If the NFL decides to hand out an award for the "worst officiating call" of Week 14, there's a good chance that the crew in the Bears-Lions game will win it.
During the second quarter of Chicago's game in Detroit, the officiating crew made one of the most baffling calls of the 2016 season.
On a first-and-10 play for Detroit, Lions offensive lineman Graham Glasgow was called for illegal hands to the face on a play where he allegedly grabbed a Bears' defensive lineman. I'm using the word "allegedly" here because Glasgow definitely didn't touch anyone's face.
As a matter of fact, on the play, it was his face that almost got ripped off.
.@PrideOfDetroit "Hands to the face" called on the C.....😳😳😳😳😳😳😳. pic.twitter.com/qCDeL41ZCf
— LeCharles Bentley (@OLineWorld65) December 11, 2016
Again, Glasgow, who's head is being pushed back, got flagged on the play, and at no point did he touch the facemask of the Bears' defender he was going up against.
@JimmyTraina how can this be pic.twitter.com/8En64QZP8Q
— Rob (@legalshieldrob) December 11, 2016
After the penalty was announced on the field, everyone on Twitter was baffled that Jeff Triplette's crew could botch a call so badly. The penalty clearly should've been called on the Bears, but it was called on the Lions.
Triplette legitimately just called hands to the face on the wrong player. Awesome.
— Pride Of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) December 11, 2016
This is ridiculous by the refs. Not sure how this is missed so badly. https://t.co/dmT5UQBDFt
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) December 11, 2016
Jeff Triplette calls a game the way you gave book reports in high school when you didn't read the book.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurke_SI) December 11, 2016
Jeff Triplette makes a lot of terrible calls. He may have just made his worst yet, enforcing illegal hands to the face on the wrong team.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 11, 2016
The good news is that the Lions did end up getting a field goal on the drive despite the penalty.
The Lions currently lead the Bears 10-3 at halftime. To keep tabs on that game, be sure to head over to our CBSSports.com GameTracker by clicking here.