GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jared Goff was trying to get one more snap off before the 2-minute warning — and replays showed it might have happened.

But officials blew the play dead and, for once, Lady Luck smiled on the Detroit Lions.

The Lions benefitted from what might have been an officiating error late in the first half of their 20-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, when officials stopped a play just as Goff threw a pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage and returned for a would-be touchdown.

The Lions converted a third-and-12 on the first play after the 2-minute warning, then scored two plays later on a hook-and-ladder pass.

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"Mechanically, we have an official that is watching the clock and what he had as a ruling was the clock was at 2 minutes and the ball was snapped," referee Brad Rogers said in a pool report. "So, by rule when the clock is at 2 minutes, it is then dead. We’re not going to let the play get off. We started killing the play by blowing whistles. I know the play started, but when we start blowing the whistle, it shuts it down.

"Some of the players were still going because they couldn’t hear our whistles apparently — so it looks like there’s part of the action that’s still moving and some of the action is stopping. So, when we start blowing our whistles, it shuts the play down completely."

Rogers said side judge Anthony Jeffries saw the clock hit 2 minutes before the snap and communicated time to the rest of the crew by "a countdown."

Television replays were inconclusive whether the ball was snapped before the clock hit 2 minutes, and several players stopped while the ball was in the air.

Asked if he felt fortunate by the turn of events, Lions coach Dan Campbell said, "Yeah," but with a catch.

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"I mean the whistle was blowing for, I mean, I heard the whistle, it felt like a good full second before we even snapped it, 'cause I could hear them down there and then I — look, we hadn't snapped it yet, then they snap it," he said. "So, look, I mean, yeah, fortunate, but the whistle had blown well ahead of time."

The Cardinals would have taken a 14-13 lead had Mack Wilson's interception return stood and come with an accompanying extra point. Instead, they went to the locker room trailing, 20-10, after kicking a field goal on their final first-half possession.

Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said of the play, "They call what they call," but added his team can't let a negative play impact it like it did Sunday.

"Our guys are psychologically trained (and) that's uncontrollable for us," Gannon said. "What we can control is, ‘Let’s play defense.’ (Then) they hit us on the one well-designed play there, but I thought that when we came in at halftime no one was down. Everyone was, 'OK. Here's what we need to do.’ I thought the defense played extremely well in the second half to give ourselves a chance to get back in the game."

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press.

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell: Whistle came a full second before snap on 2-minute INT