The NFL’s well-intentioned efforts to reduce brain injury sometimes spurs officials to see ghosts.

We saw an example of that in the first quarter Sunday at AT&T Stadium: a phantom call that almost certainly cost the Green Bay Packers 4 points in their game against the Dallas Cowboys.

On third down from the Packers' 5-yard line, Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant dove for a Dak Prescott pass in the end zone. The ball fell incomplete, and it appeared that the Cowboys would be forced to attempt a field goal. But referee Terry McAulay’s crew called Packers linebacker Blake Martinez for unnecessary roughness, saying Martinez put an "illegal hit on a defenseless player." On the next play, Prescott threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to receiver Cole Beasley.

It's true that Bryant was in fact a defenseless receiver, a designation that grants him extra protection. In this case because he was a receiver attempting to catch the ball and thus unable to protect himself from contact.

But when you watch the replay you see that Martinez's arm glanced off the top of Bryant's helmet. The NFL rule book clearly states that, in order for contact against a defenseless player to be illegal, it must be an instance where a player is “forcibly hitting the … head or neck area with the helmet, face mask, forearm, or shoulder.”

Realistically, it's impossible to view the contact Martinez initiated and match it with the word “forcibly.” If anything, Martinez was attempting to avoid hitting Bryant when his arm hit the helmet.

Unnecessary roughness, like all so-called subjective judgment calls, are not reviewable under NFL rules.

Again, the NFL’s attempts to legislate out contact with the head is laudable and critical to the survival of the game. The rule book even instructs referees to call a penalty “when in question about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactics.” In this case, however, McAulay’s crew took it too far -- and I suspect it will recognize as much when it reviews video of the play.