The New Orleans Saints suffered a painful defeat to the Detroit Lions, 31-30, at Ford Field on Sunday, marred by a controversial call in the first half.

With 9:33 left in the second quarter, Saints defensive end Chase Young sacked Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The ball popped out and bounced on the field before Saints defensive back Jonas Sanker picked it up and ran for the easy touchdown, tying the score, 7-7.

The replay official, however, nullified it after ruling it an incomplete forward pass.

According to the pool report, as shared by The Detroit News' Nola Bianchi, NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth affirmed the decision.

“If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass. Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass,” said Butterworth.

“The determining factor is whether the passer begins his throwing motion prior to contact from the defender. The throwing motion starts when he begins to bring the ball up as a part of his windup, and then the defender's contact made the pass go backwards.”

"Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass."

Pool report from @BenjaminSRaven and VP of instant replay Mark Butterworth on the most controversial play of the #Lions' win over the Saints. pic.twitter.com/fmvL1kVgKf

— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) September 13, 2026

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While the Saints still kept pace with the Lions, the touchdown would have given them an early boost. They could have broken the game open after the strip-sack touchdown. Instead, they went into halftime without a score.

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough said it was a “tough” call. He, however, acknowledged that the controversial play did not matter ultimately.

“It's obviously a huge momentum swing, but at the end of the day we don't do enough on offense to go up there and finish it either,” said Shough, also tipping his hat to their defense for “playing their butts off,” in a report from ESPN's Katherine Terrell.

New Orleans will face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.