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Lions’ Comeback Thwarted By Questionable Pass Interference Call Against A.J. Brown

Stephen Douglas

A.J. Brown pushed off, but drew a flag on his defender.
A.J. Brown pushed off, but drew a flag on his defender. / NBC
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The Eagles beat the Lions, 16–9 on Sunday Night Football in Week 11. Detroit struggled mightily on the road in Dan Campbell's second game calling plays and were unsuccessful on five fourth down conversation attempts.

Despite a rough night from Jared Goff and the offense, the Lions were still in the game late in the fourth quarter, trailing by seven with 1:51 remaining in the game. After a false start set up third-and-8, Jalen Hurts threw the ball to A.J. Brown who was being guarded by defensive back Rock Ya-SIn.

As the ball sailed over Brown's head, Ya-Sin celebrated only to turn and and find a yellow flag had been thrown. Pass interference was called as NBC's Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth viewed the replay in horror.

"Oh, come on," said Collinsworth. "Come on! That is terrible. That is an absolutely terrible call that's gonna decide this football game. If anything, it's an offensive push."

"I said offensive foul," continued Collinsworth. "You want to call a foul, it's an offensive foul. Wow."

Tirico admitted there was "hand fighting," but pointed it out with a chuckle. Both announcers were unhappy to see the game ultimately decided by the call.

Who knows what the Lions could have done if they got the ball back in that situation, but the point is we'll never know because of a really bad call.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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