The Detroit Lions are living in a weird NFL universe right now, one where they simply do not draw pass interference calls. At all. Ever.
And on Friday, Dan Campbell basically said exactly what every Lions fan is thinking:
Yeah… we don’t get it either.
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Detroit Has Drawn ZERO PI Flags in 2025
Not one pass interference call in their favor through 11 weeks. That makes the Lions the only team in the NFL with zero defensive PI penalties drawn.
This isn’t just a 2025 problem, either; last season they only drew one PI flag the entire year.
For reference, NFL teams have been the beneficiary of an average of 9.05 PIs per season from 2020-2025.
Detroit drew one.
So what’s going on?
Meanwhile… 7 PI Flags Have Been Called Against Detroit This Season
This is what makes the whole thing even weirder:
• Lions PI drawn: 0
• Lions PI committed: 7 (so far in 2025)
And it gets better (or worse, depending on your mood):
Detroit had 18 defensive PI penalties called against them in 2024, including the postseason.
So it’s not that officials are allergic to throwing PI flags, they just only seem to throw them against the Lions.
Campbell: “I Don’t Know. I Don’t Know, I Don’t Know.”
Before practice, Campbell was asked the obvious: Why does Detroit never seem to get a PI call?
Campbell wasn’t pretending. He was genuinely baffled.
“No, it’s interesting. We’ve talked about that before… As far as everything else, I don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know.”
It was pure, authentic Dan Campbell confusion, the same tone he uses when someone brings up analytics he doesn’t care about.
Is Amon-Ra St. Brown Too Strong to Draw a Flag?
Campbell did float one theory involving Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“Saint is so freaking strong that he can pull himself out of being held pretty good… whereas some other guys, if you don’t have a lot of strength, at one tug, you can really notice it.”
Translation: St. Brown muscles through contact so well that refs don’t realize he’s being interfered with.
Basically, he’s too good at fighting through PI to get PI.
Detroit Teaches “Violent Separation,” and Maybe It’s Working Too Well
Campbell emphasized that winning through contact is a major coaching point.
“It’s about separating. You do everything you can to separate violently… and I do feel like our guys do a good job of separating.”
If receivers explode out of contact, officials may think the DB played it clean.
So in a weird way, elite technique might actually be hurting Detroit’s officiating luck.
So What’s the Real Reason? Nobody Knows. Not Even the Lions.
No scheme issues.
No effort issues.
No communication issues.
Detroit simply cannot buy a pass interference call, no matter how obvious it looks on replay, no matter how often Campbell politely (or not-so-politely) chats with the officials.
And unless something changes soon, the Lions will have to keep creating separation the hard way, because the refs sure aren’t helping.