Officiating has become a major topic of debate this season, and the Lions vs. Packers game had some calls that sparked debate. One even forced a disappointed Micah Parsons to share his thoughts.
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“@NFL @NFLOfficiating let’s just go to flag football if every time a QB gets touched it’s roughing the passer!,” Packers DL Micah Parsons wrote on X.
This statement came after the officials decided against Karl Brooks.
Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Packers’ Karl Brooks was flagged for roughing the passer after he made contact with Jared Goff, whose 18-yard pass to tight end Sam LaPorta was complete. The 15-yard penalty was enforced from Detroit’s 45-yard line, giving the Lions another opportunity to move the chains.
The issue was that the hit didn’t seem serious enough for a penalty, leading to criticism from Packers fans and other NFL analysts.
Even Tom Brady, who was up in the broadcast booth for FOX, found this penalty wrong.
“No, my goodness. What is that?! There’s no way!… That’s definitely not roughing the passer!,” Brady said.
Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino also added to it, saying, “That’s teach-tape tackle. That’s not roughing the passer.”
Earlier in the game, there was another questionable roughing the passer penalty called on Packers’ Brenton Cox Jr. Neither he nor head coach Matt LaFleur was happy about the flag; both were visibly disappointed that the penalty was called.
“Two awful roughing the passer penalties, tough to tell which one was worse,” Barstool Sports’ Eric Hubbs posted on X. “I genuinely don’t know what Brooks is supposed to do here.”
A frustrated Kurt Benkert, who played for the Packers formerly, wrote, “Refs should NEVER change the outcome of a game. Replace them with robots at this point. Idc.”
This isn’t the first time these questionable calls have happened. During the Packers’ game against the Cowboys, with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter, cornerback Carrington Valentine intercepted Dak Prescott’s pass. But the officials called a roughing the passer penalty on Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness, giving Green Bay a 15-yard penalty. The interception was removed.
Following the decision, NFL Pro analyst Brett Kollmann said, “That’s the most un-American roughing the passer call in history.”
Apart from that, other factors also led to the Packers losing to the Lions. Green Bay managed just 17 first downs and 324 total yards, while Detroit recorded 26 first downs and 415 yards. The Lions were also more efficient through the air, averaging 9 yards per pass compared with Green Bay’s 5.7.
The Packers converted only 5 of 15 third-down attempts, while Detroit went 5-for-10. Green Bay also committed eight penalties for 81 yards, compared with Detroit’s five penalties for 50 yards.
In the end, the Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers 20-17, but the questionable calls will remain a topic of discussion for a long time.