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It didn’t really matter who officiated the Detroit Lions–Minnesota Vikings Week 18 matchup at Ford Field on January 7. After last week’s controversial penalty call helped lead to a loss against the Dallas Cowboys, Lions fans were not going to react kindly to the team’s Week 18 officiating crew.
Lions fans, though, did offer their full support of offensive tackle Dan Skipper. The crowd at Ford Field cheered loudly whenever referee Brad Rogers announced the offensive tackle as an eligible receiver in Week 18.
But unlike the crowd, Lions head coach Dan Campbell reacted positively to both Skipper and Rogers in his postgame press conference on January 7.
“I thought it was great, man. Everybody loves Skip,” Campbell told reporters. “You know, he reported and he was loud. I thought he was very clear on what he did.
“Let me say this, Brad Rogers, head official here,” Campbell continued. “He worked our camp this year. He has done a great job and he was great. I thought he handled everything really well.
“Because that’s not easy to come in after what happened in Dallas and you’re going to be the guy at our game, and he’s a pro. He has been. He was great with communication.
“But for the crowd to get up for Skip, that was good.”
Lions Had Fun With Dan Skipper Reporting as Eligible Receiver in Week 18
The FOX broadcast of the Lions-Vikings matchup showed some of the action Skipper made when he reported as eligible on a few plays. But there was even more interaction between the Lions and officials than what the cameras caught.
“A couple times when Skip came out and reported, the ref was like, ‘There’s no more guys, right?'” Lions left tackle Taylor Decker said to reporters. “Then I would be like [motioned to maybe report as eligible], ‘Just kidding.'”
In Week 17, NFL referee Brad Allen called Skipper eligible for a critical 2-point attempt in the final minute of regulation when the Lions wanted Decker to be eligible.
Decker, along with Skipper, appreciated the support from Lions fans a week after the missed opportunity in Dallas.
“It was funny. Obviously the city has our back,” Decker said. “And the ref was a good sport about it.”
On one of the plays where Skipper was an eligible receiver, he caught a 4-yard pass.
“Dan Skipper reports as eligible & catches a pass,” the Barstool X (formerly Twitter) account wrote as a caption to a replay of Skipper’s reception. “Dan Campbell is hilarious.”
Ford Field cheered very loudly when Skipper made his catch.
Lions Also Have Fun With Skipper, Taylor Decker on Social Media
Decker and Skipper didn’t wait until the game to make jokes about the eligible receiver confusion from Week 17.
The Lions official team X account posted a video of Decker walking into Ford Field with the caption “Reporting for duty” about three hours prior to kickoff.
Decker responded on his X account, writing, “This is not me.”
About 30 minutes later, the Lions account then posted a video of Skipper walking into the stadium but suggested the player was Decker, not Skipper.
It was a lot easier for the Lions to keep having fun with the Decker-Skipper confusion during and after Week 18 because the team beat the Vikings, 30-20. The Lions capped off the 2023 regular season winning 12 games for the first time since 1991.
Next weekend, the Lions will host their first playoff game in 30 years. As loud as it was for Skipper in Week 18, the Ford Field crowd is likely to be much louder on Wild Card weekend.
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