Getty Former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford reacted to the team's controversial ending against the Dallas Cowboys.
Losing in controversial fashion at AT&T Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys was all too familiar to a lot of Detroit Lions fans. As it turns out, former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who’s now with the Los Angeles Rams, shared in that pain, according to his wife.
On the January 2 episode of her podcast, “The Morning After,” Stafford’s wife, Kelly, shared his reaction to the Lions losing to the Cowboys 20-19 after a controversial penalty wiped out Detroit’s 2-point conversion.
“Holy s***. It happened again,” Kelly Stafford said, quoting her husband.
The first controversy the Lions experienced at AT&T Stadium came during the 2014-15 playoffs. On a fourth-quarter fourth-down play for the Lions, officials threw a flag on an incomplete Stafford pass. However, officials elected not to call a penalty, leading to a Detroit turnover on downs.
At the time of the play, the Lions led 20-17 with a little more than 8 minutes remaining in regulation, but the Cowboys came back to win 24-20.
Then on December 30, 2023, the Lions appeared to take the lead with a 2-point conversion with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But officials overturned a successful 2-point try for Detroit because left tackle Taylor Decker was deemed an ineligible receiver.
Kelly Stafford Rips NFL for Lions-Cowboys Officiating
Stafford’s five words were the extent of his reaction, according to his wife. But Kelly had a much more detailed response, and she heavily criticized NFL officiating on her podcast.
“Can I tell you the biggest scam of 2023? That Lions game. They f***** y’all.”
Kelly also threw fuel on the narrative that the league is against the Lions winning significant NFL games.
“It doesn’t matter if the game is in Dallas. There’s always rules made up when something happens with the Lions,” she said. “Whether this is an NFL script or not where they want the Rams to play the Lions, and they’re working to make that happen.
“I know people laugh at the idea of a script, but I’m kind of a believer in the script.”
If the playoffs started after Week 17, Stafford and the Rams would visit the Lions for an NFC wild-card game. That is obviously an intriguing matchup because of the Stafford-Jared Goff trade from three years ago.
If the Lions had won in Week 17, they would have been the No. 2 seed entering Week 18 with a chance to still earn a first-round bye and a matchup with the Rams in the first-round would have been much less likely.
But because of the loss in Dallas, the NFL will see a Rams-Lions playoff matchup as long as both the Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders (4-12) on the road and Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers (12-4) on the road in Week 18. Stafford will not start in that game, according to a January 3 post on X by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Lions’ Dan Campbell Pushes Back on NFL ‘Script’ Narrative
Campbell didn’t specifically receive a question about the comments from Kelly’s podcast. But he did strongly speak out against the notion that the Lions were victims of a conspiracy in Dallas.
“I get it, but don’t do that. Don’t buy into that,” Campbell told reporters on January 1. “Don’t live in that world, man. It will just pull you down.”
Campbell added that the controversial penalty is “a blessing.” The head coach explained the team still has control of its own destiny and can use the controversy as fuel for the postseason.
Lions Fans Buy ‘Decker Reported’ Billboards
Whether they believe in conspiracies or not, Lions fans have chosen a unique way to express their displeasure with the NFL’s officiating from Week 17.
“Meanwhile, billboards spotted around Detroit,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero wrote as a caption to a picture on X (formerly Twitter).
Anger over the controversial penalty will likely remain unless the Lions are able to advance past the Cowboys in the postseason.