Gutsy Cowboys Victory Overshadowed by Controversy, Typical Lions Errors

ARLINGTON, Texas — It will be talked about for days, weeks, years—maybe even decades. It will cause conspiracy theorists to purchase extra aluminum foil and tin hats for their underground silos. It will cause, yet again, many to say: Lions gonna be Lionsy. It will overshadow what was a gutsy, brilliant Dallas comeback victory over Detroit. A comeback that could propel the Cowboys deep into the playoffs.

It is...The Phantom Flag Play.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Though TPFP did not decide the Wild Card Game won Sunday by Dallas, 24-20, at AT&T Stadium—so much else did—it was crucial. It allowed the Dallas momentum to continue surging, like an electrical wire, while simultaneously draining the Lions. It led to Dallas winning a playoff game (and not choking) and also meant the Lions—who do all kinds of Lionsy things all the time—have not won a playoff game in close to 8,400 days. Dallas will play at Green Bay in the divisional round.

The NFL had better hire extra personnel to answer its phone calls from angry Lions fans and purchase some extra bandwidth to deal with the angry emails over The Phantom Flag Play. This is going to be bad.

The Phantom Flag Play overshadowed what was one of the most well-played and exciting playoff games of not just this Wild Card Weekend but any Wild Card Weekend in recent history. There were so many other angles, including the fact Dallas' marvelous, frenetic comeback was historic. The Cowboys were previously 0-8 when trailing by double digits at halftime in their postseason history. The Lions led 17-7 at the break.

There were also other ref mistakes. Dez Bryant ran onto the field to protest the very pass interference flag in question (sans helmet) but didn't get flagged for it. That was an obvious penalty.

Yet no play, no call was like the picked-up flag. Detroit was leading 20-17 and facing a 3rd-and-1 on the Dallas 46 with about eight minutes left in the game. Matthew Stafford threw to tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Pettigrew was being guarded by linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who had his back to Stafford and also had had a handful of Pettigrew's jersey.

FOX broadcast

A flag was thrown, but referee Pete Morelli picked it up. In my 25 years of covering the sport, I can't remember too many scenarios where an apparently totally legitimate penalty was overruled. Tweeted Jim Daopoulos, who spent 12 years as an NFL supervisor, about the play: "I wish I had an explanation regarding the flag pick up but I too am completely confused with that ruling…"

Everyone was. It set off a firestorm of criticism from current and former players, media members and others. Lions fans on Twitter armed their phasers and photon torpedoes.

Fox analyst Mike Pereira, who formerly headed the NFL's officiating, said he had never seen a flag pick-up like that before. "It's clearly pass interference," he said. "I strongly believe that was not a good pick-up of a flag."

"I don't ever really think it comes down to one call," said Lions coach Jim Caldwell. But Caldwell also stated the explanation he received from the officials "wasn't good enough." That's because there is no good explanation.

Said Pettigrew: "I did not get an explanation. I thought it was ridiculous, to be honest. But there's nothing I can do about it."

Speaking to a pool reporter after the game, Morelli said the back judge made the call, but the head linesman came up to say that from his perspective "the contact was minimal," according to Morelli. Morelli said he didn't have a good view of the play.

Some Lions players were so upset after the game they could at times barely speak. In the Detroit locker room, there was a sense of disbelief, mainly over the simple fact that they lost.

"Honestly I didn't expect this," Ndamukong Suh said about the loss. "But it's what it comes down to."

Then he departed the podium momentarily, sobbing. He collected himself and then returned to answer more questions.

"I apologize," he said. "I'm just speechless. I feel like we played as hard as we could. We put it all out there. I just didn't expect this outcome. It's sickening."

Suh was speaking about the game itself, not the picked-up flag.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

One Lions player, who asked not to be identified, told me he believes the game officials "wanted the Cowboys to win." He didn't want to elaborate.

Where things get dicey for the NFL—and it's not fair in any way, but this is where appearance comes in—is CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora's story from this summer when Dean Blandino, who heads the NFL's officiating department, was reportedly seen coming off Jerry Jones' bus in a TMZ video.

It was not a fair story, according to someone who was on the bus at the time. This person said all Blandino did was say hello to Jones and then get off. However, one former high-ranking team executive told me then, and on Sunday, that numerous team officials were upset about Blandino being on the bus. The fear was that Blandino had a chummy relationship with Jones and would give Dallas special consideration once the games began.

That was never going to happen. That didn't happen in this case (lose your tinfoil hats, people). Yet, again appearance is key here. That's the only reason that story was problematic. And, now, months later, here we are.

What Caldwell said is true. The game didn't come down to one play. If the Lions don't make any number of mistakes before or after that call, they might still win. Yet that's a practical explanation and ignores just how deadly that call was to Detroit. It changed everything.

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

It's likely the Lions would have gotten at least a field goal out of that drive and gone up 23-17. At least. Instead, Dallas went on to take the lead with an 11-play, 59-yard drive that ended with Tony Romo throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Terrance Williams.

The picked-up flag also feeds the conspiracy trolls, but more than that it causes genuine conjecture about how the league runs its officials and adds to the notion that a game can be fixed. This was a problem in the NBA. A stupid notion. A borderline bigoted notion. But it was there, and that sort of attitude about officiating can creep into football as well.

Nothing should overshadow Romo's great comeback. Nothing should overshadow how hard the Lions fought, the high quality of the game. Nothing should overshadow any of that.

But the great Phantom Flag Play of 2015 will. And it will for maybe years to come.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.