Analyst: Lions Overcame One of NFL’s ‘Worst Calls’ of 2020

The Detroit Lions managed to find a way to craft a comeback against the Washington Football Team, but that was nearly not the case thanks to a late defensive meltdown.

Washington marched the ball down Detroit’s throat and managed to tie the game on a field goal in spite of the fact that they were completing few passes. A big reason they managed to do this was a pair of penalties on Detroit cornerback Desmond Trufant.

Trufant had pass interference call go against him that helped prolong the drive, and the takes in the moment about the call were very powerful. Most disagreed with it, but ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell had the strongest take yet. He claimed the call was one of the worst in the league this season.

Trufant later had a holding penalty against him on the same drive which gave Washington an automatic first down, but that call was not nearly as bad as the pass interference call which managed to prolong the game.

So often, the Lions have managed to fall apart when they are befallen by a bad call near the end of a game. For once, that didn’t happen. That has to be at least a bit rewarding for fans in real time given all they’ve seen through the years.

How Lions Pulled Win Off

Though Washington tied the game, the Lions had one more chance and it was all that they needed to pull off the win. With 16 seconds left in the game and 3 timeouts left, the Lions put together a quick strike drive, setting Matt Prater up for a 59 yard field goal. Even though Prater had struggled at times this year, he managed to line up and drill the kick.

The Lions had blown a huge lead and allowed Washington to kick a long field goal late in the game in order to tie the score. It appeared as if things were heading for overtime, but Matthew Stafford once again proved why he is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league. It took him a short amount of time to thread the needle downfield and put the finishing touches on the big win.

Considering what happened on defense near the end, the win was especially exciting and rewarding.

Lions Struggles Against Referees

The Lions have been one of the worst off teams in recent history against the referees. Detroit, typically, is burned by a few calls late in the game that helps change the momentum of the game. Far too often, the team has managed to lose games in which things like this play out. In real time, this event looked as if it was going to lead to yet another heartbreaking Detroit loss. That was not to be whatsoever this time, though.

Detroit pushed through, got the job done and overcame the call. That doesn’t change the fact that it was one of the worst calls of the season, however.

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