Detroit Lions find another way to lose in controversy

Once again, the Detroit Lions find themselves on the wrong end of an unusual circumstance and little-known NFL rule in the to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Detroit Lions are no strangers to losing games in which controversy is the major post-game talking point. Whether it be Calvin Johnson not “completing the process of the catch”, a pass interference call made then picked up or an uncalled illegal bat of the ball out of the end zone, it seems like it’s always the Lions involved in “almost too strange to be true” losses.

Add another rule to the list of rules we only know because of Lions losses.

The Lions defense was shredded for most of the day agains the Atlanta Falcons but managed to come up with three big intereceptions to keep the game close. They finally forced the first Falcons punts of the game in the fourth quarter and the Lions found themselves down four points but with the ball for a potential game-winning drive.

For a moment, it appeared the Lions had pulled off another comeback win. For a moment.

Golden Tate appeared to have scored a touchdown, and the play was called as such on the field. However, the play went to review and it was determined that Tate was down by contact just prior to breaking the goal line.

Normally that wouldn’t be a problem aside from the obvious, but because the ruling was changed to a call that would have kept the clock running, a ten second runoff was enforced. With just eight seconds remaining on the clock, the runoff ended the game, costing the Lions their fourth down attempt to win the game.

Instead of talking about another fourth quarter comeback and the Lions remaining unbeaten by knocking off the defending NFC champions, it will be the NFL rulebook that gets most of the discussion following the loss.

In essence, the Lions were penalized because of an incorrect call on the field. To make matters worse, the correct call on the field would have been defensive pass interference, as Tate made the catch after having a defender draped all over him. That was part of the reason he was even in position to be down by contact to begin with.

Make no mistake, the Lions were far from perfect and did plenty on their own to lose the game. But every game has ebbs and flows and all a team can ask for is a chance to win at the end. The Lions had that chance, but came up one chance short because of a wrong call on the field and the enforcement of a call that few, if any, fans knew before it was announced.