Lions president Tom Lewand 'disappointed' with call but moving on
NEW YORK – After watching the Detroit Lions suffer another bitter defeat in a big game influenced by a controversial call, you might expect that team president Tom Lewand would be fuming as he sat through NFL meetings this week.
Instead, he’s biting his tongue.
“I’m disappointed,” Lewand told Paste BN Sports, “but there’s nothing we can do at this point to correct the outcome, so we focus on what we can control, and that’s the get ready to play the Cardinals.”
The Lions (0-4) host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday as the NFL’s only winless team, following the 13-10 setback at Seattle on Monday night when Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright batted a loose ball – fumbled at the goal line by Calvin Johnson – out of the end zone.
The league’s officiating director Dean Blandino, indicated that back judge Greg Wilson, and by extension referee Tony Corrente, erred by not penalizing Seattle inside the game’s final 2 minutes. By rule, the Lions would have maintained possession at the 1-yard line.
Unfortunately for Detroit, losing on the heels of officiating blunders is becoming a pattern.
The Lions lost in the NFC divisional playoff at Dallas in January after the officials picked up a flag that was originally thrown to penalize an apparently blatant pass interference call against linebacker Anthony Hitchens.
Are the Lions just getting downright disrespected by the officials?
“I don’t think it makes a lot of sense for us ... I’ll respectfully decline to answer that,” said Lewand, whose measured response is similar to how coach Jim Caldwell has addressed the controversial calls.
“It doesn’t do us any good to comment on what might have happened, didn’t happen, or speculate. It’s not productive. Look, I’m as frustrated as any of our fans, and I can certainly understand their anger. But the thing they want most is for us to win. That’s what we have to go about doing. Spending a lot of time looking in the rear-view mirror doesn’t help us win.”
Then again, blowing off some steam might help deal with the losses.
Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.