Late in the second quarter of their Week 3 game against the Arizona Cardinals, the Detroit Lions faced third-and-12 near midfield. It was right then that disaster seemingly struck. Jared Goff dropped back to pass, and got absolutely clobbered by an Arizona defender, popping the ball up into the air.
It landed in the waiting arms of Mack Wilson, who took it all the way back to the house.
“The key is the officials killed it, so there’s nothing we can do in replay after the fact.”@DeanBlandino talks about why they couldn’t review if the ball was snapped before the 2-minute warning pic.twitter.com/7ITYbGHBQL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 22, 2024
Or so we thought. After Wilson made his way to the end zone, the officials informed the crowd and the broadcast crew that the two-minute warning actually hit before Detroit snapped the ball, negating the play. Except, that did not actually appear to be the case, as many, many viewers noticed.
Oh the Cardinals just got SCREWED!!
Pick 6 off pressure, officials claimed the 2 minute warning hit first.
Ball clearly snapped before it hit 2.00 pic.twitter.com/l3RcPmyac2
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) September 22, 2024
An alternate view on the broadcast once they came back from the two-minute warning seemingly showed the clock ticking down to 2:00 just as the ball was being snapped, but considering how often the play clock hits zero and teams not getting called for delay of game, it was certainly curious to see this play blown dead and overturned.
On the ensuing third-and-12 snap, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs took a draw 14 yards past the line to gain and picked up a first down. Three snaps later, Detroit dove into offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s bag of tricks.
What looked like a short pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown over the middle, was anything but.
Little hook n ladder shenanigans for the score 😈#DETvsAZ | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/EBUcoJeBn5
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 22, 2024
That’s right, folks. The DESIGNED hook-and-ladder play for the touchdown with St. Brown catching the ball and flipping it to Jahmyr Gibbs, who ran it in for the score! You might not see a more beautifully designed touchdown all season. The Lions certainly got lucky with the overturned pick six, but they did a great job of taking advantage once they got the ball back.
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