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Detroit Lyin' Mystery Cache

Hidden : 2/8/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   other (other)

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Geocache Description:


Cache is NOT at the posted coordinates

This is my 350th hide



Dallas faced an early 14-point deficit and trailed for most of the time in regulation, but after a controversial non-call on an apparent pass interference against their defense in the 4th quarter, quarterback Tony Romo led the team 59 yards for the game winning score.

Detroit forced a three-and-out on Dallas' opening possession and then scored on their own with Matthew Stafford's 51-yard touchdown pass to receiver Golden Tate. Later on, Dallas punter Chris Jones pinned the Lions back at their own 1-yard line with a 51-yard kick. The Lions were forced to punt from the 6-yard line, but Cowboys linebacker Dekoda Watson was penalized for running into the punter on the play, giving Detroit a first down. Taking full advantage of their second chance, Detroit ended up driving 99 yards in 14 plays to score on an 18-yard burst by Reggie Bush, giving them a 14–0 lead with less than 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

There would be no more scoring until 1:50 remained in the second quarter, when Dallas had the ball on their own 24-yard line. Romo fired a pass to receiver Terrance Williams, who caught the ball in stride on a 10-yard slant and took off past the defense for a 76-yard touchdown completion, cutting the score to 14–7. Stafford responded by completing 6 of 8 passes for 59 yards, including a 19-yard completion to Calvin Johnson, on a 59-yard drive that ended with Matt Prater's 39-yard field goal, putting the team up 17–7 going into halftime.

Dallas had a great opportunity to score when linebacker Kyle Wilber intercepted a pass from Stafford and returned it 5 yards to the Lions' 19-yard line on the first play of the second half. However, after picking up 9 yards with their first two plays, Romo was sacked for a 13-yard loss by Ezekiel Ansah on 3rd and 1, and then Dan Bailey missed a 43-yard field goal. Stafford then hooked up with Johnson for a 28-yard completion that led to Prater's 37-yard field goal, increasing Detroit's lead to 20–7. However, Dallas responded with an 80-yard scoring drive, featuring a 43-yard reception by receiver Dez Bryant, that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by DeMarco Murray, reducing their deficit to one score, 20–14.

On the second to last play of the 3rd quarter, Romo threw a 19-yard completion to Cole Beasley. Then on the first play of the 4th quarter, an unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker Tahir Whitehead turned Beasley's 12-yard reception into a 27-yard gain. The Cowboys were pushed back to the Detroit 33-yard line after Romo was sacked on consecutive plays by Ndamukong Suh, but Bailey made a 51-yard field goal, trimming their deficit to 20–17. On the Lions' ensuing possession, the most controversial play of the game occurred. Faced with 3rd down and 1 on the Lions' 49-yard line, Stafford threw a pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who was tightly covered by linebacker Anthony Hitchens. The ball bounced off the back of Hitchens, who had never turned around to look for the ball and pushed Pettigrew's shoulder before the pass arrived. As a result, he was initially flagged for pass interference. However, officials ultimately reversed the call and picked up the flag.

The reversed call turned out to be crucial. Detroit tried to force the Cowboys to go offside on 4th and 1, but failed to do so and were penalized five yards for delay of game. Now faced with 4th and 6, Detroit decided to punt, and Sam Martin, who had averaged 48 yards on his last three kicks, shanked the ball, sending it out of bounds after netting just 10 yards to the Cowboys' 41-yard line. Romo then led the Cowboys 59 yards in 14 plays for the game-winning score, converting a 4th down and two 3rd downs along the way. Faced with 4th down and 6 from the Detroit 42-yard line, Romo completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Jason Witten. Later on, Romo threw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 7, but a defensive holding call on DeAndre Levy gave Dallas a first down on the Lions' 7-yard line. Two plays later, on 3rd and 8, Romo finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Williams, giving the Cowboys their first lead of the game at 24–20 with 2:32 left in regulation. A few plays into Detroit's ensuing drive, Stafford lost a fumble that was recovered by Dallas rookie lineman DeMarcus Lawrence. Instead of falling on the ball, he returned it and ended up fumbling it back to Detroit. The Lions got the ball back and drove into Cowboys territory, but on 4th down and 3 on the Cowboys' 42-yard line, Lawrence redeemed himself and forced and recovered a fumble from Stafford, enabling the Cowboys to run out the rest of the clock.

Stafford completed 28 of 42 passes for 323 yards and a touchdown, with an interception. Tate caught 8 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown, while Johnson had 5 catches for 85 yards. Romo finished 19-for-31 for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns. Williams caught 3 passes for 93 yards and 2 scores. Murray rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 3 passes for 22 yards.

After the game, there were mixed reactions to the reversal of the pass interference call on Hitchens. "It is clearly pass interference," said former NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira. “I strongly believe that was not a good pickup of a flag.” "The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference," said referee Pete Morelli, who had announced the penalty on the field and then made the retraction. "We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant pass interference. He thought it was face guarding."



The Puzzle:

The posted coordinates will take you VERY NEAR a billboard that was running the Detroit Lyin' message after the game.

From the posted coordinates... project 400 FEET @ 270° to determine the final location of this cache!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

pnpur vf bhgfvqr gur sraprq va ertvba

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)