At least Taylor Decker didn't get in trouble for not reporting as eligible this time.
Still, there was a little deja vu in Detroit on Sunday night. The Detroit Lions lined up for a fourth-and-5 when the Los Angeles Rams jumped offsides. But as the Lions and their fans celebrated, the officials got together and decided that Lions left tackle Decker moved first.
Replays showed that wasn't the case. Decker — who was in the center of a huge officiating controversy earlier this season when refs didn't register him reporting as eligible before catching a 2-point conversion pass — didn't even flinch before Rams linebacker Ernest Jones jumped into the neutral zone.
The Lions account on X, formerly Twitter, even put up the video of the penalty in their passive aggressive way of complaining.
Nice punt, Jack#LARvsDET |📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/aVrBWo46oP
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 15, 2024
Lions fans are probably sick of hearing network officiating analysts tell them that their team just got hosed, but NBC's Terry McAulay let everyone know he thought the false start call was a mistake.
"It sure looks to me, Cris [Collinsworth], like the defense jumped before the offense moved," McAulay said. "It should have been a neutral zone infraction."
Lions fans agreed, booing loudly and chanting their displeasure at the officials. There had to be some pent-up anger stemming back to the Cowboys error.
The Lions ended up punting after the penalty, costing them a chance for at least a field goal before the end of the half. Lions coach Dan Campbell yelled at the refs. Fans yelled at the refs. Decker seemed confused over what he did wrong. It was a familiar scene.







