a game that had playoff seeding implications. 

The video, narrated by Walt Anderson, the league’s senior vice president of officiating training and development, offered the league’s first detailed explanation of an officiating call that came under heavy scrutiny on Saturday, when left tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass that appeared to give Detroit a 21-20 lead over the Cowboys with 23 seconds remaining. Allen waved off the play, calling Decker’s reception an illegal touch, and the Cowboys won 20-19, prompting immediate and sharp questions from the Lions and fans on social media about the sequence and how it was officiated. 

The video, obtained by The Athletic from a source with a team that had received it, used annotated footage from different angles of the key moments before and during the penalized conversion. It made comparisons with a play from earlier in the game to contend that the Lions had not properly informed an official of Decker’s eligibility, preventing the officials from informing the Cowboys defense that he could legally catch a pass. Anderson also argued that Detroit lined up in an improper formation because another offensive tackle, Dan Skipper, was declared eligible before lining up between two offensive linemen. 

“It is the responsibility of the player to be sure that change in status is clearly communicated to the referee by both a physical signal with his hands up and down in front of his chest and to report to the referee his intention to report as an eligible receiver,” Anderson said in the video.

A league spokesperson said in a statement that the video was sent to team coaches and general managers, “reminding them of rules pertaining to players reporting a change in position.”

The video, unusual for this point in the season, came two months after another unusual move by NFL officials, when Anderson went on a live “Monday Night Football” broadcast to directly explain a non-call during another Lions game.

In the 1 minute 44 second video on Tuesday, a clip of Skipper was shown in a yellow circle as he reported himself eligible during a play in the first quarter by running onto the field with his left arm raised and his right arm near his chest. The video then cut to the moments before the nullified conversion, and showed Skipper again gesturing similarly with his left arm raised and his right arm near his chest. 

Allen had said after the game that Skipper had reported as eligible rather than Decker. In the video, Anderson backed that assertion and said that the Lions lined up in an illegal formation as a result. The video showed Skipper lined up in a covered position on the right side of the line, with the offensive tackle Penei Sewell and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to his right. 

Anderson also said that players needed to communicate their eligibility physically and verbally. Decker said after the game that he verbally reported and the league’s own video shows he physically reported, too. The video shows Skipper physically gesturing, but he said that he did not say anything to the referee.

In the video, Anderson did not recognize that Decker reported as eligible, despite the fact that one part of the pre-snap clip clearly showed Decker making the gesture.

“I did exactly what Coach told me to do,” Decker said Saturday. “I went to the ref, said, ‘Report’ and, uh, yeah.”

“This process has been in place for many years and is intended to provide proper notification to the defense when players are lined up in positions that their number would not allow,” Anderson said.

Two weeks ago, the NFL’s officiating department told teams that its video analysis for Week 15 would be the last time this season it would give a league-wide assessment of how rules are enforced, a practice used weekly to emphasize several points and discuss scenarios involving multiple teams and games. 

It reversed that on Tuesday, deciding that the controversy at the end of the Cowboys’ win was enough to warrant its own tape. 

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(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)