OK, this is absurd:
"I was jogging down there, saw Davante fighting for extra yards, saw a guy wrapping him up still trying to take him to the ground and I thought I heard the whistle as soon as I made contact with the guy," Lang said. "I didn't think it was late, that's not the kind of game I play. I just try to take care of my guy.

"The explanation I got from the ref was that somebody upstairs told them to call it on us. It was a tough one. Heat of the moment, man; that's just playoff football. You try to take care of your guys, lot of intensity, might get a letter from the league office but that's fine. Glad we won the game."

Lang said he never heard of being called for a penalty from the press box.

"I asked the ref later in the game what they said and he said, 'We've got a bunch of refs here upstairs' and they felt it should have been on me for instigating the little melee there.

http://www.packersnews.com/story/spo...ball/21609315/
I have the game recorded, and have watched and rewatched the play many, many times. A whistle is very audible, and it is almost simutaneous with Lang's hit, but perhaps just a little after. Even knowing when the whistle is coming, if I stop playback at the first sound of the whistle, Hayden is already flying through the air from Lang's hit. I did this many times, and when I stop on the sound, Hayden is in the air. It is possible that there was a whistle slightly earlier that is not audible on TV, but it couldn't be much earlier, as Adams continued to fight after Lang's hit, and the Cowboy actually threw Adams down long after Lang's hit.

In spite of what Buck said, the flag was not thrown on Lang's hit. Noting where the flag was, and watching the various replays, it is clear the flag was thrown well after Lang's hit, as Hayden and others went after Lang. In fact, Buck's play by play goes like this:

"Rogers. Adams. The rookie is (my note - Lang's hit is visible at the 11 yard line, whistle is first heard) wrapped up by Moore ... short of the first down." (Adams, goes down at the 15 yard line, whistles keep blaring) After several counts of silence during which I counted 8 distinct tweets of a whistle, and after two Cowboys have pushed Lang all the way to the five yard line and out of bounds, Buck says ".... And now they are going to throw a flag.... T.J. Lang is in the middle of it."

After all was done, the flag is seen at the 6 yard line, near the sideline, exactly where the Cowboys were going after Lang, but isn't there when Lang is still on the field of play being pushed by the Cowboys. It is only there after Lang is out of bounds, all consistent with the timing of Buck's call as the play unfolded.

I would be willing to bet, the intent of the flag when thrown was against the Cowboys going after Lang.


Side notes:
- Bakhtiari is one fiery dude, grabbing and throwing Hayden to the ground, then motioning at Hayden to come after him.
- Bakhtiari looks much thicker on his lower body than he did last year.