Are you READY for some FOOTBALL!!!

That was a pretty good game.

Lawrence redeemed his self

Cowboys are going to have to play better against your Packers...frozen tundra or not!!!

We'll there was bad calls both sides

Roughing punter against Detroit 1st down but no call against Detroit when they hit the punter in the red zone

If you guys had watched the whole play you would have seen the receiver pulling on the defenders face mask. There was no way he could have turned around, then the ball hit him in the back. He through his hands up because the receiver grabbed his face mask. If anything it should have been pass interference on the offence!

You'd have your hand up too after you got molested!

As it has been explained, it was not pass interference as he did not impede the receivers ability to catch the (underthrown) ball. They got it right. The ref who thru the flag never had the correct angel on the play to make the call to begin with he just figured that since the defender never looked back for the ball that he interfered with the receiver. It is not a penalty to not look back for the ball, only if there is contact that prevents the receiver from catching the ball. Both players have equal right to the ball and their position. There was minimal/incidental contact by both players. He was never going to catch that ball and therefore never was impeded by the defender access to catch the ball... The flag should have never been thrown. If he had thrown a better pass and the receiver could have caught the ball.... well you know what they say about my "aunt" and "if".

This shot gives a nice view of what happened. The ball was not underthrown, the defender didn't turn his head to make a play on the ball, the defender made contact beyond five yards before the ball arrived. That's is interference, no question about it. Refs got it very wrong.

IMO...Detroit never should have let themselves get in to a position where a penalty would be such a decisive factor in the game. They were the better team...for most of the game. But they let it get to that point and the Cowboys prevailed.

Bad officiating or not, Detroit is just as much at fault for dominating the game and then blowing the lead by scoring only 3 points in the 2nd half. They dominated Dallas the entire first half and then did nothing the 2nd half. You don't win playoff games sitting on a lead.


Also, I watched the play over and over again. Hitchens was holding about 2 yards off the line and let go. Shoulda been called there. But after he let go, Pettigrew had his hand on Hitchens' left shoulder pad and looked like he was pulling on him. Holding shoulda been called there too. Hitchens was leaning forward, and seemingly unable to turn around. His head moved to his left but his body didn't. The ball happened to arrive at the same time that Hitchens threw his left arm up to take down Pettigrew's right hand holding (which was Pettigrew's pass interfence at that point since he hampered Hitchens' chance at getting the ball) but Pettigrew let go to try and catch the ball. Hithcens' back was turned and he was not aware of the ball until it hit him in the back. Hitchens' flailing at Pettigrew's hold was pass interference at well but since he was unaware that the ball was coming his way, I don't think it would have been called anyway. The ball was under thrown. It hit Hitchens in the back and Pettigrew had to reach for it since he was well past the point where the ball was thrown. If Hitchens wasn't in the way, Pettigrew would have caught that just above his knees.

I saw 4 penalties there. A hold by Detroit, a hold by Dallas, an offensive pass interference and defensive pass interference.

It was an ugly play. Maybe the right call was made? Maybe it wasn't? But it didn't decide the game. Detroit's poor 2nd half showing decided the game and gave the pretty tenacious Dallas offense a chance to close the gap when it mattered. That was Detroit's game to lose and they did. Either team deserves to move on and either team has a legit shot at going to the Super Bowl 'cause either team is capable of beating any of the teams left in it.

It was an awesome game though! Talk about drama!

I think the fact that every sports radio outlet around the country is talking about that call and seem to share the unanimous opinion that it was a blown call speaks volumes. I also agree it didn't decide the game, still had a 4th down left to get those yards and elected to punt the ball instead so that's on Caldwell.

I think the larger issue is how the calls are handled. First, you have the refs calling playoff games differently than the regular season, and the NFL openly admits this. If it's a penalty in week one it should also be in the playoffs. More importantly, officiating needs to fall under the scope of the review system. It wouldn't have mattered here because this was a call that wasn't made vs a bad call that was made, but calls for things like roughing and targeting and unsportsmanlike moves should be reviewed.

This call didn't decide the game, but there have been calls during the regular season that did decide the game. Once one of those happens in a playoff game then the NFL will step up and fix the broken system, but probably not until then. It's a matter of when, not if...

ken brydson wrote: »

Bet this guy is pissed....

Hey Ken, maybe if Dallas ends up winning the Super Bowl, the guy can get another tattoo of a cowboy roping in that lion.

You know what kills me is that the haters are saying this gave the Cowboys the win. HELLO, the Lions had the lead when this happened!!!

nooshinjohn wrote: »

gce wrote: »

You know what kills me is that the haters are saying this gave the Cowboys the win. HELLO, the Lions had the lead when this happened!!!

I am a Vikings fan, so I have no dog in the fight, but it looked to me that the game was one of the most poorly officiated games I have seen in a long time.

I would agree if you would include the running into and the not running into the kicker calls as well as the shot that Romo took to the back of the knees on the winning touchdown pass.

Yes it was a bad call that's why the guy that made it picked up the flag when he realized his mistake