“They finally got one right!” was the buzz of sports discussion following a controversial call during the Detriot Lions vs. New Orleans Saints game Saturday evening. Less than 24 hours later, a very similar situation during the Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game occurred but this time the referees completely blow the call. Just when I think that things have finally improved, I’m snapped right back to the reality that the NFL rules and officiating situation is in dire need of reform.
In Friday’s game, Saints quarterback Drew Brees attempted a pass and an inadvertent whistle blew as one referee indicated a fumble while the other an incomplete pass. The play was quite obviously a fumble as the ball was clearly out of Brees’ hands before his arm moved forward. Before the Saints could line up to run a quick play, the referees conferred and determine that the result of the play was indeed a fumble. Since a Lions player clearly recovered the fumble, the Lions were awarded possession. While the inadvertent whistle cost the Lions a would-be touchdown, at least the bad call was corrected and every aspect of the decision was textbook.
Fast forward to Sunday’s match up. In a similar fashion, an inadvertent whistle caused confusion and the theoretic impossibility to correct a blown call. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger attempted a screen pass to Mike Wallace that he failed to catch and a referee blew his whistle while indicating an incomplete pass. The reality of the matter is that the pass was clearly a backward lateral and was thus a fumble with a Broncos player recovering the ball. Denver coach John Fox threw his red flag to challenge a terrible call that should easily be corrected.
The referees conferred and return with the unfortunate news that while Fox can challenge the ruling on the field of an incompletion, even if the call is reversed to the status of a fumble (as the result of a backwards pass), no change of possession could be issued. Why? According to the officials, and to the announcers, the inadvertent whistle had already ruled the play dead. Meanwhile, I’m going nuts in my living room as I watch NFL referees once again display such mindbogglingly inconsistency.
Enter the recently added “Ed Hochuli Rule” which determined that loose balls (such as via a pass) are reviewable as to whether or not they were a fumble. As explained by Gil Imber, “An inadvertent whistle which occurs during the course of a fumble does not prevent a player from recovering the football in the immediate aftermath of said whistle.” The inadvertent whistle did NOT deem the outcome of the play unreviewable, which is what the referees told Fox. Regardless of whether or not there was an inadvertent whistle, if there is clear evidence that the play was indeed a fumble and a player on the opposing team recovered the ball, then a change of possession at the point of recovery should be awarded.
Though the referees blew this call, Tim Tebow led the Broncos to an unbelievable overtime victory that will likely be shown in highlight reels for decades. But the fact remains that once again, poor officiating has the potential to drastically impact the course of a big game. Ironically, the Lions still lost their game while the correct decision was made, whereas the Broncos ended up winning their game despite a horribly botched call going against them.
What makes things worse is that not only was the referees’ decision completely wrong, but the textbook example of this type of situation was correctly decided on the previous day! Apparently these zebras didn’t have access to a television at their zoo.