After yet another controversial loss for my Detroit Lions in last night's Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers, I feel it is time to vent some major frustration. As a lifelong Lions fan, I have seen many of these close games go against us by a few terrible officiating calls. Of course there is always the argument that we should play better than the refs, but in today's NFL it seems every game is decided by just a few crucial plays in the fourth quarter. And what really burns me more than anything is when the referees steal the outcome with a terrible controversial call.
In this post I want to touch upon the many instances in recent franchise history where the referees have literally stolen a victory from the Detroit Lions. Sure this will come off as petty sore-loser complaining, but every Lions fan can attest to the unfair biased decisions we have received.
It has given birth to the moniker, Detroit Vs Everybody, which emphasizes the disrespect the Lions have always received from the media, the league, and especially the game officials. As far as I can remember the Lions have rarely received the benefit of the doubt. I won't get into any conspiracy or corruption theories however do believe that the city of Detroit simply has a negative connotation associated to it and thus because of that, tight decisions always seem to go unfavorable for our team.
I'm only going to highlight instances from the past 10 years, in which I have become a much more dedicated fan in my post-college/working class years. (I have been a fan of the Detroit Lions since 1996, when I was 12). I have not missed a Detroit Lions game for several years now which has not always been easy living in Indianapolis where the games are never on local broadcast. Over the past 10 years I've seen some good times, a lot of mediocrity, some bad times, and just far too many heartbreaking losses at the hands of poor officiating.
September 12th, 2010: Season Opener against the Chicago Bears
I remember this one quite well as I watched it with some college friends at Audrey's house. I was excited for my new life living in Indianapolis and was fully on-board to follow my Detroit Lions that year. However their season opener was robbed by one of the most controversial calls in NFL history, the infamous "no-catch". With the game on the line, 24 seconds in the 4th quarter, Shaun Hill threw a 25 yard pass to Calvin Johnson who made an incredible catch and the touchdown was signaled. However upon further review the refs came to the decision that Megatron did not complete the catch process. While he had clear control of the ball, the refs felt that he did not survive the ground as he intentionally dropped it to celebrate the game winning touchdown. This was one of those splitting hair decisions that could have gone either way, and is just one of many instances where the Lions got the unfavorable vote.
January 4th, 2015: NFC Wild Card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys
I remember watching this game at my place with my fellow Lions fan and neighbor Josh. We were quite excited with the early start the Lions got off to taking a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter. However the game got much more choppy later on, and the Cowboys began to gain momentum. In the fourth quarter with 8:20 to go, Stafford threw a pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew which was called a pass interference and would have given the Lions the first down in good field possession to score more points. However the refs for some odd reason decided to reverse this decision against the Lions, which forced them to punt and the Cowboys were able to respond with a game winning drive.
October 5th, 2015: Monday Night Football against the Seahawks
I remember this season we had a good team however a tough early schedule and were win-less after 3 weeks. However the Monday Night Football game in week 4 against the Seahawks was a very tight game and could have provided the Lions with a much needed victory. With a minute to go in the 4th quarter the Lions were driving for the go-ahead touch down. Stafford threw a pass to Calvin Johnson who nearly reached into the endzone, however the ball was punched loose by Kam Chancellor. The officials ruled this as a fumble and gave possession to the Seattle Seahawks at the 20 yard line where they were able to close out the game. However according to rules, the Lions should have been allowed to retain possession after this play in which they could have at least tied it with a field goal. Once again a major incorrect mistake by the referees that was unfavorable for the Lions.
December 3rd, 2015: Thursday Night Football against the Packers (Motown Miracle)
I remember at this point in the season we were 4-7 and although it was going to be a long shot to make the playoffs we had some major momentum going on a 3 game winning streak. And once again as the Lions often do, we got off to a great start in the 1st quarter then began to let the game slip from us. And as Aaron Rodgers often does he began to heat up in the 4th quarter. However the game should have been over before Rodgers got his infamous chance to win it with the "motown miracle" hail mary pass. With 6 seconds to go the Packers began a last ditch effort of tosses that eventually ended up back to Rodgers who was tackled with no time left. However the refs as per usual made a terrible call in awarding Rodgers a face-mask and thus one more play. Upon replay Rodgers face-mask was never touched, he only twisted his head in a way to make it look as such. This was an unfair incorrect call that allowed Rodgers to break everyone's heart at Ford Field on the following play. This was perhaps the hardest loss for me to swallow as a Lions fan.
September 24th, 2017: Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons
I remember watching this one a couple years ago with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. Our team was off to a good start that season, undefeated at 2-0 and it seemed we were about to be 3-0 facing the Atlanta Falcons. With 10 seconds to go in the 4th quarter, Stafford threw a go-ahead touchdown to Golden Tate which should have sealed the deal. However yet again the refs decided to play spoiler to the poor Lions fans, by not only reversing the touchdown indicating that Tate was short of the goal-line, but also applying a 10-second run-off on the clock, which ended the game. Thus the refs made two controversial decisions in this one that stole the victory from the Detroit Lions.
October 14th, 2019: Monday Night Football against the Packers
This was the final straw for me as I saw this as an important game for us to take the lead in the division. The Packers are no doubt a good team this year, especially at their home field in Lambeau, and with one of the all time greats Aaron Rodgers leading them. But if you watched that game last night, you felt the Lions were the better team and deserved the win. Sure they settled for far too many field goals instead of touchdowns, but it shouldn't matter if victory was in their hands. It was stolen from them yet again by the referees on these 3 poor decisions (there were several other poor calls against the Lions that I will not mention)
In this post I want to touch upon the many instances in recent franchise history where the referees have literally stolen a victory from the Detroit Lions. Sure this will come off as petty sore-loser complaining, but every Lions fan can attest to the unfair biased decisions we have received.It has given birth to the moniker, Detroit Vs Everybody, which emphasizes the disrespect the Lions have always received from the media, the league, and especially the game officials. As far as I can remember the Lions have rarely received the benefit of the doubt. I won't get into any conspiracy or corruption theories however do believe that the city of Detroit simply has a negative connotation associated to it and thus because of that, tight decisions always seem to go unfavorable for our team.
