The Lions have a long history of getting ripped off by the officials. And it appears to have happened again today.
On the play before the Ravens hit a game-winning 66-yard field goal as time expired, Lamar Jackson threw an incomplete pass. But it appeared that the play clock expired before Jackson got the snap, and that the Ravens should have been backed up five yards for delay of game.
Former NFL referee Gene Steratore said on CBS that the officials sometimes give the offense a split-second to snap the ball after the play clock expires, but that on this play, delay of game should have been called.
“That feels to me like it’s longer than the normal progression,” Steratore said.
Justin Tucker‘s 66-yard field goal bounced in off the cross bar, so if the Ravens had been pushed back five yards and he had been kicking from 71 yards, it would have been well short. It’s also possible that the Ravens wouldn’t have even attempted a field goal and would have tried a Hail Mary instead if the delay of game had been called.
Instead, the Ravens got the game-winner, and the fans in Detroit got another opportunity to wonder what the league’s officiating department has against them.