Referee explains questionable 2-minute warning call in Cardinals-Lions

GLENDALE — Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon isn’t big on momentum. In fact, he’s still not a true believer after doing a deep dive this offseason on it.

But what transpired in the second quarter of the Cardinals’ 20-13 loss to the Detroit Lions might be worth another case study.

Looking to stop the Lions deep in their own territory, the Cardinals successfully got quarterback Jared Goff out of sorts. With Jalen Thompson and Owen Pappoe applying pressure, Goff attempted to get the ball out.

Instead of finding an open receiver, Goff’s pass was tipped before falling right into the hand of Mack Wilson Sr., who took the interception to the house.

Just like that, it was at the very least a tie ballgame.

That was until the referees blew the play dead, signaling that the two-minute warning had been reached before the ball was snapped.

From the replay, it looked like Detroit got the ball off in time. The referees saw something different, however.

“Mechanically, we have an official that is watching the clock and what he had as a ruling was the clock was at two minutes and the ball was snapped,” referee Brad Rogers told pool reporter Josh Weinfuss. “So, by rule when the clock is at two minutes, it is then dead. We’re not going to let the play get off. We started killing the play by blowing whistles.

“I know the play started, but when we start blowing the whistle, it shuts it down. Some of the players were still going because they couldn’t hear our whistles apparently – so it looks like there’s part of the action that’s still moving and some of the action is stopping. So, when we start blowing our whistles, it shuts the play down completely.”

It was a brutal development for the Cardinals, who then watched the Lions bounce back from the pseudo-interception with a seven-play, 72-yard touchdown drive late in the half.

As for Gannon’s thoughts of the whole ordeal?

“They call what they call,” he said postgame.

Follow @Tdrake4sports