So, this was pretty weird. On a huge third down play for the Lions, Matt Stafford looked deep for Brandon Pettigrew. Anthony Hitchens was covering him and not playing the ball at all, so it seemed like a pretty clear cut case of pass interference.
And it was! For a moment, until the referees decided to pick up the flag after going through the trouble of announcing the penalty as called on the field. That left the Lions scrambling for a fourth-and-one at midfield, so they let the clock expire and took the penalty and punted. Adding to the weirdness was Dez Bryant popping up on the field immediately after the play, sans helmet.
Aikman, Buck, and Mike Pereira all agreed it was a penalty and were flabbergasted that the flag was picked up in the first place. And now Dallas scored on the ensuing possession to take a 24-20 lead with two-minute warning approaching, so we probably won't hear anything about this call at all next week.[FOX]