The Lions and Packers put on a tight divisional game Sunday, but the final conversation wasn’t about Detroit’s 20-17 win or Green Bay’s slip to 4-3. It was about the officiating.
The biggest flashpoint came late, with the score tied 17-17 and fewer than three minutes left. Green Bay defensive tackle Karl Brooks got to Jared Goff just after the quarterback released a pass to Sam LaPorta, and the officials ruled it roughing the passer.
That penalty tacked 15 yards onto the 18-yard completion and pushed Detroit into field-goal range. Jake Bates finished the job with a 22-yard kick as time expired, and the Lions walked it off.
Tom Brady, on the FOX broadcast with Kevin Burkhardt, made it clear he wanted no part of the call.
"No, my goodness. What is that?
There's no way! That's definitely not roughing the passer!"
Brady said.
FOX rules analyst Dean Blandino backed him up, calling it a textbook tackle rather than a penalty.
Pat McAfee later jumped into the discussion on social media and praised Brady for saying it out loud.
"I really appreciate Tom Brady's disdain for some of the Roughing the Passer calls. He's an owner and one of the lead commentators ... he's got A LOT OF WEIGHT."
Brady is FOX’s lead NFL game analyst and owns a 5% stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, a deal approved by NFL team owners in October 2024. That ownership comes with limits, including restrictions on attending team production meetings and accessing team facilities, players, and coaches. He also has to follow league rules that bar owners from publicly criticizing officials and other clubs.
Sunday’s roughing calls weren’t the only reason Green Bay lost. The Packers also missed two field goals, threw a damaging fourth-quarter interception and managed just seven points in seven red-zone trips. Still, the late flag stood out, and it added another chapter to a season that has already seen plenty of complaints about officiating.
In Other News...
Lions Suddenly Face A Bigger NFC Test Than The Standings Show
After seven weeks, the NFC picture has tightened into something that looks less like a division race and more like a weekly survival test. The Vikings are still unbeaten at the top of the North, while the Bears, Lions and Packers all sit in playoff position, and even Seattle is lurking just outside the bracket. For Detroit, the margin for error is already thin enough that every divisional result can change how the standings feel from one Sunday to the next.
What makes the next stretch especially tricky is how little room there is to separate contenders from pretenders. The Lions are in the mix, but the path ahead runs through a conference that keeps stacking competent teams on top of one another, with upcoming games set to shape not just the North but the broader NFC race. And when Detroit gets its next crack at Minnesota, it will be facing a team that has been suffocating opponents defensively, which only raises the stakes of every possession before that matchup even arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Got A Huge Late-Game Break From An Unexpected Defender
Late in the fourth quarter, the Lions got a break from an unlikely place when defensive tackle DJ Wonnum got a hand on Green Bay kicker Trey Smacks 35-yard field-goal attempt. The deflection helped send the kick wide and kept the game tied in a tense finish that was hanging on every snap.
It was the kind of play that can disappear in the blur of a close game, and even some Lions teammates did not realize Wonnum had made the difference until after it was over. Detroit ultimately walked away with a 20-17 win, and the late stop loomed large because it prevented the Packers from taking the lead when the pressure was at its highest. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Got The Injury Reassurance Fans Wanted After Packers Win
The Lions left Lambeau with a win and, as often happens after a physical NFC North game, a little injury cleanup on the side. Dan Campbell said after Week 7 that Amon-Ra St. Brown and Ennis Rakestraw came out with minor issues, the kind of postgame concern that tends to linger only long enough to make everyone hold their breath before the next week begins.
For Detroit, the encouraging part is the timing. Neither player is expected to miss the upcoming matchup with the Vikings, even if one or both sits out a practice day along the way, and the Lions have enough depth to absorb a short absence if needed. Rakestraw had a role against Green Bay, logging 31 percent of the defensive snaps, and the message around the injury report is that this looks more like a brief inconvenience than a real setback. [Read more 🡒]