Watch CBS News

Daopoulos Discusses Fishy Ending To Dallas-Detroit Game On Felger & Mazz

BOSTON (CBS) - NFL officials haven't come under this much scrutiny since the replacement referees botched the Fail Mary between Green Bay and Seattle in 2012.

We're of course talking about the way in which the Dallas Cowboys were given a huge break on Sunday by the officials, after what appeared to be blatant pass interference midway through the fourth quarter.
https://vine.co/v/OdpEMBmVjFp
The penalty flag was picked up, Detroit shanked a punt just one play later on fourth-and-1, and Dallas would go on to bleed the clock and find the end zone for the go-ahead score for which they would never relinquish.

Final score: Dallas 24 Detroit 20

Why was the flag picked up? Is the NFL rigged? These are all legitimate questions facing the league now, in a year in which they've already received a fair share of bad publicity.

Former supervisor of NFL officials Jim Daopoulos made his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger & Massarotti Monday afternoon to try and make sense of it all.

"All I could say was 'Wow' when it happened. It was amazing that they handled the call the way they did. I thought the back judge made a great call. It was your classic pass interference. The defender was not playing the ball, he was face-guarding and he made restrictive contact -- that's a foul and it's the correct call. Why the flag was picked up, why the head linesman got involved in this play [I don't know]," Daopoulos told F&M.

"In all the years I was with the NFL, I can tell you that officials don't argue a lot on the field about if it's a foul. One guy will call it, the other guy will see it, and they'll pretty much come to their own conclusion. The referee does have the ultimate authority, but he will never overrule one over the other if they decide they're gonna make that call."

Listen below for the full discussion:

MORE SPORTS FROM CBS BOSTON

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.