The Detroit Lions are 0-2 and although they appear to be far from panic mode, it hasn’t been a pleasant start to the 2015 season with road losses to the Chargers and Vikings. And things actually might’ve been more unpleasant during their Week 2 loss in Minnesota than most saw on TV.
Lions receiver Golden Tate came out firing on Tuesday, accusing the Vikings of taking taking shots. When asked about potentially dirty hits against him and his teammates, he was adamant in telling the Detroit Free-Press that the Vikes defense definitely got away with some:
One hundred and ten percent. After watching the film there were several holds, late hits that I thought should have been called. A couple of them I wouldn’t be surprised if we turn them in (to the NFL).
But then again, that’s part of playing on the road. You’ve got to control that by not making the game close and busting it wide open. So that’s what we should have done better. But there were a few plays out there that I think were clear violations of this game.”
The most visible example of a cheap shot came when Minnesota linebacker Anthony Barr blatantly shoved Matthew Stafford after the Detroit quarterback had gone out of bounds. It was a hit that drew the immediate ire of the Lions bench and caused many players to voice their displeasure at Barr.
It’s unclear which other instances Tate was referring to but based upon his track record of pathetically denying that he both pushed off during the infamous Fail Mary play and actually caught the ball, along with a few other whiny claims, it’s likely that this accusation will grab more laughs than actual support.
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