Lions Whine: Do Cowboys Catch 'Lucky' Penalty Breaks vs. Detroit?

You know how some Dallas Cowboys fans whine that the NFL is biased against their team? They complain about Hall-of-Fame voting (Darren Woodson), and about on-the-field calls (Dez Bryant).

But you don't hear a lot of groaning and moaning from the Cowboys when it comes to their history against the Detroit Lions. Because all the noise - and there's plenty of it - is coming from the other side.

When the Lions visit AT&T Stadium Sunday afternoon, the early-season showdown will mean more to Detroit fans than Dallas because they feel they are owed some long-overdue balancing of the scales.

"The Lions organization hates the Cowboys ... the fanbase hates the Cowboys," says ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, who played in Detroit 2005-08 and 2014-16. "It's because of all those penalties, the flags that were picked up ... all of that stuff that happened in the past.'

While smug Cowboys fans may be scratching their heads in confusion or calling sour grapes, the Lions do seem to have a valid point about the "breaks." The Cowboys have won six in row over Detroit, but not without memorable controversy courtesy of the referees.

Three of the most dramatic calls and non-calls came when the Lions visited Arlington.

2014: at Cowboys 24, Lions 20 - Detroit led the NFC Wild Card playoff game 14-0 early and 20-17 late.

The Lions were driving midway through the fourth quarter and seemed to convert a key third down at Dallas' 36-yard line when Cowboys' linebacker Anthony Hitchens was called for pass interference . The penalty was announced. The chains were moved. The clock started for the next play.

But before the snap, referee Pete Morelli announced "there is no flag on the play ... fourth down."

The Lions were forced to kick and punter Sam Martin shanked only a 10-yarder. Tony Romo drove Dallas 59 yards in 11 plays - including a fourth-down conversion to Jason Witten - and threw the winning touchdown pass to Terrance Williams with 2:32 remaining.

Asked if he received an explanation on the negated penalty, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said "Not a good enough one."

2018: at Cowboys 26, Lions 24 - A phantom roughing-the-passer penalty helped Dallas win the Week 4 matchup on Brett Maher's 38-yard field goal as time expired.

On a key third down at midfield, Dak Prescott was pin-balling in the pocket when he bumped into left tackle Tyron Smith and fell to the turf. After a whistle blew the play dead and Prescott began to get up, Detroit's Romeo Okwara bumped into him to draw a 15-yard penalty and first down.

Instead of punting, on the next play Prescott hit Ezekiel Elliott for 38-yard touchdown pass.

Said former NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino, " I don't love the call ."

2023: at Cowboys 20, Lions 19 - In the infamous "reporting" game last Dec. 30, Detroit lost when its late two-point conversion was negated by a penalty for illegal touching.

Trailing by a point with :23 remaining, Lions' quarterback Jared Goff hit offensive lineman Taylor Decker for the apparent game-winning two-pointer. But referees threw a flag, ruling that Decker didn't report but backup offensive lineman John Skipper did report.

Turned out that Lions' head coach Dan Campbell was attempting to trick the Cowboys by having two offensive linemen appear to report.

"Yeah, that sucks," said Goff. "I don't know if I've had this feeling before where you feel like you've won and you didn't."

Related: Cowboys Reveal 3-Word Response to DaRon Move

The Cowboys may need some more luck Sunday afternoon, as their beleaguered defense faces an offense with much more firepower than the pop-gun Pittsburgh Steelers.

The 3-1 Lions scored 42 points and Goff completed 18 of 18 passes the last time they played. Dallas will be without pass-rushers Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland.