The Dallas Cowboys are getting set to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football, so fans of America's Team got to sit back and enjoy the Sunday slate. It was a thrilling weekend of football, capped by the potential game of the year in the NFC between the Eagles and Lions.
Yet again, Philadelphia rode a strong defensive performance to a low-scoring win, but it got some timely help from the officials in crunch time.
On 3rd-and-8 with 1:50 left in regulation, Jalen Hurts threw incomplete to A.J. Brown. However, Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin was flagged for defensive pass interference, giving Philly a first down to clinch the win effectively. To say it was a generous call would be an understatement. You can catch a zoomed-in version of the play behind this link.
Eagles pull out a win on SNF thanks to horrid DPI call on Rock Ya-Sin
Sure, there was some hand-fighting, but nothing that warranted a DPI. If anything, Brown pushed off on Ya-Sin. There was a better case to call offensive pass interference. The awful call prompted normally buttoned-up NBC color commentator Chris Collinsworth to flame the officials.
"Oh, come on! Come on! That is terrible! That is an absolutely terrible call that's going to decide this football game! If anything, it's an offensive push!" Collinsworth said.
Let's make one thing clear: The Lions did not lose because of the call. Jared Goff played like he always has in an uncontrolled environment, and the Detroit offense never got off the ground. With that said, they were deprived of a chance at a game-winning drive.
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“I thought he played defense like he did the whole game,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Ya-Sin's coverage on the play in question. “Played it like he played the very first rep that we played man to man, so I wouldn’t tell him to do anything different.”
It was a horrific way to end a game that had massive implications in the NFC playoff race. And of course it was the Eagles that lucked out. It's bad enough that they've been eeking out wins all year. They only have a +33 point differential despite being 8-2. They don't need referring gaffes to guide them to more wins.
It speaks to a bigger problem in the NFL. Sunday was yet another awful display of officiating. It needs to be torn down to the studs, but fans have been screaming that for years. As much as the Ya-Sin controversy will make Cowboys fans sick to their stomachs, the Eagles won't be the last team to benefit from a horrendous call in a crucial moment.