The Detroit Lions' 16-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles has left the franchise a difficult hill to climb, falling to 6-4 on the season. It is a loss that pushes the Lions behind the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears in the NFC North race, and they are clinging to the final wildcard spot in the conference. It is important to note that a lot went wrong offensively for Detroit, with the majority of the team's mistakes being self-inflicted.
A piece of this was making the worst time of history, as Josh Dubow of the Associated Press noted, pointing out the "Lions are 1st team since at least 2000 to be stopped on 4 fourth downs before the start of the 4th quarter." Still, this doesn't make the egregious call that ended the game any easier to swallow for Detroit fans.
After a gift of a field goal, the Lions kicked the ball back to the Eagles and were one play away from having a chance to drive for the game-tying touchdown with plenty of time left on the clock and a timeout at their disposal. Instead, the officials would flag Rock Ya-Sin for a phantom PI call on star receiver A.J. Brown to gift wrap the Eagles the win and rob the Lions of one last chance at a magical finish.
Lions Robbed of Chance at Redemption with Awful PI Call Ending Comeback Hopes
Brown and Ya-Sin had been hand-fighting all night, and there was nothing new on this particular play. If anything, the receiver pushed the receiver, with the broadcast even going out of its way to note that it was an unfortunate way for the game to end. Regardless, it isn't as if Detroit didn't have its fair share of chances, with the defense limiting Philly's attack to 16 points and continually finding ways to get stops.
It was a Herculean effort from the Lions' defense in a game that displayed the offensive concerns may go deeper than just former play-caller John Morton. Head coach Dan Campbell had an incredible debut calling plays a week ago, but was limited to 9 points on Sunday night with three of those being gifted by the Eagles, following an odd decision to go for a 4th down conversion, which they failed to pick up.
For the Lions, the story of this game won't be that they were robbed as much as it is taking personal responsibility for the lack of execution. This isn't a team that will cry to the league or point out the one time the officials let them down. As egregious and unforgivable as the call was, the Lions had so many chances before the officials decided to write their own ending to the game.
Now, the franchise will have to fight an uphill battle to get back into the division race and hold onto a wildcard spot that is suddenly in question.