Dan Campbell just exposed referees from Chiefs loss without even trying
Detroit Lions fans are probably still thinking about the strange circumstances around Jared Goff's touchdown that never was against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6. It was the difference between a close game down the stretch and an eventual sure-thing victory handed to the Chiefs by the fourth quarter.
The scoring touchdown, which was called back by the games' referees after claiming that Goff and the Lions offense had not executed their trick play properly, just seemed weird from the jump. A flag came in ridiculously late on the touchdown, and it seemed like the Lions had done their due diligence on the play prior to executing it. So, what gives?
Well, head coach Dan Campbell told 97.1 FM The Ticket on Wednesday morning that, as far as he knew and was told, the league office in New York City had told the on the ground crew that the touchdown had to be overturned. The issue with that is that Craig Wrolstad, the head referee in the contest, told reporters after the game that they hadn't received any call from the office on the reversal.
Who's lying?
Campbell throws wrench into narrative around Goff's called-back touchdown
While Week 6 has come and gone and the Lions are focused on trying to stamp out a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7, this is simply a moment from the contest that isn't going away easily.
That's because of two things: one, the rule that the NFL cited as a reason for overturning the call was so old and buried in the rule book that it feels nearly impossible that they would have enforced it so easily in-game.
Two, of course, is that this is a game against the Chiefs that included multiple officiating controversies. Zero penalties called against Kansas City while Detroit had four called, and multiple holds and a block in the back happening right in front of referees that weren't called, just added insult to the injury that was this called back touchdown.
Again, we don't know who is carrying water for who, but it's hard to imagine that Campbell is lying. This seems to be angling towards the possibility that the referees, not wanting to make this a bigger deal, decided not to mention that the league office had intervened on the call. Unfortunately, this has backfired tremendously, and the ongoing narrative around the league's affinity for the Chiefs continues to rage on.
49ers Rely on Rookie LB Nick Martin to Step Up After Fred Warner Injury
The San Francisco 49ers have lost a slew of key players through the first six weeks of the season, including linebacker Fred Warner, who suffered a fractured and dislocated ankle on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
Warner is a four-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler who joined San Francisco as a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft out of BYU. Over his eight seasons, he's recorded 948 tackles (franchise record), 56 passes defensed, 30 quarterback hits, 17 forced fumbles (franchise record), 10 sacks, 10 interceptions and seven fumbles recovered.
While the 49ers have some veteran options to fill in for Warner, including Dee Winters, Tatum Bethune and Luke Gifford, they should give some opportunities to rookie linebacker Nick Martin.
"It's definitely a huge opportunity for Nick to get on the field just as a linebacker," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told the media on Wednesday. "This should give him his [opportunity]. He's been good. He works his butt off every day. He's still working to find a way to get up. This is his opportunity to get up, so we'll see how this week of practice goes, and we'll decide for Sunday most likely on Saturday."
Martin, 23, was the team's third-round pick (No. 75 overall) in this year's draft out of Oklahoma State, where he earned All-Big 12 honors once and recorded 203 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered in 35 career games.
