Jerry Jones says Lions ‘fuzzed it up’ in controversial ending; Dallas Cowboys elated over Eagles loss

Owner Jerry Jones dreamed about being in this position when the Dallas Cowboys opened training camp.

Having a chance to win the NFC East and gain at least one home game was always the goal.

But it seemed unlikely a few short days ago.

That was before the Cowboys ended a two-game losing streak with a controversial 20-19 victory against the Detroit Lions and then watched the Philadelphia Eagles blow a 15-point lead to the lowly Arizona Cardinals at home and get upset 35-31 a day later.

It put the Cowboys and Eagles in a tie atop the NFC East with 11-5 marks with the Cowboys in the driver’s seat for the division title with a win against the Washington Commanders Sunday.

“What a way to start the year. It’s exciting to no end,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday morning. “Back in training camp it was printed on our forehead that the goal was to have the best possible situation for the playoffs. That implies getting to this spot going into the final game. This is where we wanted to be.”

The Cowboys not only have a chance to win the NFC East but also gain the No. 2 seed in the NFC East playoffs, guaranteeing them at least one home and possibly two if they win the wild card game.

While the Eagles loss is the one that put the Cowboys in this position, it was the victory over the Lions that set the stage.

It’s also the one the entire world is still talking about due to controversial game-deciding penalty against the Lions with 23 seconds left.

After scoring a touchdown to get within one-point of the Cowboys, the Lions decided to go for the two-point version.

A successful pass to tackle Taylor Decker to seemingly win the game was negated by an illegal touching penalty, as it was ruled that Decker didn’t report as an eligible receiver.

The Eagles sent three players toward referee Brad Allen in an attempt to confuse the Cowboys on who was to be eligible.

Decker, tackle Penei Sewell and tackle Dan Skipper.

The referee announced Skipper as eligible, even though Skipper said he never said anything and it was Decker who denoted he was going to be eligible.

“It’s about eligibility,” Campbell told reporters. “That’s what it’s about. And it has nothing to do with the ref. The ref knows. He knows. Because 68 reported. It’s for the defense, so that they see three different people. And you’re just hoping they happen to not hear that it’s 70 [who isn’t eligible]. That’s all.”

That is what it was all about as instead of fooling the Cowboys, the Lions confused Allen.

He reported that Skipper was eligible and announced it to the Cowboys.

Jones said the Lions fuzzed it all up.

“I can’t believe the convoluted way that we ended up winning that game,” Jones said. “But let me put it like this: The defensive team is supposed to know who the eligible receivers are. Anything you do to fuzzy that up can get fuzzy for you.”

Jones also had no sympathy for the Lions on the final play because he said they only get the opportunity to the score the touchdown to set up the two-point play because of a error by the officials on a penalty against the Cowboys on the previous drive.

Tight end Peyton Hendershot was flagged for tripping defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. But replays showed that was Hutchinson who kicked his leg out and should have been flagged for tripping.

A 7-yard run by Tony Pollard on first-and-10 from the Detroit 29 became first-and-25 from the 44.

The setback impacted the Cowboys ability to score a seemingly game-clinching touchdown or at least run more time off the clock before settling for a field goal.

“I think the tape is clear, you probably saw it when they showed it on the replay,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “The penalty, clearly, in our view clearly flips the situation. You’re first and 10 on the 24, 25, 26 yard line. You (don’t) take the penalty, we’re 2nd-and-4 with a running clock. That takes out their second timeout.”

That why Jones said it’s wrong for everyone to simply focus on the two-point play at the end.

“Certainly there were many times in that entire sequence of plays the plays before it, the one before where we had the tripping penalty, really impacted our decision making,” Jones said. “We were obviously trying to score and that was a critical play. And there were a lot of plays that happened there. But just one play doesn’t do it.

“There were a lot of different penalties that were called there starting with our tripping penalty that influenced the game that were questionable.”