Locker Room Buzz: On officiating decisions, Ragnow's return, Jamo and Kennedy stepping up in St. Brown's stead and a UDFA debut
Detroit — Here’s what I learned bouncing around the Detroit Lions’ locker room following the team’s 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Officials questioned about fourth-down decisions
Let’s start with Detroit’s favorite topic: Officiating.
Two calls went against the Lions, which impacted the outcome of the contest. Both were tied to fourth-down plays in the second quarter, with the Packers scoring touchdowns on each.
That triggered a pool report, and brace yourself, you’re not going to feel any better reading the explanations regarding either decision.
On the first fourth down, Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks made an impressive grab along the sideline between Lions safeties Brian Branch and Thomas Harper for a 22-yard score.
As with all scoring plays, it was reviewed by the booth, and they eventually confirmed the ruling on the field. There are several great replay angles, which show Wicks having both feet down. That only left a lingering question about whether the ball was moving prior to the first foot coming off the ground.
It’s reasonable to suggest there wasn’t evidence to overturn that call, but that’s not what NFL vice president of replay Mark Butterworth said when asked if a potential bobble was considered in the review.
“No,” Butterworth responded. “These receivers are that good. He controls the ball with his hand. But with his hands or arm above his body, while pulling it down, by rule, he can actually pull that ball into his body as he completes the process of a catch.”
It’s a decidedly strange response, but the far less controversial of the two calls. Later in the quarter, with the Packers facing fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line, the team’s offensive line committed a false start.
However, after conferring with his crew, head official Ron Tolbert announced the Packers had called a timeout before the infraction.
Replays captured by the broadcast clearly indicated otherwise, but Tolbert doubled down on the decision after the game.
“We talked about it on the field,” Tolbert said. “We recognized the timeout called, and that the timeout was called before the false start.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur was asked after the game if the officials got it right. With an exaggerated wink, he said, “Of course they got it right. What do you think?”
Instead of having a fourth-and-6 from the 7-yard line, the Packers got to snap it from the original line of scrimmage and scored on a 2-yard pass from quarterback Jordan Love to Romeo Doubs.
Insight into Ragnow’s decision
Thursday’s loss dampened the enthusiasm brought by the previous day’s news: All-Pro center Frank Ragnow is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Lions.
We’ll probably talk to Ragnow in the next few days, potentially as early as Sunday, the next day the team has media access. In the meantime, we were able to gather a sense of the timeline that led to the decision after the game.