What Lions coach Dan Campbell, referee Alex Kemp said about controversial pass interference penalty

The end of "Sunday Night Football" was shrouded in controversy, as a penalty allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to walk off with a 16-9 victory over Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions. 

Down seven points with fewer than two minutes remaining, it appeared the Lions were on the verge of getting the ball back with the opportunity to tie the game. The Eagles faced a third-and-8 from their own 38-yard line, and Jalen Hurts missed A.J. Brown high and to the right. However, a flag was thrown on the play.

Officials penalized Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin for pass interference. The penalty gave the Eagles an automatic first down, and virtually iced the game for Philadelphia since Detroit had just one more timeout in its pocket. It certainly didn't look like Ya-Sin committed a penalty. Even NBC broadcaster Cris Collinsworth broke character and described the penalty as "terrible." 

Naturally, this play was a major talking point after the final whistle.

What referee Alex Kemp said about the penalty

Following the game, referee Alex Kemp commented to pool reporter Zach Berman. He addressed the controversial pass interference penalty.

"The official observed the receiver's arm getting grabbed and restricting him from going up to make the catch. So, the ball was in the air, there was a grab at the arm, restricted him and he called defensive pass interference."

What Dan Campbell said about the play

Lions coach Dan Campbell also addressed the penalty, and he took the high road.

"Yeah, well, I thought he played defense like he did the whole game, man. I thought he challenged and played it like he did the very first rep that we played man-to-man. So I wouldn't tell him to do anything different, man, get up there and challenge. Play your style and that's it."

There were more reasons why the Lions lost in Week 11 than just a controversial fourth-quarter flag. 

The nine points scored were the fewest for Detroit since Week 7 in 2023, and the Lions went 0 of 5 on fourth downs. There are just two other NFL teams in the last 35 years to go 0 of 5 or worse on fourth downs (1995 New England Patriots and 2022 Lions). Goff completed a career-low 38% of his passes, while Amon-Ra St. Brown caught two of 12 targets -- the lowest catch rate of his career (17%). The Lions offense on Sunday night was disappointing, but everyone is left wondering what would have happened if Goff got the ball back with a chance to lead a game-tying drive.