Lions notes: Ebron rips officials after latest bad call

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption What went wrong in Lions' loss in St. Louis? Dave Birkett and Jeff Seidel break down another disappointing Lions loss, this one coming to the hands of the Rams. Video by Dave Birkett/DFP

ST. LOUIS – The Detroit Lions were on the wrong end of another blown officiating call in Sunday's 21-14 loss to the St. Louis Rams, and while coach Jim Caldwell continues to insist there are bigger issues holding his team back, one prominent player said he's sick of seeing calls go against the Lions.

"When you play here (for the Lions) it's always more than 11 on 11," tight end Eric Ebron said. "The term Detroit vs. Everybody didn't come out for no reason. That's how it is. It's us against the world and we got to play like it every game."

Running back Theo Riddick was called for a chop-block penalty late in the first half to nullify a 36-yard pass to Golden Tate that would have given the Lions a first down at the Rams' 8-yard line.

The penalty cost the Lions 51 yards in field position – the ball was spotted at the Lions' 41 after the penalty – and the Lions punted four plays later and went into the locker room trailing 7-0 at halftime.

Former vice president of officiating and Fox rules guru Mike Pereira said the play should not have been penalized, and replays showed Riddick diving to cut block a free rusher who was not engaged with another blocker.

Caldwell said he did not think it was a penalty, and Riddick shook his head when asked about the call as he walked to the bus after the game.

"When they make the call you've got to live with it," Riddick said.

Ebron and others, though, took issue with the call.

"Consensus on our sideline was keep doing what you're doing," quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

The Lions also had errant calls go against them in losses earlier this year to the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.

Against the Seahawks, officials missed an illegal batting penalty when linebacker K.J. Wright swatted a late Calvin Johnson fumble out of the end zone. Had officials called the penalty, the Lions would have had the ball inside the 1-yard line down three points with less than 2 minutes to play.

Last week, officials flagged Devin Taylor for a questionable facemask penalty on what appeared to be the final play of the game. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a 61-yard Hail Mary pass to Richard Rodgers for the game-winning touchdown on the resulting untimed play.

"We've had every call called against us," Ebron said after the game today.

Why?

"Who knows?" Ebron said. "I wasn't here for the past thousands of years this team been. I've only been here for two years and I've seen it all in two years. So that's just the way we set up in Detroit."

Along with Riddick's penalty, Ebron was upset officials did not throw a pass interference penalty on the final play of the game, when he tripped after he appeared to get his feet tangled with a Rams defensive back as Matthew Stafford threw incomplete on fourth-and-3.

Ebron said one official told him no penalty was called on the play because both players were going for the ball.

"Man, we didn't get our feet tangled," Ebron said. "He ran up behind me. It is what it is. They can say we got our feet tangled, I think it's pass interference. If it was us against some anybody else, it would have been damn pass interference. Seeing as it was us, it was nothing."

Ebron said he would have caught the pass "if I didn't get tripped."

"We just got to go out there and not leave it in the hands of those dudes in the black hats, white hats and stripped shirts," Ebron said. "That's the only thing we can do."

Caldwell declined to answer when asked if he had any suggestions on how the NFL can improve its officiating.

"That's really not my concern," he said. "I think if you play well enough, those things aren't a factor. We just haven't played well enough and that's the key. You take all that stuff out of it. In tight games, when you're in a situation where you're struggling, then every one of those calls seems to be more exasperated, exaggerated, and to me, if we do the things we're supposed to do early on and throughout the ballgame, those are non-issues. They go both ways in terms of those calls. They usually balance themselves out."

Milestone Matt: Stafford became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 25,000 yards passing on a short screen to Theo Riddick midway through the third quarter.

Stafford, who has 25,123 passing yards in his career, reached the milestone in his 90th game. Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino held the previous mark, passing 25,000 yards in his 92nd game.

Injury update: Tight end Brandon Pettigrew left the first half of the game with what appears to be a serious left knee injury. Pettigrew, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury to the same knee as a rookie in 2009, declined comment on whether the ligament was torn again as he left the locker room limping after the game. He's scheduled for an MRI today. … No. 3 receiver Lance Moore missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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