Furious NFL fans believe the Detroit Lions’ victory over the Houston Texans was “rigged” after referees overlooked a potential game-changing call later.
With two minutes remaining at NRG Stadium, the Texans were about to take the lead on 3rd and 4 at the Lions’ 40-yard line when CJ Stroud’s pass attempt to Xavier Hutchinson fell incomplete.
Ka’imi Fairbairn then missed a 58-yard field goal attempt to keep the score at 23-23, before Detroit took advantage of the short field to set up Jake Bates for the game-winning kick.
However, replays seemed to suggest that the visitors, who were mocked for the “worst celebration ever” after their victory, should have been penalized for pass interference on Houston’s final drive.
Hutchinson failed to catch Stroud’s pass on 3rd and 4 after being run over by Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, only to have the pass interference call go unpunished by Bill Vinovich and his crew.
Fans are convinced the Lions got away with blatant pass interference against the Texans.
Jake Bates kicked a winning field goal for Detroit after the controversial no-call.
And after Dan Campbell’s team pulled out a last-gasp victory, fans were left fuming over the negative decision on social media.
“Clearest private investigator of the season,” said one user on X. “No call. The league is rigged for the Lions.
Another posted: “This game was rigged for the Lions.”
‘No pass interference was called against the Lions? Rigged,’ wrote a third.
After the NFL shared a graphic celebrating the Lions moving to 8-1, one user responded: “Obviously this was made up before the game, it was confirmed that the NFL was rigged.”
Despite fans’ fury online, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryan focused on his team’s shortcomings in his postgame press conference, insisting they performed well below average. after the interval.
“The second half wasn’t good enough,” Ryan said. “We didn’t play winning football, we stalled in many attacks and didn’t score any points in the second half.
“To beat a good football team like that, we have to be able to keep up, we have to be able to score points, and we were going backwards too much.”