Marvin Jones on controversial call: ‘I knew I had it,’ so did refs

Down 14 points in the fourth quarter to the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions needed a quick strike to make this game competitive again. And with 9:14 left in the game, it appeared the Lions had found it. Matthew Stafford connected with Marvin Jones Jr. for a huge 34-yard gain that would’ve had the Lions first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

However, the call on the field was incomplete. Jones made an unbelievable back shoulder grab on a picture-perfect pass, but it appeared he was likely out of bounds. The call on the field was understandable, because it would’ve taken a superhuman effort to catch that ball and come down in bounds.

Replay showed, however, that that’s exactly what happened. Jones had the ball in his grasp, and appeared to be dragging both set of toes inbounds.

And here’s video for you:

It’s definitely close, but Marvin Jones Jr. said after the game he absolutely believes it should have been called a catch.

“I knew I had it,” Jones said. “Once I caught the ball, obviously when I caught the ball my feet were down, so when I got up and he said it was incomplete, yeah, it threw me for a loop. Especially when I saw it on the big screen, I mean, both of my feet were down when the ball was in my hand.”

Jones, trying to avoid a potential fine for criticizing officiating, tried to hold back.

“I don’t know if I can say too much without getting in trouble or something like that, but I definitely think it was a catch,” Jones said.

But here’s where things get a bit interesting. Jones then went on to say that he was mic’d up for the game, and as he stood and watched replays waiting for the review decision to come in, some other refs on the field believed it was going to get overturned, as well.

“I was actually mic’d up and there were a couple of refs that thought it was a catch, too, so I’ll just leave it at that,” Jones said.

Chances we ever get to hear that mic’d up admittance from the officials? Zero percent.

The Lions went on to score on that drive anyways, but they burned an extra two-and-a-half minutes off the clock, and a few plays after the call, Stafford suffered an injury that knocked him out of the game.

The controversies against the Packers continues.