The Detroit Lions came up just short in Week 10, but it was not for lack of effort! The Lions trailed 20-13 and started a drive at their own 10 with 1:41 to go in the fourth quarter. Jeff Driskel showed some impressive poise in moving the Lions into Bears territory. He completed four passes to get the Lions down to the Bears 28 with 26 seconds remaining.
On 2nd and 10, Driskel found receiver Kenny Golladay just after the line of scrimmage. The Bear defender was all over him for the tackle after a one-yard gain at the 27. However, Golladay popped up and after running back towards the middle of the field, spotted the ball on the 25. The referee agreed with it and let play continue so Jeff Driskel could spike the ball and stop the clock.
I realize real time action can be difficult to track. but the angle in this video is something else.
Kenny Golladay spots the ball himself almost two yards ahead of where went down.
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) November 10, 2019
Ref: OK cool, thanks Kenny that looks okay.pic.twitter.com/J3nWLTwqKF
Referees are human so they’ll make mistakes, but this is pretty bad. You’ve got refs keeping an eye on things, and you’d think he would have kept an eye on Golladay moving the ball. This didn’t cost the Bears the game, but imagine if this happened in a more high profile game?
Plays like this are another example of why we either need robot referees or at least chips in the ball to settle the spot quickly. It shouldn’t be this difficult.