The colts fumble that was not called

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

This is weirdly aggressive. It's certainly possible that the refs/league made a mistake there with not initiating a review and then tried to save face. A lot of people have said that.

Remember how quick they reviewed back to back sideline catches we had?

[GETTOTHE50]

Idk what’s worse, this call or the kroft int against the rams 

[Kenosha2Buffalo]

This year is special fellow mafia. We get past these type of blunders. I'm 30, this has never been the case. This was that bad luck tough loss we didn't lose. 

[sherpa]

I was thinking it would be just our luck if they ruled him down and then flagged Milano for a late hit on the play because, you know, he was "down" and all. 

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, Rochesterfan said:

Exactly - the difference was TB did not get their timeout back because they stopped the clock well before the next snap on a running clock and therefore well before the replay team buzzed in to the ref and therefore the timeout stood.

 

The Bills got their timeout back which suggests that it was simultaneous to the replay buzz.

At least that's what the NFL wants you to believe.  That next play was going to happen if McDermott doesn't call a timeout.  It should've immediately been reviewed from above and somebody from the NFL screwed up. 

 

I HATE conspiracy theorists but the most likely reason why that was ruled not a fumble is because the NFL wanted to save face and not have McD's timeout be the reason it was overturned.

[machine gun kelly]

12 hours ago, Marvlevydraftdaygenius said:

Let me tell you Sean should give himself a game ball for that timeout after that play was just brilliant. 

I was thinking the exact same thing.  His use of timeouts and game management has been under appreciated by McD this year.  Enough has been said about the fumble.  I understand the difficulties of the refs on the field and the speed of the game, it could have been missed, but the review was blatant.  How can nay referee say there wasn’t irrefutable evidence.  We saw it on TV.  They have every angle the viewing audience has in their homes.

[jethro_tull]

10 hours ago, GreggTX said:

Can you imagine this message board if the Colts had gone on to win after that blown call? Yikes!

It would have been another heart break for the ages.  Those are the old Bills now.  Time to move forward.  

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

6 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

Remember how quick they reviewed back to back sideline catches we had?

This is an excellent point relative to the atrocious review of the fumble.  The Bills have two amazing plays to keep a very important drive alive in a playoff game.  In both cases, the officials on the field correctly rule the play a completed pass.  There most certainly must be a sense of “wtf” on the part of the Colts d, certainly is a sense of excitement and momentum for Buffalo and Indy is on its heels but cannot challenge.   
 

So...naturally it makes sense for league officials hundreds of mikes away to pause the game, twice,  take several minutes, allow the Colts to take a breath, twice, and regroup because maybe the guys on the field missed it, or perhaps the could see something to change the dynamic of the game.  
 

It’s maddening, just as we’re asked to believe that a slow motion replay on a high def camera didn’t reveal the exact moment when the hand made contact with the player. 
 

 

[billsfan1959]

Just to set aside any idea that he was touched while he was down...

 

 

[Rochesterfan]

2 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

At least that's what the NFL wants you to believe.  That next play was going to happen if McDermott doesn't call a timeout.  It should've immediately been reviewed from above and somebody from the NFL screwed up. 

 

I HATE conspiracy theorists but the most likely reason why that was ruled not a fumble is because the NFL wanted to save face and not have McD's timeout be the reason it was overturned.

 

Doc - with a running clock they never immediately review a play like that.  The referees must wait until the ball is about to be snapped.  
 

Let’s think of this another way - if right at the conclusion of the fumble they decide to review with 34 seconds left rather than right at the Colts snap of the ball - it essentially would have given the Colts another free play in the game based upon the ruling.

 

Look McD was very smart to call the timeout just to ensure because in the current system there is no way for him to be sure they are going to review, but there is also absolutely no proof that the Ref was not buzzed at the snap.  
 

Not everything needs to be a conspiracy- especially when the most logical and typical response mirrors what happened and mirrors the stated outcome.  The NFL ended up not needing to “save face” on that play any more than the should of been fumble in TB yet the difference in timeouts was obvious - so there must be a reason why Buffalo got their timeout back and TB didn’t.  It certainly does not scream to me that the NFL favors the Bills and therefore wanted to return the timeout versus Tom Brady’s team net getting their timeout back.

 

The most logical explanation is the timing of the timeouts versus the timing of the replay buzz and that was the explanation given in both cases.

 

The current NFL replay system stinks because of these reasons with a running clock - it is never fair to either team when the running clock gets stopped - so they try to do it is fairly as possible, but it leads to things like exactly what happened - a needless timeout and a potential play by Indy that gets stopped mid play because of review, but if they stop it earlier it gives free time to Indy to reset and get an extra play.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Rochesterfan

[YoloinOhio]

11 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

How did McD get the TO back after losing challenge.  Was there no challenge @ all.

 

If McD doesn't call it, the next play stands! Criminal!

