The end to the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions game on Saturday night wasn't for the faint-hearted, with referee Brad Allen at the center of it.
As the Lions drove down the field and scored a touchdown to move to within 20-19, coach Dan Campbell decided to go for a two-point conversion to win the game.
After going for it, the Lions got it ... or so they thought. The score was brought back after an illegal touching penalty for Taylor Decker, a Lions offensive lineman, not reporting as eligible.
Decker said in his postgame interview that he did report, but the referees thought otherwise and said as much in the pool report.
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Brad Allen talks about penalty against Lions
The officiating at the end of the Cowboys and Lions game was confusing.
The Lions thought they had the perfect trick play but it got called back as Decker didn't report as an eligible receiver, whereas other offensive lineman Dan Skipper did.
“On this particular play, number 70, who had reported during the game a couple of times, reported to me as eligible," referee Brad Allen said in a pool report. "Then he lined up at the tackle position. … So, the issue is, number 70 did report, number 68 did not.”
Cowboys snap two-game losing streak amid referee chaos
The Cowboys (11-5) got a win after back-to-back weeks of not getting it done. And while many can point to Brad Allen's penalty as the reason why, some have suggested that it is also on Lions coach Dan Campbell as well.
After not getting the first two two-point attempts, some have said that Campbell should have kicked the extra point.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys got away with their 11th win of the season as CeeDee Lamb tore the Lions' defense apart with 13 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown.
But for all of the good things that both Dallas and Detroit did in the game, it was all for naught as the ending to it with Brad Allen and his crew has overshadowed it.
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