Really, Aaron Glenn: Detroit Lions got lucky with no-call on Cam Sutton pass interference

Let’s not kid ourselves. You know it. I know it. So I’ll just say it.

The Detroit Lions got lucky. Cam Sutton should have been called for defensive pass interference on Puka Nacua. The Rams should have gotten a first down, taken the lead, run down the clock, kicked a field goal and beaten the Lions in the wild-card playoff game at Ford Field last week.

Yes, I’m sure some of you are reaching for your fountain pens and parchment paper at this very moment to write a sternly written letter to the editor expressing your disapproval of my opinion. You wouldn’t be alone.

Aaron Glenn also didn’t agree with my assessment Thursday when I asked him if he thought Sutton interfered with Nacua, and whether Sutton could have made the play differently to avoid even the possibility of a penalty.

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“Did he catch it?” the Lions defensive coordinator shot back. “We won.”

He was obviously correct, but then I asked Glenn if he thought it was interference.

“Did they throw a flag?” he asked, clearly trying to outmaneuver me by employing the Socratic method taught at Harvard Law School (or Texas A&M, his alma mater). “It wasn’t P.I.”

Here’s the thing: Just because you got away with something doesn’t mean you’re right.

In that moment, the Lions got away with something by leaving a crucial play up to the refs’ judgment. And I don’t need to remind anyone about how that usually works out for the Lions.

If you need reminding of the play, here it is. The Rams trailed, 24-23, and faced third-and-14 from the Lions’ 44-yard line with 4:20 left. Sutton was playing man coverage on Nacua, who lined up on the right side, ran a post route to the 25 and turned inside just as Stafford released the ball.

The pass was a little high. So Nacua, a Pro Bowl pick who had 1,486 yards receiving in the regular season and 181 yards on nine catches (in 10 targets) against the Lions, jumped for the ball as Sutton tugged on the back of his jersey and then threw his arm around Nacua’s waist like they were flamenco dancing partners.

It should have been a first down and assured the Rams of at least a field goal, with the chance to run down the clock significantly, if not entirely. Instead, the Rams punted and the Lions closed out the game with two first downs.

Even the NBC announcers were surprised by the non-call. “Nacua. Incomplete with a ton of contact. No call,” said Mike Tirico, the play-by-play announcer. “They did get away with it,” analyst Cris Collinsworth added.

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I’m not bashing Glenn, Sutton or the Lions’ defense, which deserves tons of credit for holding the Rams to two field goals over the first 26 minutes of the second half.

My point — the one I was trying to emphasize to Glenn in the news conference — is that Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (and perhaps the ones after that) could easily come down to these sorts of plays, and hoping for a call to go your way isn’t sound strategy.

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Honestly, playing cornerback in the NFL is brutal. Basically everything is working against you because the NFL disproportionately favors offense. That’s why Glenn said there’s always some kind of defensive interference.

“Well, that’s every play,” he said of the non-call. “I’m just being funny, but even up front (on the offensive line), they say it’s holding on every play, but they’re not calling it. In pass defense, there’s always going to be jostling, something’s going to happen and then it’s just the ref’s decision if he thinks it is or not.

“And listen, that’s going to happen every play. Listen, Cam competed on that play and there were other plays where you get pushed off by the receivers and they don’t call that. But at the end of the day, the ref didn’t call it, those guys competed against each other and Cam made the play at the end.”

All true. Every player, including receivers, get away with penalties that aren’t called. What Glenn wouldn’t answer was whether there’s something he or Sutton can do better to drastically reduce the chance of taking a penalty in such a crucial situation.

But Glenn came off as being content with the outcome, because it happened to favor the Lions in this case. The Lions caught a break from the officials, but also from Rams coach Sean McVay, who should have gone for it on fourth-and-14 with 4:15 on the clock and only one timeout (plus the 2-minute warning) left.

I guarantee Lions coach Dan Campbell would have kept the offense on the field and gone for it, rightfully trusting in the strength of his team. That’s one of the big reasons Campbell is getting ready for the Bucs and McVay’s getting ready for his tee time.

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Sutton has taken plenty of heat while guarding most of the opponents’ top receivers this season. He has shied away from reporters and, frankly, if he had been called for interference on Nacua, on top of the 50-yard touchdown pass he surrendered to Nacua earlier in the game, he would have been the goat of a loss.

Maybe Sutton’s simply has a journeyman’s ceiling on his ability and asking for more than that is asking too much. But Glenn gave Sutton his full support while clapping back at critics.

“People think you’ve got help or you don’t,” Glenn said. “No one really knows unless they’re in those meeting rooms with us.

“The thing that he’s doing a good job of is he’s staying within himself. He’s built himself a cocoon and he understands exactly what we’re asking him to do. And listen, we’re going to continue to challenge him to be the best Cam that he can be on a weekly basis. And listen, we’re happy with him.”

I get Glenn’s need to support his player, especially now that there are few replacement options. But I hope he’s honest with himself about the bullet he, Sutton, the defense and ultimately the Lions’ playoff hopes dodged.

Because even though the refs screwed up, as did McVay, the real mistake would be if Glenn didn’t accept that his defense got lucky and that he needs to make sure luck doesn’t enter into any more crucial moments over the rest of the Lions’ playoff run.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions got lucky with non-call on Cam Sutton penalty vs. Rams