Cardinals vs. Lions: Did officials cost Arizona TD with two-minute warning call?

The Arizona Cardinals appeared to make a big-time, game-tying defensive play in their Week 3 clash against the Detroit Lions.

The Cardinals appeared to intercept a Jared Goff pass that popped into the air after he was hit by a couple of Arizona defenders. Mack Wilson came down with the ball and ran it back 45 yards for what looked like a touchdown.

However, the score was waved off, as the officials blew the play dead. Why? Because they ruled that the two-minute warning occurred just before the snap.

But did the snap actually happen after the two-minute warning? A replay showed by the broadcast made it appear that the ball had been snapped a fraction of a second before the two-minute warning. It was a razor-tight margin between the clock reading 2:01 or 2:00 at the snap.

The call proved consequential. The Lions were granted a mulligan on their third-and-12 and managed to get a first down thanks to an impressive run from Jahmyr Gibbs.

It took the Lions just four plays after that before Gibbs found the end-zone after catching an Amon-Ra St. Brown lateral and taking it 20 yards for the score. That, plus an extra point, gave the Lions a 20-7 lead.

In total, the officials' decision caused a 13-point swing in the game. Some would argue that Arizona may not have actually scored on the play had it not been blown dead, as the Lions' offensive line appeared to stop playing after hearing the whistle.

Either way, the play being blown dead played out in Detroit's favor. That makes it easy to understand why Cardinals fans were miffed by the call.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cardinals TD wiped out by controversial two-minute warning call