Saints irked by overturned defensive TD in OT loss to Lions - ESPN

DETROIT — The New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions didn't know what to make of a controversial call that occurred early in a wild 31-30 Lions overtime win.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff called it a «great call.» Saints defensive end Chase Young said he'd «never seen anything like it.»

It was clear both sides didn't know whether officials made the correct call to change a strip/sack and defensive touchdown to an incomplete pass by Goff.

«I was trying to figure it out on the fly too,» Goff acknowledged after the game.

The controversy started with what looked like a routine strip/sack with 9:33 left in the second quarter. With the Lions leading 7-0, Young beat tackle Penei Sewell and sacked Goff around the Lions' 23-yard line. The ball popped out and bounced across the field to the 12-yard line, where Saints edge rusher Carl Granderson and Lions tight end Sam LaPorta raced to recover it.

Saints defensive back Jonas Sanker scooped it up and ran into the end zone to tie the score 7-7. Officials initially said it was a backward pass and a touchdown. The replay official then reviewed the play and changed the call to an incomplete forward pass.

«Look, they reviewed it. I'm sure that's how the rule is in the rulebook and it is what it is. It's all right. To me, it looked a whole lot like a sack/fumble,» Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss said.

The ball traveling backward only led to the confusion.

«That's tough when the ball goes backwards. I felt like even if your arms went forward, the ball went backwards it looked like, but I don't know,» Saints quarterback Tyler Shough said. «I didn't get to see the replay or anything like that. It's obviously a huge momentum swing, but at the end of the day we don't do enough on offense to go up