Lions Sent Uncalled Intentional Grounding Play for Review

NFL has not yet addressed why the Bears were not penalized.

The Detroit Lions have officially sent in a controversial play from their recent contest against the Chicago Bears to the league for review.  

Late in the third quarter, Bears quarterback Justin Fields was pressured by Julian Okwara and nearly sacked in a 13-13 tie game. 

Trying to avoid a negative play, Fields threw incomplete from the Bears own 38-yard line.

After meeting, officials must have determined intentional grounding should not be flagged since the Bears signal-caller was being hit prior to releasing the football.

NFL rules dictate if a quarterback is hit before he begins a forward pass, the play should be penalized as intentional grounding. 

According to the official rulebook, “When a passer is contacted by an opponent before beginning his throwing motion, the direction of the pass is the responsibility of the passer, and intentional grounding rules apply.”

Appearing on his weekly radio interview with 97.1 The Ticket, head coach Dan Campbell indicated he has yet to hear from the league regarding why the play was not penalized. 

"We'll get an answer. We turned it in," said Campbell. "I'm not, honestly, I'm not worried about it because it didn't cost us a game, you know. And either way, that's every week. The team knows this every week, we have to be able to overcome it if there's a call that doesn't go our way. That it happens every week. And man, I learned this years ago, I'm not going to waste my energy worrying about that crap. It is what it is, and you have to overcome it. The good teams overcome any type of adversity that comes out."