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 Clinging to a 20-17 lead and marching toward the Dallas end zone
with about eight minutes left, Detroit looked to have extended the
drive when quarterback Matthew Stafford fired a pass toward Brandon
Pettigrew that drew an interference penalty on Cowboys defender
Anthony Hitchens.
However, instead of getting a crucial first down the Lions were
forced to punt after officials reversed the call, determining there
had been no foul on the play.
Dallas took over and went on a game-winning drive, leaving Detroit
without a postseason victory since January 1992.
The referee's decision to pick up the flag drew immediate outrage on
social media.
Former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy tweeted: "That's pretty
unbelievable that they could call pass interference and then pick up
the flag with no explanation?? Not sure why?"
 Even actor Samuel L. Jackson chimed in: "Can anybody other than a
Cowboy fan explain that call?!"
In a post-game interview referee Pete Morelli ran through the play,
saying the back judge had made the call but after consulting with
other officials on the field, it was decided there was no
interference and the flag was picked up.
"The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We
got other information from another official from a different angle
that thought the contact was minimal and didn’t warrant pass
interference. He thought it was face-guarding," Morelli said in a
pool report.
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He added that while face-guarding, which involved a defender raising
his hands in the face of receiver and blocking his vision without
playing the ball, is a penalty in college football it is not a foul
in the National Football League.
Morelli's reasoning, however, did little to satisfy Lions head coach
Jim Caldwell.
"It wasn't good enough," he said when asked about the explanation.
"I'm not going to sit up here and act like that was the call that
made the difference in the game. We still had our chances."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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