4 Worst Calls That Have Gone against the Lions

Ranking the four worst calls that have gone against the Lions in franchise history

Since my first year on planet Earth in 1993, the Lions have rarely been on the right side of calls made by referees.

They've seemingly been taken advantage of by NFL officiating crews left and right, with no visible sympathy from the league office.

No sane Lions fan can say that the team's losing ways have entirely been a result of bad calls, though.

There's also been a ton of faulty roster construction and dysfunction inside the locker room along the way.

But, for the purpose of this piece, let's focus on the worst calls made against the Lions in franchise history.

It was tough to narrow down the list, but without further ado, here are the four calls made against the Lions that I believe were the worst:

4.) Jim Schwartz rule

The Lions are set to play the Texans on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2012.

And remember, the 2012 Thanksgiving tilt was a memorable one because of a controversial ruling made by the refs against the Lions.

It all starts with former NFL running back Justin Forsett recording an 81-yard touchdown run on a play where he was visibly brought down to the Ford Field turf by the Lions' defense.

It was, however, allowed to stand after then-Lions head man Jim Schwartz erroneously challenged the ruling on the field. The play was not allowed to be challenged because it was already automatically reviewed. 

It led to Schwartz & Co. being penalized and the play ultimately being unreviewable.

Houston proceeded to win in overtime, 34-31.

In 2013, the NFL realized how idiotic the ruling was and decided to create the “Jim Schwartz Rule," which effectively led to the extermination of the call made against Schwartz from the league's rulebook.

3.) Batted ball in Seattle

The play occurred on Monday Night Football in Week 4 of 2015.

With Stafford under center, the Lions, starting at their own 9-yard line, drove down the field against Seattle's star-laden defense.

It led to a third-and-1 play with 1:51 to go in the fourth quarter, with Stafford & Co. trailing 13-10.

The Lions dialed up a pass play that went to ex-All Pro receiver Calvin Johnson for 10 yards. 

On the play, Johnson had his eyes on the end zone, and looked like he was going in when Seahawks star safety Kam Chancellor punched the ball out of Johnson's hands. 

Linebacker K.J. Wright then followed that up by intentionally knocking the ball out of Seattle's end zone, which is not permissible based upon the rules found within the NFL rulebook.

It is illegal for a player to bat the ball out of the end zone in order to prevent the opposition from recovering a fumble.

If the rule would have been properly implemented, the Lions would have been given the ball at the spot of the fumble, plus half the distance to the goal. Basically, it would have been first-and-goal from the half-inch mark with an ample amount of time to score the game-winning touchdown.

Instead, the Lions lost the game, 13-10, falling to 0-4 on the season.

2.) Calvin Johnson rule

Let's paint the picture here: During Week 1 of the 2010 season against the Chicago Bears, Matthew Stafford had separated his right shoulder right before the end of the first half. It prompted then-Lions backup quarterback Shaun Hill to enter the contest. 

And with just 24 seconds remaining, he threw what would have been the game-winning score to "Megatron," if the catch would not have been ruled incomplete due to Johnson's supposed failure to "complete the process."

Everyone and their mother thought the ruling would be overturned, beside for the refs working the game that day. 

Watch the play yourself to get an idea of what I'm talking about (go to the 2:45 mark to see the play). 

To this day, it's one of the screwiest calls in NFL history, and since, it's led to much debate about what a catch actually is.

As for the game, the Lions would go on to lose, 19-14, after failing to score on the next two plays.

The Lions proceeded to lose their first four games and 10 of their first 12 en route to a 6-10 finish -- tied for the worst record in the NFC North in 2010 along with the Vikings.  

1.) Dallas "screwjob"

None of these "screwjobs" have had more magnitude attached to them than this one.

It came during the 2014 season in the wild card round of the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys.

Detroit led 20-17 with 8:25 remaining in the fourth quarter when the play happened.

Stafford threw a pass to former Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who was being face-guarded by ex-Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens. It was clear-cut defensive pass interference, and initially PI was called against Hitchens.

For whatever reason, the flag was picked up by official Pete Morelli without any explanation.

Detroit failed to score on the possession, and failed to score the rest of the game.  

Meanwhile, Dallas scored on the subsequent possession, and won the contest, 24-20.

Detroit is still searching for its first playoff win since the 1991 campaign.

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