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Decker Reported

File:Placeholder.jpg Taylor Decker, reporting to a referee as an eligible receiver before the play
Detroit Lions (NFC North) (11-5) Dallas Cowboys (NFC East) (11-5) 19 20 Head coach: Dan Campbell Head coach: Mike McCarthy
1 2 3 4 Total DET 3 0 7 9 19 DAL 7 0 3 10 20
Date	December 30, 2023
Kickoff time	7:15 p.m. CST
Stadium	AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Referee	Brad Allen
Attendance	93,731
TV in the United States
Network	ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+
Announcers	Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters

Decker Reported references a controversial call made by National Football League referee Brad Allen near the end of a 2023 regular season game between the Dallas Cowboys and the visiting Detroit Lions. The game was broadcast nationally to a primetime audience by Monday Night Football on Sunday, December 30, 2023.

Late in the 4th quarter, the Lions were down by seven points after forcing a successful 43-yard field goal attempt by Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey. After regaining possession of the football on the Dallas 25-yard line via touchback, with 1 minute and 41 seconds left to play in regulation, Detroit drove the football down the field and scored a touchdown with 23 seconds to spare. This left Detroit trailing by one point. To avoid going into overtime, Detroit Head Coach Dan Campbell made the decision to attempt a two-point conversion after the touchdown which, if successful, would have given Detroit the lead. The attempt at a two-point conversion was a successful trick play, where Detroit quarterback Jared Goff completed a pass to offensive tackle Taylor Decker in the endzone. After the touchdown however, a flag was thrown on the field and referee Brad Allen recalled the successful two-point attempt after penalizing Decker for illegal touching by an ineligible receiver. The labeling of Decker as an ineligible receiver during the play generated controversy as the referee's call stands in contradiction to the testimony of Decker, other players on the Detroit team, and images captured by ESPN cameras showing Decker approaching the referee, even standing immediately in front of him, presumably to report as an eligible receiver.

After attempting the two-point conversion twice more (the second attempt was also called back due to penalty), Detroit was unable to convert after the touchdown, and remained trailing Dallas by one point. After a failed attempt at an onside kick to recover the football, Dallas regained possession with 23 seconds left to play. With the lead and possession of the football, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott knelled to end the game, securing a victory for Dallas.

Background

During Week 17 the 2023 NFL season, the Detroit Lions were scheduled to visit the Dallas Cowboys on December 30, 2023 for a special edition of Monday Night Football. The game coincided with a halftime ceremony where former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Both teams entered the matchup with identical records for the season, 11-5. In the previous week, a home game victory against the rival Minnesota Vikings led to Detroit winning their first division title in 30 years, and winning the NFC North for the first time ever, as the divisions were realigned for the 2002 NFL season. The Cowboys were still in contention to clinch a title in their division, the NFC East, although they have secured their spot in the playoffs after Week 15. Both teams were still competing with each other, and other teams, for the Number 1 seed in the National Football Conference, which would have guaranteed both a bye week for the Wild Card round of playoffs, and home-field advantage up to the conference championship game. Entering the matchup, the moneyline was favoring the Dallas Cowboys to win by a margin of 4.5 or more points.

Game Summary

First half

Dallas won the coin toss and elected to defer their choice to the second half, leading to Detroit receiving the kickoff and initial possession of the game. On their first drive, Detroit was stopped short of the end zone, and Lions kicker Michael Badgley, succeeded in kicking a 41-yard field goal to score the first points of the match. The first drive of the game for Dallas went for six plays, before quarterback Dak Prescott, while intending to throw a pass to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, had his attempted pass intercepted by Detroit Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. Detroit was unsuccessful in converting the interception to points, and after 5 plays, with the last one ending in quarterback Jared Goff being sacked by Dorance Armstrong, Detroit punted the ball back to Dallas. On their second possession, Dallas was able to score the first touchdown of the game after throwing a 92-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb, and sucessfully . After the touchdown Detroit and Dallas have trade punts, and the second quarter begins with Dallas punting the ball back to Detroit while up 3-7. In Detroit's first drive of the second quarter, Jared Goff threw a second pass that was intercepted by Jourdan Lewis. The subsequent possession by Dallas ends when Kindle Vildor forces CeeDee Lamb to fumble the ball in the endzone, which by rule results in a touchback and a change of possession. Detroit drives the football down to Dallas's 4-yard line, but is unable to score a touchdown, and the ball ends up being turned over on downs. Dallas and Detroit trade punts again, and Dallas ends up with the final possession of the first half. The half ends with Dak Prescott being sacked by Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. The scoreless second quarter ends with Dallas still up 3-7.

Second half

After deferring for the first half, Dallas gains the first possession of the third quarter, but is unable to score on the first drive and punts the ball. Detroit manages to score the first points of the second half, after a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to David Montgomery. After a successful extra point kick, Detroit took a 10-7 lead. The lead was short lived, however, as Dallas tied the game with a successful 51-yard field goal kick from Brandon Aubrey. Detroit, now in the fourth quarter, responded in kind, with Michael Badgely kicking a 30-yard field goal to reestablish a 3-point lead. Dallas ended up taking a slightly more decisive 4-point lead in the drive immediately after, with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, and a good extra point field goal. Detroit is unable to answer in their next drive, and punts the ball back to Dallas. Dallas, also unable to get into a scoring situation, punts the ball back to Detroit, after Detroit calls their first timeout of the half. With 2 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in regulation, Detroit attempts to drive down the field. However, on the second play of the drive, Jared Goff throws his third and final interception of the game, to Dallas safety Donovan Wilson.

Final Two Minutes

Detroit's defense was successful in preventing Dallas from scoring a touchdown off of the interception. However, Dallas was still able to kick a field goal, their final points of the game increasing the lead to seven points, 13-20. Further complicating the situation, Detroit was forced into using their remaining two timeouts during Dallas's final drive to ensure they had enough time left to drive the ball down the field themselves. Brandon Aubrey's kickoff landed outside the back of Detroit's endzone, resulting in a touchback.

Detroit's Final Drive

Detroit started their final possession of the game on their own 25-yard line, with no remaining timeouts (Dallas had two timeouts), and 1 minute and 41 seconds left in regulation. For the first play, Jared Goff completes a 10-yard pass to tight end Sam LaPorta. Next, Goff completes another pass to LaPorta, this time for 25 yards. However, this time, LaPorta goes down in bounds, meaning the clock is still running. To stop the clock, Goff takes the snap and intentionally spikes the ball into the ground to stop the clock, sacrificing a down in the process. Now in Dallas territory, Goff completes a third pass, this time to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, for 14 yards. This play also results in Goff being forced to spike the ball. Now, from the Dallas 26-yard line, Goff throws an incomplete pass intended for St. Brown. On third down, Goff throws a completion to LaPorta, for 15 yards, who again, goes down in bounds, leaving the clock running. Goff spikes the ball again, leaving 27 seconds on the clock. From the Dallas 11-yard line, Goff throws a touchdown pass to St. Brown scoring a touchdown and bringing Detroit close to the lead at 19-20

Two-point attempt, controversial penalty, and subsequent two-point attempts

As with any successful touchdown, Detroit had the opportunity to kick an extra point field goal, or line up on the two-yard line and attempt to bring the ball across the goal line again, for a two-point attempt. Should Detroit have kicked a field goal, and should Dallas not have scored in the remaining 23 seconds of regulation, the game would have gone into overtime. However, if a two-point attempt was successful, and Dallas did not score again, then Detroit would take a 21-20 lead and win outright. It was this calculation that led to the call to attempt a two-point conversion.