Refs controversial, questionable calls mar end of Packers loss to Lions

· Yahoo Sports

Let's get this out of the way first. The Green Bay Packers succumbed largely to problems of their own creation.

They took explosive gains and touchdowns off the board with a myriad of dropped passes. Rookie Trey Smack, the only kicker selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, missed a pair of chip shot field goals, becoming the only player in the league to miss multiple non-extra point kicks from inside 35 yards this season. With the chance to get a stop and create space for a potential game-winning drive, defensive lineman Karl Brooks jumped offside and helped give the Detroit Lions the latitude to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired in a 20-17 game.

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But the Packers were also undone by eight penalties for 81 yards -- and some of those penalties are destined to be the kind of conversation fodder adults will be unable to discuss around children throughout Wisconsin this week.

Take, for example, a fourth quarter roughing the passer flag so egregious it got Tom Brady to complain about how coddled quarterbacks are in the NFL.

That followed a slightly less questionable call that saw a stumbling Brenton Cox, pulled down by a late block, hit Jared Goff center mass after getting rid of the ball. That 15-yard call erased a third-and-long incompletion on a drive that eventually drove inside the Green Bay 10-yard line before stalling out.

That turnover on downs pinned Jordan Love deep in his own territory. An extremely iffy intentional grounding call buried him even deeper, even though he'd cleared the tackle box and had tight end Tucker Kraft in the vicinity of his throw.

Love wound up throwing an arm punt interception on third and long and the game rumbled onward. Those are three very impactful calls that range from "iffy" to "we're expecting an apology from the league this week." And, somehow, we haven't even gotten to the funniest "shrug, throw the flag" penalty of the day. This one stemmed from a post-play scuffle between Amon-Ra St. Brown and Devonte Wyatt that saw the referee run in, take a helmet to the midsection and then angrily throw a flag to the heavens from his back on the turf.

Detroit scored a touchdown two plays later to take a 17-14 lead.

Green Bay dug its own grave, but a series of 50/50 calls that flipped against the Packers provided a few extra shovels. Wisconsin talk radio may incinerate from the takes generated after Sunday's loss in Detroit, though fans could at least take some comfort that, even if allowed the stops negated by bad penalties, Green Bay's receivers likely would have dropped the game-winning passes that followed anyway.

Fortunately for fans in the Badger State, they've still got the Milwaukee Brewers.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Refs controversial, questionable calls mar end of Packers loss to Lions

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