Dan Campbell fired up following Lions' defeat to Cowboys after controversial decision by refs: "Not going to feel sorry for ourselves"
Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season is finally in the books. Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night in what was arguably the most controversial game of the week.
The Lions suffered a 20-19 loss to the home team after a failed two-point conversion. However, before they missed, they appeared to have converted with quarterback Jared Goff throwing a pass to offensive tackle Taylor Decker.
The officials, led by Brad Allen, said that the Lions failed to report as eligible before the snap and deemed Decker an ineligible receiver on the play. This led the Lions to redo the two-point try, falling short a third time.
Following the frustrating loss, Campbell told the media he would use last week's outcome as fuel for their Sunday game against the Minnesota Vikings.
"I've got controlled fury, and I'm ready to go, I'm absolutely ready to go. I don't go the other way, so the team won't either," Campbell said. "We're on a mission, and we're not going to feel sorry for ourselves.
"We had plays to make, we didn't make them, and it's a tight game, a good opponent playoff-type atmosphere, and you got to make that one extra play that we didn't. And so we will use this as fuel. I got pure octane right now."
Referee Brad Allen breaks silence about controversial penalty in Cowboys-Lions game
Following the confusing ending of the Detroit Lions-Dallas Cowboys game, referee Brad Allen said that No. 70 (Dan Skipper) reported as eligible, but No. 68 (Taylor Decker) did not. Decker was the one who caught the pass for the two-point conversion.
“On this particular play, number 70, who had reported during the game a couple of times, reported to me as eligible," Allen said in a pool report. "Then he lined up at the tackle position. … So, the issue is, number 70 did report, number 68 did not.”
The Lions fell to 11-5, while the Cowboys improved to 11-5. The controversial call could have implications next week when playoff seeds are set.