Terrion Arnold Sounds Off On Controversial Call That Cost Lions The Game
You know that feeling when you’re about to beat the final boss, you’ve got one hit left, and then your controller dies? That’s pretty much what happened to the Detroit Lions. They were on the verge of a crucial defensive stop against the Philadelphia Eagles, a moment that could have handed the ball back to their offense for a game-winning drive. But then, a yellow flag appeared out of nowhere, and the collective groan of Lions fans everywhere could probably be heard from space.
The call was defensive pass interference on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. It was a play that looked clean to just about everyone watching, but one official saw it differently. And just like that, the Eagles got a fresh set of downs, ran out the clock, and the Lions’ hopes were crushed. It was a brutal way to lose, and rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold, sidelined with a concussion, wasn’t having any of it. He took to Instagram, and let’s just say he didn’t mince words.
Terrion Arnold Lets The Refs Have It
Even though he wasn’t on the field, Terrion Arnold was clearly feeling the sting of the loss and the injustice of the call. He immediately went to his Instagram story to voice the frustration that was boiling over in the Lions‘ locker room and across their fanbase.
His post was short, but it packed a punch: “Might as well just throw a PI for breathing atp,” he wrote, perfectly capturing the sentiment that the officials were calling phantom fouls. In another post, Arnold was even more direct, stating, “Refs a joke man.” It’s the kind of raw, unfiltered reaction you rarely see from players, who are often media-trained to give diplomatic, non-answers. But Arnold, a rookie, let his emotions fly, and frankly, who could blame him? It was a call that swung the entire game.
The play itself was on a 3rd-and-8. Jalen Hurts threw a pass intended for A.J. Brown, with Rock Ya-Sin in coverage. It looked like textbook defense—a bit of hand-fighting, sure, but nothing that warranted a flag in the game’s most critical moment. Instead of a fourth down and a punt, the Eagles were gifted a first down. A few plays later, Saquon Barkley sealed the deal, and the game was over. The Lions never saw the ball again. It was a gut-wrenching end to a hard-fought game, decided not by the players but by a questionable call from an official.
Was The Controversial Call Against Arnold’s Teammate Legit?
Let’s be real here: the call was, to put it mildly, suspect. And it wasn’t just angry Lions fans who thought so. Cris Collinsworth, calling the game on Sunday Night Football, was completely baffled.
“Oh, c’mon. C’mon. That is terrible,” Collinsworth exclaimed live on air. “That is an absolutely terrible call that’s going to decide this football game. If anything, it’s an offensive push.”
He didn’t back down, doubling down on his take after seeing the replay. “That’s an offensive foul. If you want to call a foul, it’s an offensive foul.”
Even his broadcast partner, Mike Tirico, agreed, noting there was “certainly some hand-fighting, but not even at the level we’ve seen.”
When the professional commentators are calling out the officiating that blatantly, you know something’s wrong. Lions head coach Dan Campbell, in his post-game press conference, supported his player. When asked if he’d tell Ya-Sin to do anything differently, Campbell was defiant. “I thought he played defense like he did the whole game,” he said. “Played it like he played the very first rep that we played man-to-man, so I wouldn’t tell him to do anything different.”
The loss dropped the Lions to 6-4, pushing them down to third place in the competitive NFC North. For a team trying to prove they belong among the NFC’s elite, having a game slip away like this is a tough pill to swallow. While Terrion Arnold might get a little slap on the wrist for his fiery comments, he was just saying what every single person watching the game was thinking.
