The Detroit Lions have been on the wrong end of plenty of obscure NFL rules. They're not about to complain when one goes their way.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Sunday, Sept. 13, he thought Jared Goff lost a fumble the New Orleans Saints returned for a touchdown on a play that was overturned by replay in the second quarter of their season-opening 31-30 win at Ford Field.
The play proved to be a difference in the game, as the Saints rallied from a scoreless first half to force overtime before the Lions won on a 2-point conversion stop after the teams traded touchdowns in overtime. Had the fumble return for a touchdown stood, the Saints might have won in regulation.
"Look, I’ll take that one," Campbell said. "I’ll be the first to say that. I thought
we lost that one. But the arm was going forward. It had a forward motion, that was how they saw it. We got one. We’ll take that."
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With 9:34 left in the second quarter, Goff was hit from behind by Saints linebacker Chase Young as he started his throwing motion on a third-and-16 pass play.
The ball flew backward out of Goff's hand and safety Jonas Sanker returned it 7 yards for a touchdown, but referee Alan Eck announced the fumble was overturned on replay because the intent of Goff's throwing motion was to make a forward pass.
"If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass," NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said in a pool report. "Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass.”
Butterworth said quarterbacks are deemed to have started their throwing motion once they "bring the ball up as a part of their windup."
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Goff said he wasn't familiar with the rule - "I was trying to figure it out on the fly, too," he said - but like Campbell he wasn't complaining about the outcome.
"That was a great call," he said.
Saints coach Kellen Moore, a former Lions quarterback, called the turn of events "a little bit of a challenging circumstance but I understand what the rules viewed as."
The Lions punted on the next play, then forced a Saints punt and went to the locker room with a 7-0 halftime lead.
"Once the arm is moving there’s really it doesn’t matter where the ball’s going," Moore said. "There’s a protection there and so unfortunate outcome for us."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Even Dan Campbell didn't know obscure rule that overturned Saints TD
