The Dallas Cowboys won their first playoff game since 2009 on Sunday, defeating the Detroit Lions 24-20 in a taught, hard-fought affair that didn't see the Cowboys take their first lead until late in the fourth quarter.
The thrilling NFL contest was not without its fair share of controversy, though, namely in connection with some questionable officiating that seemed to fall Dallas' way on a handful of important occasions - questionable officiating made even more curious because of the highly unorthodox nature of the relationship between the Cowboys and NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino.
The most egregious call of the night was a defensive pass interference infraction on Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens on a big third down in the fourth quarter. Hitchens, attempting to cover tight end Brandon Pettigrew one on one, had his back turned to Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and appeared to make contact with Pettigrew before the ball arrived. The officials initially threw the flag, but it was, after a lengthy discussion between the referees, eventually picked up and struck from the record.
After the game, Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel tweeted a picture of the exchange between pool reporter Todd Archer and head referee Pete Morelli concerning what actually transpired during the play that first caused the flag to be thrown, and then subsequently picked up.
"The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We got information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant defensive pass interference. He thought it was face-guarding," Morelli said.
Face-guarding is a term for when a defender blocks a receiver's line of sight to the ball without making any physical contact. Morelli said that while this is an illegal technique in college football, it is perfectly legal in the NFL.
It is, despite Morelli's assertion, not illegal in college, and his decision to deem Hitchens' actions face-guarding is an interesting one considering the amount of contact visible upon replay.
Mike Pereira, former vice president of officiating for the NFL and current rules analyst at FOX Sports, said during the broadcast that he thought the play should have resulted in a penalty and afterward was both confused and miffed by the decision to overturn the call.
Enter Blandino, the NFL's current VP of officiating.
Blandino has been the league's top referee rep since February 2013. He is considered engaged, dynamic and fully committed to the job by various executives across the league.
But he also has a seemingly inappropriate relationship with the Cowboys that could lead some to wonder at the nature of the calls that came down last night.
CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora, in an article from Aug. 2014, highlights a TMZ report showing Blandino on a party bus in Los Angeles with Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones, who is also on the NFL competition committee and is the son of team owner Jerry Jones.
LaCanfora spoke to a number of NFL execs - none of whom, he claims, are direct rivals of the Cowboys - to gauge the level of potential intrigue and/or anger over Blandino's decision to take part in an activity which carries with it such clear potential issues of competitive balance and fairness.
"That's definitely Dean," said an official with one club upon viewing the video, LaCanfora wrote. "Is the league trying to tell you it's not him? What is the league telling you guys about it? That looks horrible. I can't think of another owner in the league who wouldn't be pissed off after seeing that."
At the time, the league offered no reaction to the video and Blandino refused to comment. While it's not abnormal for Blandino to spend time with competition committee members, it is both unorthodox and potentially damaging for him to do it in a way that would seem to belie a deeper relationship.
"It shows a total lack of judgment, and common sense, to get on the bus in the first place," another team official told LaCanfora. "And then to get off of it in that setting? Yeah, we've got a big problem with that. It's one thing to have a drink or two back in the hotel room or whatever, but this goes way beyond that. How does this not look like preferential treatment?"
This is the exact question that fans, coaches and players in Detroit are no doubt asking themselves in the wake of the Lions' devastating loss to the Cowboys last night.
While this may all amount to nothing and the Cowboys will continue their march through the postseason unencumbered, it offers a stark reminder of the human aspect of the game we all love so dearly and which can change drastically at the drop of a hat, or flag.
"This is a league where everyone is looking for any edge they can possibly get, anything at all. And Dean is in a position where he is in communication with clubs all the time, teams are making sure officials are aware about what other teams are doing and what they should look for when they face them. I don't care what anyone (at the league office) would try to tell you.
"To teams, this is definitely a big deal."
