The Detroit Lions probably would have won the game against the Arizona Cardinals if it wasn't for a timeout that Matt Patricia takes the blame for. The Lions had a perfect play call with a swing pass that would have resulted in an easy touchdown.
The Cardinals were out of timeouts, and they would have had no way to stop the clock if they would have picked up the first down. Instead, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called a timeout, and Patricia said he directed the timeout to be called because he didn't think they would get a play off before the play clock expired.
“I’m calling the timeouts,” Patricia said, via the Detroit Free Press.
Patricia said the last thing he wanted was a penalty at that point of the game, so he pulled the trigger a little too fast calling the timeout.
“We’re looking at the play clock trying to get that stuff down and get it figured out at that point. Stafford did a great job of getting it off, but really again, whether it was at 0 [seconds on the play clock] or 1, either way, the mechanics, the way that works with the officials, the guy back there, he’s staring at the play clock and he sees it. So again, we’d rather be in third-and-5 than [take a penalty and be in] third-and-10 in that got-to-have-it situation. We’ve just got to go out and execute the next play,” Patricia said.
After the timeout, Stafford threw an incomplete pass, and the team was forced to punt it back to the Cardinals who were able to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game.
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