I'm only going to highlight instances from the past 10 years, in which I have become a much more dedicated fan in my post-college/working class years. (I have been a fan of the Detroit Lions since 1996, when I was 12). I have not missed a Detroit Lions game for several years now which has not always been easy living in Indianapolis where the games are never on local broadcast. Over the past 10 years I've seen some good times, a lot of mediocrity, some bad times, and just far too many heartbreaking losses at the hands of poor officiating.
September 12th, 2010: Season Opener against the Chicago Bears
I remember this one quite well as I watched it with some college friends at Audrey's house. I was excited for my new life living in Indianapolis and was fully on-board to follow my Detroit Lions that year. However their season opener was robbed by one of the most controversial calls in NFL history, the infamous "no-catch". With the game on the line, 24 seconds in the 4th quarter, Shaun Hill threw a 25 yard pass to Calvin Johnson who made an incredible catch and the touchdown was signaled. However upon further review the refs came to the decision that Megatron did not complete the catch process. While he had clear control of the ball, the refs felt that he did not survive the ground as he intentionally dropped it to celebrate the game winning touchdown. This was one of those splitting hair decisions that could have gone either way, and is just one of many instances where the Lions got the unfavorable vote.
January 4th, 2015: NFC Wild Card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys
October 5th, 2015: Monday Night Football against the Seahawks
I remember this season we had a good team however a tough early schedule and were win-less after 3 weeks. However the Monday Night Football game in week 4 against the Seahawks was a very tight game and could have provided the Lions with a much needed victory. With a minute to go in the 4th quarter the Lions were driving for the go-ahead touch down. Stafford threw a pass to Calvin Johnson who nearly reached into the endzone, however the ball was punched loose by Kam Chancellor. The officials ruled this as a fumble and gave possession to the Seattle Seahawks at the 20 yard line where they were able to close out the game. However according to rules, the Lions should have been allowed to retain possession after this play in which they could have at least tied it with a field goal. Once again a major incorrect mistake by the referees that was unfavorable for the Lions. December 3rd, 2015: Thursday Night Football against the Packers (Motown Miracle)
I remember at this point in the season we were 4-7 and although it was going to be a long shot to make the playoffs we had some major momentum going on a 3 game winning streak. And once again as the Lions often do, we got off to a great start in the 1st quarter then began to let the game slip from us. And as Aaron Rodgers often does he began to heat up in the 4th quarter. However the game should have been over before Rodgers got his infamous chance to win it with the "motown miracle" hail mary pass. With 6 seconds to go the Packers began a last ditch effort of tosses that eventually ended up back to Rodgers who was tackled with no time left. However the refs as per usual made a terrible call in awarding Rodgers a face-mask and thus one more play. Upon replay Rodgers face-mask was never touched, he only twisted his head in a way to make it look as such. This was an unfair incorrect call that allowed Rodgers to break everyone's heart at Ford Field on the following play. This was perhaps the hardest loss for me to swallow as a Lions fan.September 24th, 2017: Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons
October 14th, 2019: Monday Night Football against the Packers
This was the final straw for me as I saw this as an important game for us to take the lead in the division. The Packers are no doubt a good team this year, especially at their home field in Lambeau, and with one of the all time greats Aaron Rodgers leading them. But if you watched that game last night, you felt the Lions were the better team and deserved the win. Sure they settled for far too many field goals instead of touchdowns, but it shouldn't matter if victory was in their hands. It was stolen from them yet again by the referees on these 3 poor decisions (there were several other poor calls against the Lions that I will not mention)
- 4th quarter (10:16) 3rd and 10; Aaron Rodgers is sacked which would force the Packers to punt, however DE Trey Flowers is flagged for illegal use of hands to the face. Upon watching the replay it is clear this was not the case and it was a completely incorrect call. Nonetheless the Packers get the first down from the bad call, and were then able to score a touchdown on the same drive.
- 4th quarter (7:08) 2nd and 6; Matthew Stafford throws a deep pass to Marvin Jones, in which he is clearly interfered with. However no call from the refs. To be fair Matt Patricia could have and should have challenged this but he did not. Nonetheless the poor no-call caused the Lions to punt it away
- 4th quarter (1:45) 3rd and 4: Aaron Rodgers throws an incomplete pass which will cause them to attempt the field goal and give the Lions one last chance at an offensive drive. However the referees yet again decide to screw us by making another incorrect call on Trey Flowers for hands to the face. This unfair call right here was the final dagger that stole the game from the Lions and handed the Packers a major divisional win.
Detroit vs Everybody
I realize that bad calls tend to go both ways and we have certainly had our share of favorable close calls. But I cannot think of an instance where the game was rewarded to us from a bad unfair call from the officials. I cannot think of a victory that left a sour taste in my mouth the way Aaron Rodgers felt last night (or these other winning teams in the games I mentioned above). There's no question the Lions have been a bad team for many years now, but they have also been a very unlucky team! In order for our franchise to ever stand a chance we need fair officiating at every game. This is the greatest league in the world, with the greatest athletes, and thus it should have the greatest officiating structure in place.
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