The Detroit Lions have had a must-win game against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving circled on their calendar for quite a few weeks. The Packers are already 1-0 on the Lions headed into Ford Field in Week 13, and they're second in the NFC North.
Detroit could land back in second place and remain in the race with the Chicago Bears to win the division with a win. A loss lands them on the outside looking in.
That's why every down matters. And, it's why a missed non-touchdown call by the referees during their Thanksgiving bout was such a thorn in the side.
The referees decided to let a catch by Dontavious Wicks in the endzone stand, despite multiple replays showing that he stepped out of bounds on his second step with some questionable control of the football. This is what replays on every scoring drive is for, yet the officials completely screwed the Lions anyway by letting it stand.
Lions absolutely screwed by officials in Packers game
A clip from social media shared by The Detroit Times shows that Wicks was obviously stepping on the white of the end zone on his catch.
HOW IS THIS A TOUCHDOWN???
pic.twitter.com/tnJduIfihN
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) November 27, 2025
The Lions, thankfully, made the Packers pay on their subsequent drive. On a wildcat play, David Montgomery managed to trudge into the endzone for an ethical touchdown of his own. Still, the game should've been in the hands of the Lions after that touchdown, not the Packers.
READ MORE: 3 memorable Lions games from Thanksgiving that fans hope to relive vs. Packers
Detroit could use all the help they could get with how banged up they were headed into this game. They're not looking for extra help from the referees, necessarily, but they need to do their job in this situation. The stakes are far too high for them to be missing such an obviously terrible call that helps out the opponent.
Hopefully, the return of formerly retired center Frank Ragnow can help the Lions get some energy going in this contest. Their offense is struggling with no true pass protection, and their run game got off to a stagnant start without the proper run blocking needed to get Jahmyr Gibbs going.