While NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino admitted to Around The NFL's Gregg Rosenthal on Monday that the pass interference okie doke on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens was "debatable" and added in an NFL Network interview that defensive holding should have been called, it was of little solace to Detroit Lions players and their fans.
Lions linebacker Tahir Whitehead said that even if the NFL went out of its way to apologize for missing a call he wouldn't accept it.
"It would mean nothing," Whitehead said, per the Detroit Free Press. "Absolutely nothing. Because at this point, we're out of the tournament and we can't do anything about it. So I wouldn't want to hear any apologies at this point, because it wouldn't mean anything to me."
Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he'd like to see the league take out the "human factor" in key situations.
However, the coach isn't going to let his team use it as an excuse as to why they were sent home.
"The one thing I told them is that we're not going to ever make any excuses about, or create any crutches for, any wins or losses. And this particular case will be no exception," Caldwell said. "But the fact of the matter is it's a controversial call. I think that, without question, that it was one that was probably not officiated correctly, in my estimation."
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