Detroit Lions suffer yet another (illegal) slap to the face
The 5 calls that decided the game
Tracy Walker ‘unnecessary roughness’- On the first play of the second half, Aaron Rodgers threw an incomplete pass into tight coverage, Walker went for the ball, did…pretty much nothing else, and the Packers got a free 15 yards to start their drive. The Packers’ receiver was shaken up on the play, but replays show that Walker did … nothing illegal, nothing dangerous. Packers get a field goal out of the drive.
Kerryon Johnson catch/fumble– On 3rd and two following what could have been a game-saving interception, Kerryon gets a pass in the flat, gets two feet down, and starts to run. He doesn’t go to the ground, so ‘process of the catch’ is a moot point. He drops the ball, it rolls out of bounds for a first down near the Green Bay 30. This was a 50-50 call, but it was ruled a catch and fumble on the field. I don’t know what they saw on the replay that ‘indisputably’ shows an incompletion.
Illegal Hands to the Face, pt. 1- With a 22-13 lead in the 4th quarter, the Lions get a big defensive stop…until Trey Flowers is called for a penalty he’d never committed before in his NFL career. He didn’t commit it this time either, but Green Bay get a fresh set of downs. A few plays later, Rodgers casually flicks one to the corner pylon, like a middle-aged guy pondering life as he skips stones into Lake Michigan, touchdown Packers.
Pass Non-Interference-On what turned about to be Detroit’s final offensive chance of the game, Stafford went deep to Marvin Jones, the defender arrived early and raked him across the chest and the ball fell incomplete. No flag. Now that it’s reviewable, Matt Patricia technically could have challenged the call. Based on the precedent set this year, there’s no way that no-call was getting overturned though. Unless of course it was Aaron Rodgers who threw the pass.
Illegal Hands to the Face, pt. 2- After another third down stop, one that would have made for a makeable but tough field goal attempt, Flowers again got flagged for the exact same penalty, one that video evidence shows he didn’t commit the second time either. This one basically ended the game, as it put Green Bay in chip shot range, and the ability to run out the remaining time on the clock.