Here's The Video Of The Facemask On The Disappearing Flag Play That Cowboys Fans Are Going Nuts Over

Dallas Cowboys fans are responding to the perception that their team was unfairly gifted a win on the Disappearing Flag Play with a video that apparently shows a penalty on the Lions on the same play.

Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew appeared to grab the facemask of defender Anthony Hitchens while the ball was in the air. It should have been an illegal hands to the face penalty, Dallas fans argue.

Here's the Vine that Cowboys fans are passing around and emailing to journalists:

We looked at the various replays, and there seems to be something here.

When you zoom in on Pettigrew and slow it down, it's clear that he touches Hitchens' facemask and moves it around for a split-second. By rule, that should have been a penalty:

If both this and defensive pass interference were called on the play, the penalties would have offset.

However, it's hard for Cowboys fans to play what-if game here. In a perfect world where every penalty on this play would have been called, there actually would have been three penalties: one on Hitchens for pass interference, one on Pettigrew for hands to the face, and one on Dallas' Dez Bryant for running onto the field to yell at the ref after the play:

So sure, this is probably a penalty on Pettigrew. But Detroit still would have had a first down if the game was called correctly.