Lions-Seahawks draws officials that threw 17 flags on Detroit in Week 2

The NFL announced the officiating crews for Wild Card weekend, and the news isn’t all that great for the Detroit Lions. The lead official for the Lions-Seahawks game on Saturday night is Brad Allen.

You may remember Brad Allen as the official during the Lions’ 16-15 loss to the Tennessee Titans. In that game, the Lions were called for 17 penalties resulting in 138 yards. Three of those penalties took a touchdown off the board, including this very ticky-tacky offensive pass interference call on Eric Ebron.

The officiating crew wasn’t just strict on the Lions in that game, however. The Titans were flagged 12 times in the game for 83 yards.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that in the playoffs, the NFL does officiating a little differently. They use “all-star” crews that consist of the highest-graded officials at each position [Here’s a more in-depth look at how playoff officials are chosen]. In other words, Brad Allen’s regular season crew may be different than the one we see on Saturday.

Lions fans are likely hoping for some mix up, because Week 2’s game against the Titans was an ugly one. Of course, the last time the Lions played at CenturyLink Field, there was an entirely different officiating issue. But let’s not revisit that.

UPDATE: According to Pro Football Talk, it will be an entirely different crew with Brad Allen.

Hochuli will have two of his crew members with him on Sunday, and Wrolstad will have one. Allen and Torbert will be working with an entirely different crew.

Hopefully, that will fix the problem.