Interference - Cowboys Lions
 

I surely expected to see some banter over here over that call/pickup. I think we all agree the administration of that was funky (flag, announce, pick up flag without announcement), and that the lack of familiarity with each other might have been a culprit.

What I'd like to discuss, though, is... was it interference?

I am clearly biased (Go Cowboys), and while I can support the non-call logically, I also recognize I can support the other side logically. So ... was it interference? (Cowboy and Lion fans must announce their affiliation)

Seems to fit pretty neatly into the category of "Early Contact, not playing the ball" to me.

I'm not a fan of either team, nor am I an official. To me the contact is very minor, but at the same time, I've seen what I would consider to be equal contact or even less contact called. I've also seen more not get called. In my opinion, the decision to pick up the flag was the right one, although the communication wasn't the best with the way it was done.

Mea culpa from the NFL...but not for the interference itself. For poor communication, the missed defensive holding call on the same play by Hitchens, and mention of not penalizing Dez when he ran on the field.

Dean Blandino acknowledges Cowboys got away with one | ProFootballTalk

Seems to line up pretty much with how people feel here, although I don't think anyone's mentioned holding one way or the other(not really the primary focus of the play).

It was never HOLDING, what is this Jack Wagon looking at????

The holding that occurred.

holding? his jersey, Bullbutter!

Inside Slant: Referee Pete Morelli had four potential penalties on key play - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN

What?

Situationally (3rd down in the 4th quarter of a playoff game), despite the new rules on illegal contact, I thought the holding was marginal and the DPI was marginal. Together I thought they amounted to a foul, but you can't really add up .5 foul + .5 foul to = 1 foul. I agree the administration was poor, not sure how communication got screwed up there.

Dez protesting the call was marginal, I see that reaction go unpenalized all the time. He's allowed to disagree, right? I didn't see anything specifically unsporting about his actions. Every fan forum is whining about him not having his helmet on -- but he wasn't even on the field at the time. As far as I know there are no rules governing whether a player is required to wear his helmet when not actively participating in the play. Being on the field was marginal too, and unless he ran up to an official protesting the call or waved them off or something I doubt the officials would call that in a playoff game.

He was on the field arguing. Or did you miss that part?

He was not on the field for the previous play.

Even more reason to throw a flag, then.

Nope, I mentioned in my post that Dez was on the field but thought it was marginal. Do you know how far was he on the field?

Was he standing on the green? Too far, then.