There's a good reason why the Packers weren't flagged for having 13 players on the field

The officials presiding over the Lions-Packers game had a rough night. OK, they were downright lousy and deserve all of the criticism they’ve received since the Packers got away with a 23-22 victory over the Lions they didn’t really deserve.

But Clete Blakeman’s crew is getting some undue criticism on Tuesday because of this tweet showing the Packers with 13 men on the field and not getting flagged for it after the Lions were flagged for having 12 men on the field the previous drive…

No, this screenshot isn’t photoshopped. The Packers do have 13 men on the field. But there is a very good reason they were not flagged for “too many men on the field.” As ESPN’s rules expert John Parry explained after the Lions penalty, the refs are told to throw the flag once the defense is “in formation” or the ball is snapped.

This is how it’s explained in the official NFL rulebook:

If Team A has more than 11 players in its formation for more than three seconds, or if Team B has more than 11 players in its formation and the snap is imminent, it is a foul.

Here’s a video of the play before the Packers called a timeout and saved themselves from the five-yard penalty…

The Lions are in hurry-up mode and the Packers are scrambling to line up before Detroit can get the snap off. In their haste, they never really get set “in formation” and then the timeout call comes from the sideline.

The optics are bad, but the referees probably made the correct call. But on a night when they failed to make the correct call so many times, they are not going to get the benefit of the doubt.