Penalty leads to defensive possibilities

Published 12:36 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Well of course it was pass interference.

Any fool could see that.

You didn’t even need hi-def television.

It was scandalous and the Detroit Lions surely deserved better.

I’m talking, of course, about the flag that was picked up in the Dallas-Detroit game Sunday.

Like any single, particular bad call in a 60-minute game, it surely cost them the Lions the victory.

Their fans have a right to be angry.

But the anti-Dallas Cowboys mob, predictably, is in a tizzy and a half about the whole, sordid affair.

Maybe too much.

And I’m not making fun of them here.

When it comes to Cowboy Haters Anonymous, I may not quite be a card-carrying, dues-paying member, but at the least I consider myself a sympathizer. It’s a worthy cause and mission.

Sadly, though, they are missing the point here.

Yes, it was a tough one to stomach.

But sometimes you have to take one for the good of the game.

And that’s what everybody is missing here.

The point is, we should all be celebrating that the flag was picked up.

More than that, we should be throwing parades with ticker-tape confetti over the official explanation for it all.

Think about it.

Close your eyes, get in your happy place, and forget for the moment that it was the Dallas #$@$*$ Cowboys benefitting from the whole thing.

The details are still fuzzy, mind you.

But let’s don’t dig too deeply into this thing right now.

Just enjoy the moment.

Maybe the less we understand it, the better.

In the end, admit it. It really is just heartwarming to learn, finally, after all these years of trials and tribulations, of instant replay and untold thousands of Ed Hochuli explanations, that there is SOMETHING in the NFL that a defender can do — ANYTHING —that is NOT technically a penalty.

Haaaaa-le-luuuujah.

Really, this opens up all kind of possibilities.

Maybe it’s just the start.

Who knew?

We were all under the impression that in today’s NFL, breathing heavily on a receiver was pass interference.

We thought looking cross-ways at a receiver was a penalty. Insulting tweets aimed at a receiver might get you flagged.

But if THAT was not a penalty in the Dallas game, maybe the NFL will become watchable again.

If THAT was not a penalty, it may now be possible to go three or four plays without a flag.

We can even dare dream of the day when your favorite team sacks a quarterback and you don’t immediately cringe and wonder if your defensive end is surely about to be flagged or booked or both.

Never mind the TV ref, Mike Pereira, normally the wronged fans’ best friend in a “See there!” sort of way.

He was pretty emphatic not only that a flag should have been thrown, but that it should not have been picked up and it should have been enforced to the letter of the law.

Sidebar here: Speaking of Periera, do you get the feeling that maybe the NFL refs sit in the proverbial smoke-filled backroom, Soprano-style, discussing Periera’s, uh, future.

“Well, ya know, it’s embarrassing.”

“I tell ya, the (expleted), that (double-expleted) getting too big for his (expleted) britches.”

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (90) sacks Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) cause a fumble during the second half of an NFL wildcard playoff football game Sunday in Arlington

Brandon Wade