Quote Originally Posted by Fritz View Post
What's kind of funny is that seemingly no one on the planet - not Jim Caldwell, not Jon Gruden, not the fans, nobody - knew this rule. Tirico never said a word. The coaches didn't bitch at all. It wasn't until after when somebody postgame interviewed a ref that this came up.

So essentially the rule was there but no one really seemed to know that. Had Caldwell or one of his assistants known the rule, he might've immediately jumped the officials about it, so they might've then huddled briefly (pretending it was their idea) and then thrown a flag.
Very good point. The Lions should have raised a stink. I didn't know the rules exactly, but I knew a defender must not be able to earn a touch back by batting the ball out of the endzone. It was like the announcers and coaches just wanted to get out of the noisy stadium and turn in.