The Cowboys-Lions game on December 30 was a nailbiter, but Dallas emerged
victorious 20-19 over the Detriot, though not without controversy. With
the Eagles' epic collapse against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, all the
Cowboys need to do is beat the rival Washington Commanders to clinch the
division, continuing the trend of the NFC East not having a repeat winner
since 2004. Still, this victory might have been highway robbery.

The game�s final minutes were baffling. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy
opted to run three passing plays when Dallas needed to run the ball and
get a first down, forcing Detroit to burn its timeouts and take a knee to
close the game. They were up 20-13. What were they thinking? If McCarthy
believed that Lions� quarterback Jared Goff couldn�t march downfield, he
was dead wrong.

They carved up Dallas� secondary to secure a touchdown, which tied the
game and could�ve sent it into overtime. Instead, Lions head coach Dan
Campbell opted for the two-point conversion to clinch the win. It was a
�big man� play, as Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker caught what
would�ve been the game-winning two-point conversion. It was well-executed
until an illegal touching penalty caused the game to devolve into a
circus. It highlighted the ongoing issues with the officiating this
season, with the explanation for the controversial penalty making it an
even more puzzling debacle.

Decker claimed he reported to the referee as eligible. Backup tackle Dan
Skipper did not. Yet, there are two competing narratives here, and the
consensus for many is that Detroit got robbed (via Detroit Free Press):

National analysts were up in arms across social media after the Lions had
their go-ahead 2-point conversion wiped off the board by a penalty,
leading to a 20-19 loss to the Cowboys.

In typical Lions fashion, the high-stakes, standalone game finished very
controversially when left tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass in the end
zone, seemingly putting the Lions in position to win the game.

However, the elation was quickly crushed when head referee Brad Allen
announced an illegal touching penalty on Decker.

After the game, Decker said he specifically told Allen that he was
declaring as an eligible receiver. Allen, however, said Dan Skipper
declared as an eligible receiver, despite Skipper seemingly never getting
close enough to speak with the referee.

Skipper said he never said a word to Allen, and Lions head coach Dan
Campbell added in his postgame press conference that he went over all of
the team's trick plays with the refereeing crew before the game, but there
was still seemingly a mix-up.

When the penalty was called, Campbell decided to leave his offense on the
field to attempt the 2-point play from roughly the 7-yard line. Goff was
intercepted on the play, but Cowboys star Micah Parsons jumped offsides,
giving the Lions another play. On the third try, this time from the 3,
Goff attempted a pass to tight end James Mitchell, but the throw was low
and Mitchell was unable to grab the pass, effectively ending the game.

Had the play stood, the Lions would've been up by 1 with 23 seconds left,
but instead, the Cowboys recovered an onside kick and took a knee to run
out the clock.

What a fiasco. With the rise of legal sports betting, these situations
give much credence to the narrative that the games are rigged, and not in
a funny 'It�s Always Sunny in Philadelphia' kind of way:

There were profound implications regarding the outcome of this game, so
much so that even Philadelphia Eagles fans, were pulling for a Cowboys win
due to playoff seeding. Instead, we got mayhem, and the Eagles suffered a
crushing loss against a 3-12 (now 4-12) Cardinals team the following day.

Head official Brad Allen and his crew could be precluded from officiating
any playoff games because they've been a total trainwreck this season.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/01/01/the-cowboys-lions-
games-controversial-ending-n2633021