Are players and their behavior judged differently in important NFL games? Lions coach Dan Campbell has a clear opinion on this.

When a personal foul is called in an NFL game by the referees, the referee center in New York sometimes contacts the official on the field to tell him to eject a player from the game.

This happened in week nine in the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. Lions defensive back Brian Branch was ejected after a hit on Packers receiver Bo Melton. According to Lions head coach Dan Campbell, this happens more often in more important games.

After the game, which Detroit was able to win, the head coach said that Branch and the other players have to understand that they are being closely scrutinized by the league because they are one of the best NFL teams and often play games in prime time.

“He’s got to get used to that. When you play in prime time, New York is going to watch all of it. They don’t care about the 1 o’clock games. They care about the prime time games,” Campbell explained.

Noteworthy in this context: About three hours before the Lions’ game kicked off, Xavier Woods of the Carolina Panthers delivered a brutal blow to Saints receiver Chris Olave’s head, drawing four flags and sending the pass receiver to the hospital.

Woods was allowed to remain in the game, which took place between two of the worst teams and attracted little spectator interest.