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Following Dallas' controversial win over Detroit Sunday, referee Pete Morelli explained the key pass interference flag was picked up because one official thought it was "face guarding."
With 8:25 left and the Lions up 20-17, Anthony Hitchens appeared to interfere with Brandon Pettigrew on a 3rd-and-1. "The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference," Morelli said in a pool report. "We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant pass interference. He thought it was face guarding." Face guarding (not playing the ball) is legal in the NFL but a penalty in college. "I mean, they already spotted the ball as a pass interference, and then went back and said it wasn't pass interference," Lions S James Ihedigbo said. "Never, never. Eight years in the NFL, I haven't seen that happen."
With 8:25 left and the Lions up 20-17, Anthony Hitchens appeared to interfere with Brandon Pettigrew on a 3rd-and-1. "The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference," Morelli said in a pool report. "We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant pass interference. He thought it was face guarding." Face guarding (not playing the ball) is legal in the NFL but a penalty in college. "I mean, they already spotted the ball as a pass interference, and then went back and said it wasn't pass interference," Lions S James Ihedigbo said. "Never, never. Eight years in the NFL, I haven't seen that happen."