The Detroit Lions’ social media account turned the team’s misfortune into some quality content on Sunday ahead of the game against the Minnesota Vikings. After the Lions’ game against the Dallas Cowboys ended with a costly penalty against the offense on a two-point try, the team joked on X about the reporting controversy.
The team shared “Reporting for duty” with a video and a tag for Taylor Decker’s account. Alas, it was actually another player reporting “for duty.” Decker tweeted in response, “This is not me.” The Lions account then posted a new video with Dan Skipper arriving at the stadium.
NFL referee Brad Allen said after the Week 17 victory Saturday that it was Lions offensive tackle Dan Skipper — not Taylor Decker — who reported as eligible on the two-point conversion which would have given Detroit the lead with 23 seconds left in the game. Skipper never needed to declare himself as eligible but the team chose to make that move as a bit of trickeration.
Lions’ two-point play goes awry
Lions head coach Dan Campbell tried to explain on Monday that what the offense was attempting to do was confuse the Cowboys defense into missing that Decker reported. Alas, it backfired.
“It’s about eligibility,” Campbell told reporters on Monday. “That’s what it’s about. And it has nothing to do with the ref. The ref knows. He knows. Because 68 reported. It’s for the defense, so that they see three different people. And you’re just hoping they happen to not hear that it’s 70 [who isn’t eligible]. That’s all.”
The referee announced that No. 70, Skipper, had declared, at which point, Campbell could have brought up the mistake to the officials. It appears that he didn’t have much of an opportunity do that, which he blamed on the loud stadium environment.
“I don’t have a timeout,” Campbell said. “I mean, there’s nothing I can do, you know? And it’s loud. You can’t hear anything. Not where we were at, you know? I think right when the play started, you realize that they ID’d 70 [as eligible]. So, it is what it is.”
With the victory in hand, the Cowboys now need a win over the Washington Commanders in D.C. on Sunday to officially secure the second-place spot in the NFC. The Lions are looking to close out the 2023 regular season with a win over the 7-9 Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The kick-offs are at 4:25 p.m. ET and 1:00 p.m. ET respectively.
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