While the Detroit Lions didn't do much on offense throughout their embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11, they looked like they could be in position to make a late game rally thanks to them owning three timeouts and some good chunk of clock in the fourth quarter.
It all came down to their defense, which had been stellar all evening, to get a huge fourth-down stop on the Eagles. Jalen Hurts passed to the outside, and it looked like that's exactly what Rock Ya-Sin had secured for the Lions - a stop. Instead, a flag flew out of the closest referee's hand, resulting in a pass interference call against Ya-Sin.
That became a first down for Philadelphia, which then led to a game-sealing first down from Saquon Barkley to end the nightmare that was this game. That call was pivotal, huge, and the wrong one to make. So much so that the oft-frustrating Cris Collinsworth couldn't help but note how terrible the call was:
***"That is an absolutely terrible call that's going to decide this football game. If anything, it's an offensive push,"***said Collinsworth after the call was made. And, he was absolutely right to say it.
Lions miss out on opportunity for late game drive with weak PI call
Rock Ya-Sin is called for pass interference on this…. pic.twitter.com/AdF4wjduaE
— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) November 17, 2025
There is absolutely no reason to be calling pass interference on this call. A.J. Brown, who had been off all evening, clearly pushed off of Ya-Sin in coverage. It should've been an OPI and a subsequent punt situation for the Eagles. Instead, they were handed the prime opportunity to seal the game shut and yank opportunity from the Lions' hands.
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To be fair, the Lions should never have been in a position to lose on a call like this. Their offense was completely missing all evening, mostly thanks to how good the Eagles' defense played. Nine points is not going to get it done against Philadelphia, so the likelihood of the offense suddenly piecing it together for a game-winning drive was low.
Still, the refs removed that opportunity entirely from Detroit by making such a ridiculous call here. You know it's bad when the national broadcast crew is incensed about it, too, which is what Collinsworth expressed in the moment.
Detroit is now in no man's land within the NFC North, sitting in second place behind the Chicago Bears and heading into a tumultuous portion of their schedule.