The powers at the NFL intervened.
On fourth down and one in the first quarter of the Chiefs’ 30-17 win over the Lions on Sunday, Detroit quarterback Jared Goff went in motion to set up as a wide receiver and caught what was initially ruled a touchdown on a trick play.
After the Lions finished celebrating the touchdown, a flag came down, and an illegal motion was called on Goff, nullifying the touchdown and forcing the Lions to eventually kick a field goal.
Naturally, Lions coach Dan Campbell demanded an explanation from referee Craig Wrolstad, and apparently, he was told that the league office directly intervened to call back the touchdown.
“We asked [the league] about all of that,” Campbell said when asked by the Costa and Jansen radio program on 97.1 The Ticket about the flag coming out.
“Yeah,” Campbell somberly responded when asked whether an official told him that the decision to throw a flag came from the league.
The flag came out extraordinarily late, over a minute after the touchdown was scored by the Lions.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, one of the league’s best receivers who made an outstanding block on the play, was stunned at the turn of events.
“The craziest part is we’re all celebrating. We get to the sideline. We sit down and we’re like done. And then they like blow the whistle,” St. Brown said on his eponymous podcast. “I’ve never seen a flag come out like this late.”
The Lions originally lined up to go for it again on fourth down, but a delay of game pushed them back, and they eventually kicked a field goal.
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The Chiefs have long been criticized for being on the right side of the whistle, given their popularity.
A study by the University of Texas at El Paso published last week stated Kansas City gets an extremely favorable whistle in playoff and national television games, when the league’s “financial health is at stake.”
In a data set collected of over 13,000 penalties, the Chiefs were getting 2.36 more yards per penalty on average.
Kansas City is now the Super Bowl favorite, according to oddsmakers at FanDuel, while the Lions are among the favorites to win the NFC.
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