In the immediate aftermath of the Green Bay Packers' 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions in a controversially officiated game, referee Alex Moore answered questions from the pool reporter on a few specific calls, including an unnecessary roughness penalty on Devonte Wyatt and an intentional grounding penalty on Jordan Love.
Both were questionable but impactful calls. Wyatt's penalty provided a first down in the red zone on a touchdown drive for the Lions, while the grounding penalty backed up the Packers offense deep into their own territory before Love threw an interception on third-and-long.
Do the explanations from Moore make any sense? You be the judge.
From the pool report via Ben Raven of MLive.com:
On Wyatt's penalty: "We ruled that the play
was over. I can't honestly hear if there was a whistle or not, but the tackler made the tackle, the play was over. Then, there was an additional action, and he basically tackled him again with force after the play was over."
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said no one heard a whistle and Wyatt was simply playing the play to its conclusion, especially after Amon-Ra St. Brown got up and appeared to be starting to run.
Moore said the "additional action" of tackling St. Brown a second time created the penalty. Without the call, the Lions were facing 3rd-and-7 from the 23-yard line. Instead, the 12-yard penalty gave the Lions a 1st-and-10 from the 11-yard line.
On Love's grounding penalty: "So we ruled that although the quarterback was outside of the tackle box, the pass did not make it to the line of scrimmage. So, that's where the intentional grounding came in."
Love was, in fact, outside the tackle box, and his throw -- while being hit -- was clearly intended for Tucker Kraft. The officials deemed it grounding because the ball didn't get back to the line of scrimmage and it wasn't near enough to Kraft.
"Either to the line of scrimmage or into the area where he is. It just can't be in the direction, it has to actually reach where he is if it doesn't get to the line of scrimmage."
This was a highly subjective call that is almost never officiated this way at the NFL level. Love was being hit outside the tackle box and the intended target was clear and obvious.
The 11-yard penalty put the Packers into a 2nd-and-21 situation from their own 8-yard line. Brian Branch intercepted Love's deep shot to Christian Watson near midfield one play later.
Officials also flagged Brenton Cox Jr. and Karl Brooks for questionable roughing the passer penalties. Moore was not asked about the two roughing penalties.
Guess which one was called intentional grounding? pic.twitter.com/fYtAPPhf4H
— Johnny barks (@Johnny_Barks) October 25, 2026
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Official answers questions about controversial calls in Packers-Lions
