An anonymous AFC general manager told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports that referee Brad Allen made an "inexcusable mistake" during the Dallas Cowboys' controversial 20-19 victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 17.

"I would bet my bottom dollar the ref screwed up and was going through the motion," the general manager said. "It's an inexcusable mistake for a game that had huge playoff implications in prime time. [But the league is] defensive of officiating for some reason."

After the Lions scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the game to bring them within one point of the Cowboys, head coach Dan Campbell chose to attempt a two-point conversion for the win.

The conversion was initially successful after tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass in the end zone, although the officials ruled that Decker never reported as eligible and penalized Detroit. The Lions' next attempt to convert following the penalty was unsuccessful, leading to the Cowboys securing the victory.

Video evidence showed that Decker as well as tackles Dan Skipper and Penei Sewell approached Allen, although Skipper told the media on Wednesday that he was not reporting as eligible.

During the pool report following the game, Allen said that Skipper reported as eligible instead of Decker.

Per Epstein, the NFL sent a video to head coaches and general managers around the league on Tuesday that explained league rules on reporting a change of position while showing videos from Detroit's loss on Saturday night.

"It's just gaslighting everybody in the NFL," an executive for an NFC team said.

The result had major implications on the NFC playoff picture, as the Lions fell to 11-5 while the Cowboys moved to 11-5. This allowed the San Francisco 49ers to gain sole control of the top spot in the conference, while Dallas moved ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East.

ESPN's Adam Schefter revealed on Sunday that "a large part" of Allen's crew will not be officiating postseason games.