The Detroit Lions fell to 0-9-1 on Sunday with their 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. It was a close game, as the Lions scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to pull within reach of Baker Mayfield and Co. Their progress was hindered by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in between quarter breaks, however, that cost Detroit a chance at points.
After D’Andre Swift rushed for 13 yards to end the third quarter, the TV broadcast went to commercial with the Lions down 13-7. When it returned for the fourth quarter, the head ump announced that Lions offensive lineman Jonah Jackson had been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, which set Detroit back 15 yards. Now facing a first-and-25, the Lions were unable to convert a first down, and missed a chance at scoring valuable points.
After the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained that Jackson apparently said something about Jadeveon Clowney’s mother.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “It was something that is said. It was something about somebody’s mother, OK? And there was a lot of talking going on out there, but so it was a penalty.”
Jackson, who was selected by Detroit in the third round out of Ohio State last year, told reporters that he doesn’t remember what he specifically said to Clowney, but took ownership of the penalty.
“First of all I should have never even put my team in that situation, but it was the heat of the moment, heat of the game,” Jackson said. “We actually chopped it up after, apologized. It was both sides, but definitely should have never been in that situation to begin with.”
The mother-related misstep cost the Lions big, as Swift’s first down before the quarter break was the last first down Detroit recorded all game. We are still struggling to figure out what’s acceptable when it comes to taunting in 2021, but we learned on Sunday you do not want to say anything negative about your opponent’s mama.
