NOT-SO-INSTANT REPLAY CALL
Upon further review, can the reversal of a touchdown have a review?
That was the odd sequence in Philadelphia when Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith dragged in his feet on a catch to stay inbounds and score a touchdown against the New York Giants.
Or did he?
The call was ruled a touchdown but the scoring play was under review. The officials reviewed the play and announced that the call was overturned and was ruled incomplete.
But then the officials announced that, well, the review of the review was under review.
Got that?
This review conclusively showed that Smith had control of the ball and kept his feet inbounds (“I kind of felt like Michael Jackson”) and the Eagles scored the touchdown for a 20-3 lead.
Walt Anderson, NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating, said the play was reviewed twice because the officials wanted to make sure it was the right call.
“The original communication between the replay booth and the referee was that it looked like it was going to be an expedited review. And I know the referees are trying to make those announcements quickly,” he told a pool reporter. “By the time we could say there are additional angles, he had already made that announcement. And then we said, no, we’re going to stop play and look at this because we had multiple angles relative to was it a continuous step.”
Anderson added: “After we looked at everything, it looked like there may have been evidence that the toe drug first, before the heel ended up stepping. And since the ruling on the field was a touchdown, that’s when we say, well, we don’t have evidence to change it
from the ruling and that’s why we stayed with touchdown.”
The Eagles beat the Giants 34-10.
Achilles injury of day
The Buffalo Bills’ already beleaguered offensive line was dealt another blow when left guard Ike Boettger was carted off the field with a ruptured Achilles tendon in a big win against New England, and Jacksonville running back James Robinson left the Jaguars’ game against the Jets with a torn Achilles tendon.
Boettger was carted off early in the second half of the Bills’ 33-21 win at Foxborough. Buffalo looked to be on its way to being in decent shape health-wise up front after left tackle Dion Dawkins was cleared from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday. However, starting right guard Jon Feliciano wasn’t cleared from COVID-19 list in time to play.
At East Rutherford, N.J., Robinson went down without contact on Trevor Lawrence’s handoff to Tavon Austin late in the first quarter. He remained down for a few moments, appearing to reach at his lower right leg. Robinson was checked on by doctors and trainers, who then helped him limp off the field to the medical tent on the sideline. He was taken to
the locker room on a cart.
The Jaguars also lost linebacker Dakota Allen (shoulder) and defensive end/outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson (ankle), while the Jets lost center Connor McGovern (knee) and tight end Trevon Wesco (knee).
Steelers slowly sinking
The Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7-1) continued to fall apart down the stretch in a loss at Kansas City. They became the first team in NFL history to trail by at least 23 points at halftime in three straight road games. They have failed to score a touchdown in the first half of five straight games for the first time since 1940.
Already on the playoff bubble, Pittsburgh dropped further behind the Bengals (9-6) in the AFC North.
“We didn’t do enough in any phase to give ourselves a chance,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “This is a collective, players and coaches, man. We own this. Now we have to get singularly focused on our two remaining division games.”
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 159 yards with a late fourth-quarter touchdown for Pittsburgh, along with throwing an interception and losing a fumble. Najee Harris added 93 yards rushing, but most of that came with the game out of reach.