It's always a disappointment when an otherwise entertaining and high-stakes game ends and the discussion centers around the officiating, but that's the unfortunate position we find ourselves in the morning after a game between NFC contenders. The Dallas Cowboys barely hung on against the recently-crowned NFC North champion Detroit Lions, keeping their hopes alive for a division title of their own. But instead of talking about the incredible performances of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb or the resilience of a Lions team looking to prove they're a legitimate Super Bowl contender, we're talking about referee Brad Allen and his crew's late-game blunder.

That really sucks. And believe it or not, Lions quarterback Jared Goff agrees with me.

“It sucks,” Goff said after the game, per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic. “It’s unfortunate man. I don’t know if I’ve had this feeling before, where you feel like you won but you didn’t.”

For a moment, it appeared as though Detroit was bound to come away with a 21-20 win over the Cowboys, having taken the lead following a Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown and a two-point conversion from Goff to eligible tackle Taylor Decker, but that wasn't what went down. Decker was penalized for not reporting as eligible before the play, even though a replay on ESPN showed Taylor Decker approaching Brad Allen before the play. The two-point conversion was wiped off the board, Dallas was penalized on the second 2-point try, and on the third try, a pass from Jared Goff hit the ground, thus ending Detroit's upset bid in Dallas.

A win at Jerry World could've kept Detroit's hopes for the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs alive. Now, it looks as if they'll be locked in to the #3 seed, good enough for at least for a home game in the Wild Card Round. Let's hope Brad Allen is nowhere near Detroit on the second weekend of January.