On Sunday evening, the Detroit Lions dropped their second game of the young 2025 NFL season with a blowout road loss at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a poor performance for the Lions overall, capped off by a postgame skirmish ignited by defensive back Brian Branch that resulted in a one-game suspension for the former Alabama Crimson Tide star.
While the game was far too lopsided to be blamed on officiating, one controversial moment occurred when the Lions were called for an illegal motion, which official Craig Wrolstad said was made by the officials on the field, with no outside help from the team in New York.
However, Lions head coach Dan Campbell painted a different picture during a recent appearance on 97.1 The Ticket on Wednesday, stating that a referee on the field told him that the illegal motion penalty did indeed come from New York, per a post on the NFL Subreddit.
In other words, someone's lying.
If Campbell's version of events were to be proven true, the NFL may have a major issue on its hands, as Wrolstad would have blatantly lied to reporters after the game.
A tough loss for the Lions
Controversial penalties and non-penalties (the Chiefs went the entire game without being called for one) aside, the Lions have some looking in the mirror to do, as they are now 0-2 against the two good teams they've played this year in Kansas City and Green Bay.
In both of those losses, the Lions' usually electric offense sputtered to a halt, raising questions about just how much Detroit truly misses Ben Johnson coordinating things on that side of the ball.
Still, the Lions sit with a perfectly acceptable record of 4-2 despite the setback, and they'll have a good chance to prove that they can in fact beat good teams next week when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who currently sit atop the NFC standings.
The Lions and Buccaneers are slated to kick things off on Monday evening at 7:00 PM ET from Detroit.
