OK, this is my take. And as always, if at any point I am factually wrong let me know. What some may or may not know, is that before EVERY game, coaches bring in all officials and draw the trick plays on the board for them: Which INCLUDES personnel. This happens so there are no surprises for the officials. Now, #70 had been reporting as eligible twice, I think it was, in the game. But NOT this time. This was part of the trick. The REf turned to the Cowboy's defense BEFORE #70 got to the Ref. Anyway, #70 lined up at right tackle and eventually was covered up by a tight end. Before this, the Lions QB, as seen on video, motions #68 to go report to the Ref. #68 gets within a couple of feet of the Ref and reports. On video, you can see the Ref looking squarely at #68. Then after #68 reports, the Ref turns and goes reports to the Cowboy's defense that an eligible player has entered. Now, what did the Ref actually tell the Cowboys? Don't know. But #70 never got anywhere near the Ref because his part for entering was for optics. But -- let's revert back to my first point: Before the game the refs were told exactly what was going tot take place. No official should have been surprised. I did hear that the Ref was being punished and that his crew is banned from any playoff games. Don't know if this is actual because of this next statement. It's being reported Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the NFL is covering for Allen (The Ref) and pointing the finger at the Lions. From Pro Football Talk: "The league views the situation as an effort by the Lions to engage in deception and gamesmanship that backfired." Looks like the NFL is covering their backsides. Because -- how can it be deception when the Lions told, and drew up on a board, exactly what they were going to do. BTW, unless I missed it somewhere else, I noticed in the NFL statement that the NFL didn't happened to mention the pregame coach/officials meeting!
So, what happened? 2 possibilities: Because it was Jimmy Johnson day, the outcome was rigged. Or -- the Ref just screwed up. I personally think he screwed up. Remember, these are part time officials. And, they are human!