So another year, another big missed call, and it happens to the poor Lions again, of all teams. Every body was up in arms about it. OH IT HAPPENED IN THE SAME ENDZONE AS THE FAIL MARY (who gives a shit) OH THIS IS AN OUTRAGE BLAH BLAH BLAH. Yeah, the Lions got screwed. I’m guessing the back judge just either forgot the rule or wasn’t actually looking at what happened and missed it because he was distracted by the fumble itself, then covered his ass by saying he didn’t think it was egregious enough (it’s obviously a violation of the rule). It probably cost the Lions the win, or at least a much higher chance at the win. It happens. As funny as it would have been to see Seattle lose that game the Lions didn’t really deserve to win it either. Both teams looked terrible. The Lions look like a mess. I’m still unable to tell if Seattle is even a good team. They lost to the Rams (Fisher brings the heat for divisional games), the Packers (top NFC team), then took an entire half to put up points on a Jimmy Clausen led Bears tire fire of a team, and then needed a miracle play by Kam Chancellor and an unobservant ref to save their own butts at home, against the currently only winless team in the entire league. I’d be really nervous if I was a Hawks fan.

As a side note, I don’t think any of the rules need to be changed. If anything, I think batting the ball should be legal. It’s not like batting the ball will be an effective tool now, footballs are so erratic that batting it won’t mean anything, and might add some fun chaos. I have no issue with the “out of the endzone, touchback” rule. Don’t lose the football on the most vital part of the field. This game was just a crappy slugfest that ended on a sour note. I did notice that nobody seemed to notice the penalty when it happened, either. For all the grief the ref got, none of the announcers or social media seemed to notice it till well after the play happened. Hindsight is 20/20 but considering how many people missed it when it happened, the ref should get some relief.