There was no challenge. No challenges allowed in the last 2 minutes. So he called TO because Phil ran up to the line to run a play before they could review it. The TO ensured a review would actually take place. 

[Rochesterfan]

19 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

This is an excellent point relative to the atrocious review of the fumble.  The Bills have two amazing plays to keep a very important drive alive in a playoff game.  In both cases, the officials on the field correctly rule the play a completed pass.  There most certainly must be a sense of “wtf” on the part of the Colts d, certainly is a sense of excitement and momentum for Buffalo and Indy is on its heels but cannot challenge.   
 

So...naturally it makes sense for league officials hundreds of mikes away to pause the game, twice,  take several minutes, allow the Colts to take a breath, twice, and regroup because maybe the guys on the field missed it, or perhaps the could see something to change the dynamic of the game.  
 

It’s maddening, just as we’re asked to believe that a slow motion replay on a high def camera didn’t reveal the exact moment when the hand made contact with the player. 
 

 

 

Again - not to give any life to our ability to be pissed off about things, but in both cases of Davis sideline catches - his going out of bounds stops the game clock and therefore the review comes almost immediately.  There is no reason to wait because the clock is not moving.

 

In the case of the Indy fumble - the clock is moving so the job of the replay team is not to stop it until the snap to ensure it gets stopped at the last possible point before the play to ensure they do not give the offense more time - in this case it appears to have been about 5-6 seconds of game time.

 

Now how they get the call wrong is beyond me, but the timing makes sense based upon the clock.  It is similar to the TB/WFT fumble that they get wrong and could not overturn.

[SoCal Deek]

I’ll say it again. What was the call on the field? They never told us! Was he ruled down by contact? Was it ruled he gave himself up? Was it ruled that he didn’t actually fumble? Does ANYONE know? The ref never said.

[ExiledInIllinois]

14 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

There was no challenge. No challenges allowed in the last 2 minutes. So he called TO because Phil ran up to the line to run a play before they could review it. The TO ensured a review would actually take place. 

And what happens if the

review never took place, play was run.

 

Do you trust the NFL to do the right thing and nullify the play?

 

I get it, they don't want to give the O a time advantage and the League wants to stop clock at last second if they need more time reviewing... 😆 They probably weren't even reviewing it anyway. The League wasn't stopping, they said they were but they were lying.  McD called their bluff.  They had to cover their butt.

 

...But, they didn't even get the review right. Even in my primitive screenshots it's clear Poyer didn't touch Pascal until Pascal's right knee was up.

 

The NFL simply does the wrong thing, game after game.  Then, they cover their tracks. /sad

Edited January 10, 2021 by ExiledInIllinois

[Doc]

I can buy that they might have intended to review the play, waited until the Colts were about to snap the ball and that the call came down simultaneously with McD's TO (and I'm glad he had the sense to call it).  The only thing I'm pissed about is the obvious fumble not being called one.  That was inexcusable and could have changed the outcome.  Thankfully the Bills TCB.  I'm also mystified how the ref earlier in the game could have ever claimed that Hilton caught that ball? 

[Kaenon]

I would like the NFL to come out with a statement today and just say they got the call wrong - sorry.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

29 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

Again - not to give any life to our ability to be pissed off about things, but in both cases of Davis sideline catches - his going out of bounds stops the game clock and therefore the review comes almost immediately.  There is no reason to wait because the clock is not moving.

 

In the case of the Indy fumble - the clock is moving so the job of the replay team is not to stop it until the snap to ensure it gets stopped at the last possible point before the play to ensure they do not give the offense more time - in this case it appears to have been about 5-6 seconds of game time.

 

Now how they get the call wrong is beyond me, but the timing makes sense based upon the clock.  It is similar to the TB/WFT fumble that they get wrong and could not overturn.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the flow of the game is impacted by calls made correctly on the field.  It allows the d to reset and slows the game down. 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

The only thing I can think of as to why it was ruled down, the shin. The knee is definitely off the ground, but hiw much of the shin is still on the ground nd how much of a shin is needed to = down

 

But then I think why wouldn't the NFL just explain this in the tweet rather than say the call stood

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, Cheektowaga Chad said:

The only thing I can think of as to why it was ruled down, the shin. The knee is definitely off the ground, but hiw much of the shin is still on the ground nd how much of a shin is needed to = down

 

But then I think why wouldn't the NFL just explain this in the tweet rather than say the call stood

I thought only the knee.  If the knee is up, he's not down. 

 

FWIW, ESPN.com addresses it here:

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30656411/questionable-nfl-playoff-officiating-decisions-happened-which-were-right

[Cheektowaga Chad]

3 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I thought only the knee.  If the knee is up, he's not down. 

 

FWIW, ESPN.com addresses it here:

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30656411/questionable-nfl-playoff-officiating-decisions-happened-which-were-right

Earlier this season there was a 2 or 3 week stretch where guys were being ruled down or in bounds because of the shin - ill try to find the games