NFL officials either did not see or ignored an obvious holding penalty during a crucial moment of Thursday’s game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. The league decided to cover up its mistake with an intentionally selective edit of the play in question.
Evidence of the hold was completely wiped from the video highlight posted to social media.
Detroit scored a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal from the one-yard-line with eight minutes and 39 second remaining in the fourth quarter. It put the Lions ahead 31-28 after the PAT. They went on to win 34-31.
However, the touchdown should’ve been called back. Green Bay sent a heavy rush up the middle and blasted veteran center Frank Ragnow. Defensive back Keisean Nixon broke into the backfield with a direct path to Jared Goff. As a result of the conspicuous hold by Ragnow, Nixon was tripped up before he could deliver a hit to the quarterback. He did not get there until the ball was already on its way to the end zone.
If the holding penalty was properly assessed, Detroit would’ve faced a replay of the down from the 11-yard-line instead of scoring a touchdown. The Packers were on the wrong end of a bad missed call.
— FootBOM (@bom_foot) December 6, 2024
It was as clear as day.
The only people who did not see the penalty in real time were the officials. They did not throw a flag. The Lions instead went up by three because the play did not get called back.
If that was not bad enough, the NFL tried to cover up its mistake when it posted the highlight of Detroit’s touchdown to X and started the play right after Nixon had escaped from Ragnow’s grip.
Tim Patrick x2! The @Lions retake the lead.#GBvsDET on Prime Video
— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2024
Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/J6zeSd6XIn
Considering the league’s other posts, it was an intentional edit. The vast majority of the highlights shared on the NFL’s official X account begin right before the snap. Not when there was a missed hold penalty!