7 Missed Penalties by the NFL Referees That Contributed to the Jordan Love-Led Packers Losing 31–34 Against Jared Goff’s Lions

Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers must be fuming right now. Taking on the Detroit Lions amidst their historic run, that too on the road, was never going to be easy. Despite the odds, the team gave Jared Goff & Co. a run for their money but missed out on the ‘W’ by just 3 points [31-34], a deficit they could have closed if some of the contentious calls made by the refs had gone against the Lions.

Not one, but seven questionable calls went against Green Bay. Here is a list of all of them.

1] Love gets punched, no penalty given

Early in the first quarter of the game, Detroit pass rusher Za’Darius Smith landed a heavy right hand onto Love’s face as he tried to wriggle free from a group of defenders. Even the commentators on air were surprised by the ferocity of the contact, but, there was no call against Za’Darius.

If the officiating crew had caught this, the Packers would have extended a drive in the first half.

2] No facemask penalty called on Amon-Ra St. Brown

In the Packers’ red zone, just five yards from the end zone, Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown, like Smith, rushed into Packers safety Xavier McKinney’s face. The contact was so strong that it not only ripped McKinney’s face mask but also caused his helmet to pop off. Yet, no call was given.

3] Amon-Ra given way too much freedom

Apart from the McKinney incident, Amon-Ra St. Brown was also seen making an offensive pass interference by pushing off Packers defenders while taking the stance to catch. However, the WR wasn’t punished. And the Packers gained a few more yards with the play.

4] Packers Pass rushers get their collars grabbed

In one of the most telling visuals of the game, Packers pass rusher Keisean Nixon was seen getting his collar grabbed and getting pulled from behind by a Lions OL.

The grab was significant because Nixon would have had a one-on-one duel with the QB. But no penalty (usually a 15-yard one) was handed for the horse-collar tackle. The holding too, which should have resulted in a 10-yard penalty, went unnoticed.

5] The Christian Watson controversy

With just five minutes left in the game, the Packers offense scored the go-ahead touchdown on a run by Josh Jacobs. However, the play was called off after the officials flagged Christian Watson for an offensive pass interference on Kerby Joseph.

On the replays, it looked more like the Lions’ defender had crashed into Watson than the other way around. Considering this came right after the missed Amon-Ra call, Matt LaFleur and his team were left fuming.

6] Moments later, the Lions run the same play

After the Watson incident brought the game to a standstill, the matchup resumed with the Lions running the same pick play. But much to the dismay of Green Bay fans, this incident was left unseen.

7] Balls have legs

After the fixture, a few Packers posted screen-grabs from the matchup where the referee ruled a foul, a yard before the first down. However, the ball appeared to be placed ahead by 2 yards. Vigilance was missing here as well.

To be fair, the Lions have been nothing short of incredible throughout the season and the credit for their ‘W’ should go to the team for counter-attacking when the opposition was trying to dominate the proceedings.

As far as the ‘dodgy officiating’ issue is concerned, this isn’t something new in the NFL — fans have been vocal about contentious calls going in favor of the reigning champs Kansas City Chiefs on numerous occasions. And the Lions too have suffered big time due to poor officiating in the past. Hence, pinning the blame on the Lions for what might have gone wrong wouldn’t be entirely right.

Keeping the controversies aside, all the NFL fans will agree that the Packers played valiantly and came close to getting a win against the formidable Lions. And that too without key players like LB Edgerrin Cooper, CB Jaire Alexander, and WR Romeo Doubs. It will be interesting to see how Green Bay performs in their upcoming games.