The replacement refs had another bad weekend, and when I was watching the Lions game, I thought that this was the wrong call, but I was far too worried about the next play and didn’t think it over. The way the refs described it, it seemed they were marking the penalty from the spot of the foul because of the incomplete pass, but what they really did was assess the Lions a 27-yard penalty.
This additional 12 yards is not the reason the Lions lost the game, and don’t look for the Lions to blame the officials anytime soon.
Schwartz on bad penalty spot: "What we need to do is prevent 70-yard TDs. … Worrying about the officiating has very little to do with it."
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) September 24, 2012
It’s nice to see the Lions not look for the refs as a scape goat, and quite honestly, they were lucky to be in overtime to begin with. Yet, the continued proof that the replacement referees do not know all of the rules or how to enforce them is a huge issue. The NFL is a billion dollar industry, they should be able to afford to give part-time employees full-time benefits; even if they don’t think they should.
Photo Via Business Insider
