About Ryan Moats' fumble. Forget about not calling a quick play at the 2-minute warning. There wasn't a single person in that stadium that thought that was a fumble until the TV timeout at the 2-minute warning and everyone got to look at it again. (They should totally change that rule, by the way. A TV timeout should NOT give teams a chance to review a call and throw a red flag. What BS that is. But I digress.) This thread is about the call from a RULES perspective only, not about the game.
There's no doubt that Moats fumbled the ball before he hit the ground. However, the defense player that tackled him was out of bounds when Moats lost control. Therefore, the players should be ruled out of bounds when the ball was fumbled. Texans retain possession.
On replay with sound, the whistle was blown BEFORE the ball was recovered. Play is dead, Texans retain possession.
IF you say that he fumbled before anyone went out of bounds, then there's the question of the Colts player that WAS out of bounds and came back in to pick up the loose ball. I don't know whether or not an OOB player can come back in to recover a loose ball. Even the refs had to talk that over. Let's assume they ARE allowed to. The explanation by the referee was ridiculous. He claimed that the player did NOT re-establish himself in the field of play, and therefore ILLEGALLY touched the ball while it was sitting on the goal line. If you illegally touch a ball, it should automatically be ruled DEAD. Texans retain possession.
Finally, if you allow the fact that the tackling player was NOT out of bounds and that the recovering player did NOT illegally touch the ball, then that means Moats DID fumble and the recovering player LEGALLY picked up the fumble. THEN HE STEPPED OUT OF BOUNDS AT THE SIX INCH LINE!!!! Colts should get possession at the six-inch line.
I was just blown AWAY at the final outcome of the replay review. Not only did they wrongly award the Colts the ball, but THEY GAVE THEM A TOUCHBACK!!
Completely blown call, even with a long replay review. I can't wait to see what officiating VP Mike Pereira has to say about this one on NFL Total Access this week.
There's no doubt that Moats fumbled the ball before he hit the ground. However, the defense player that tackled him was out of bounds when Moats lost control. Therefore, the players should be ruled out of bounds when the ball was fumbled. Texans retain possession.
On replay with sound, the whistle was blown BEFORE the ball was recovered. Play is dead, Texans retain possession.
IF you say that he fumbled before anyone went out of bounds, then there's the question of the Colts player that WAS out of bounds and came back in to pick up the loose ball. I don't know whether or not an OOB player can come back in to recover a loose ball. Even the refs had to talk that over. Let's assume they ARE allowed to. The explanation by the referee was ridiculous. He claimed that the player did NOT re-establish himself in the field of play, and therefore ILLEGALLY touched the ball while it was sitting on the goal line. If you illegally touch a ball, it should automatically be ruled DEAD. Texans retain possession.
Finally, if you allow the fact that the tackling player was NOT out of bounds and that the recovering player did NOT illegally touch the ball, then that means Moats DID fumble and the recovering player LEGALLY picked up the fumble. THEN HE STEPPED OUT OF BOUNDS AT THE SIX INCH LINE!!!! Colts should get possession at the six-inch line.
I was just blown AWAY at the final outcome of the replay review. Not only did they wrongly award the Colts the ball, but THEY GAVE THEM A TOUCHBACK!!
Completely blown call, even with a long replay review. I can't wait to see what officiating VP Mike Pereira has to say about this one on NFL Total Access this week.