I’m a Cowboys fan and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the ref goofed. That ref and his crew have been clueless all season. Call me naive but I believe the Lions players and coaches when they say that 68 reported, and that 70 was running towards the ref as a decoy tactic. None of the mess happens if the Lions don’t try those shenanigans, and they shouldn’t rely on the refs remembering what they went over with them pregame.
I was very curious about your 4th point after the game (trying to stop the play when you hear the wrong player announced as eligible). NFL guys said trying to get the refs to correct that before the snap would have just resulted in a delay of game since the Lions didn’t have any timeouts.