Referee for NFC title game has controversial past with Detroit Lions
A familiar face from the past will be the head referee for the Detroit Lions' NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Clete Blakeman and his officiating crew will be working the Lions-49ers game Sunday evening, according to Football Zebras. Blakeman was the crew chief for the Lions' 23-22 loss to the Green Bay Packers in 2019 which players and fans alike bashed the officiating for late illegal hands to the face penalties on Trey Flowers.
The Lions blew a 22-13 lead in the fourth quarter, and the illegal hands to the face penalties extended two Packers' drives which resulted in 10 points and a comeback victory at Lambeau Field on a field goal as time expired. Blakeman said in the pool report after the game both penalty flags in that game were thrown by umpire Jeff Rice, who is no longer on Blakeman's crew, according to Football Zebras.
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A day following the loss, the NFL said game officials erred in one of the two penalties Flowers received and Lions players continued to say they were cheated. Lions fans and players bear a similar scar from this year, after a controversial illegal substitution penalty on the Lions cost them a late-season win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Blakeman's crew ranks 12th out of 17 officiating crews in flags thrown, according to nflpenalties.com. The refereeing crew has thrown 175 total flags in 16 games this season, for an average of 10.9 total flags per game. The distribution is relatively split between flags against home and road teams, with 5.25 penalties per game against home teams and 5.69 penalties per game against road teams.
The Lions take on the 49ers on the road in the NFC Championship at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and are listed as underdogs for the first time during this playoff run.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions NFC title game referee has controversial past with team
