Just before halftime of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, Bills quarterback Josh Allen took the snap, rolled to his right, and threw the ball away an instant before stepping out of bounds at the 9-yard line. The officials mistakenly ruled him out of bounds. And then the NFL officiating department made a much bigger mistake.
The replay assistant buzzed down to the on-field referee, who then consulted with NFL head of officiating Al Riveron. They looked at the review and found that Allen had thrown the ball away before he stepped out of bounds. So they changed the call to an incomplete pass.
Big problem: That’s not a reviewable play. When a player in possession of the ball is ruled out of bounds, that’s the end of the play. Nothing that happens after that can be reviewed, even if there’s clear and obvious video evidence that the player didn’t actually step out of bounds.
This particular call didn’t really matter — the Bills ended up kicking a field goal, and it’s highly likely they also would have kicked a field goal if the ruling hadn’t been overturned — but it’s alarming that Riveron didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to review the play.
The NFL often takes criticism for its byzantine rules. When the NFL’s own head of officiating can’t keep track of the rules, it’s hard not to feel that criticism is justified. [Reply]
Originally Posted by morphius:
I'd like to see it be the risk of trying to run that play, QB will either have to run, risk a penalty, or try to force the ball close enough that it looks like he at least tried.
Exactly, but I've seen screen plays where the QB just basically spikes the ball if the play isn't there - that's bullshit. I've seen screen plays where you think, "that HAS to be intentional grounding - there's no one within 20 feet of the fucking ball!!" but because it's a screen, the refs let it go, and that's bullshit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bob Dole:
My argument sitting at the bar was that he would have damn sure been OOB if a linebacker would have lit him up before his foot came down.
Once again, Bob Dole makes a great point.
I will send Bob Dole a PM, so that Bob Dole can expand upon the great point he just made.
Originally Posted by Spott:
I think Allen did this twice in the game. I can see a change in the rule coming in the near future. I think the QB should at least have to throw the ball back into the field of play for this not to be intentional grounding.
Except the QB is outside the tackle box. What difference does it make if he’s 10 inches or 10 yards from the boundary? [Reply]
The limit on what is reviewable on OOB may be just QB. Seems like in the 2019 game at Foxboro. Emile Harry was ruled OOB when he wasn't, and it seemed like the Patriots were not able to challenge because of already using 2 challenges and losing one of them.
Did not seem to be anything in the broadcast about OOB never being reviewable on a play like that. [Reply]