USA TODAY Sports
In Saturday’s Super Wild Card kick-off, the fourth and tenth of his own 37 stand with 50 seconds left. Quarterback Philip Rivers signed receiver Zach Pascal for a first-round pick. When Pascal, who is going to the ground to make the catch, gets up and tries to run, things get interesting.
What happened next caused four different errors caused by the NFL’s service function.
First, when Pascal got up (untouched) and tried to advance the ball, he fiddled with it. Buffalo recovered and put two knee-downs away from the win as the Colts had no time-outs. Officials missed that Pascal got up before stumbling and ruled Pascal through contact.
Second, the NFL’s internal review function did not realize that the play needed to be revised, forcing the Bills to take a time-out and hoping that the executive director of Al Riveron’s executive would realize that the play should be reviewed and reversed.
Third, the decision on the field should have been reversed, but it was not overturned. How was it not overturned? It is clear and obvious that Pascal had not been touched before he got up.
Fourth, referee Brad Allen’s final explanation – that the bills will not pay a time-out because the review has been activated by the league office – is simply not correct. The league office buzzes and talks to Allen. Allen would have known if he had been contacted by the league before the bill would give a time-out.
The first three mistakes hurt the bills. The fourth one helped them so they could call up a timeout later when they did not keep up the Colts’ lead at second and 11 with 14 seconds left.
The NFL ministry has intervened with an explanation that conveys the magic words, but offers no real explanation: ‘[T]he is definitely on the field that the runner was through contact. There was no clear and unambiguous visual evidence to reverse the decision, so it says. ”
With all due respect, this is wrong. And if the Colts managed to win the game, the league office would handle the wrath of Buffalo fans for weeks, or not months, if not years.