Though it wasn’t quite as game-deciding as the infamous tuck rule play, the Raiders seemed to have gotten screwed by a referring blunder during the playoffs.
During the second quarter of Saturday’s Bengals-Raiders opening round playoff game, the Bengals scored a TD on a play where a whistle was blown while the ball was still in the air.
Though we can’t be sure, it did appear as if Las Vegas defenders appeared to stop when the whistle was blown.
Following the game, NFL senior V.P. of officiating Walt Anderson said the league determined that the “erroneous” whistle happened after Boyd caught the pass.
Which, if you literally have a pair of ears and eyes you can see that it was while the pass was in the air.
“We confirmed with the referee and the crew that on that play — they got together and talked — they determined that they had a whistle, but that the whistle for them on the field was blown after the receiver caught the ball,” Anderson said.
“They did not feel the whistle was blown before the receiver caught the ball.”
Whether you want to argue that the play would have resulted in the same outcome is one thing – but come up with a better excuse than that, NFL. Do better.
