FUMBLE FOILS JETS IN LOSS TO PATS:
‘B.S. call’ keeps Gang out of first
THEY WERE screwed by the bigwigs at the Hall of Justice. They were screwed by modern technology. Most of all, they were screwed by a fugazi rule in a rulebook filled with nonsensical hogwash.
When the Jets walked off “losers” in a 24-17 heartbreaker to the Patriots Sunday, there was a sickening feeling shared among players, coaches and every greenand-white clad dreamer leaving Met Life Stadium: We were royally jobbed.
“I thought it was a B.S. call,” wide receiver Jermaine Kearse said. “I’m pretty sure everybody’s going to look back and say that was a B.S. call.”
A game-changing replay overrule on Austin Seferian-Jenkins’ 4-yard touchdown catch helped prevent Todd Bowles’ team from taking over sole possession of first place in the AFC East. The 3-3 Jets now reside in the division cellar where most folks figured they’d be all along.
The football Gods evidently enjoy torturing this group of nonames. Moments after the Jets seemingly capped a 75-yard drive with Seferian-Jenkins’ score to draw within 24-20 with 8:31 left in regulation, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron ripped the joy from Bowles& Co. by overturning the touchdown call on the field in the worst imaginable way: Riveron and the rest of the brainiacs on 345 Park Ave concluded that the Jets tight end had fumbled the ball out of bounds in the end zone before ruling it a touchback for the Patriots.
Three letters crossed everyone’s lips at that point: W.T.F.
Josh McCown: “It’s a difficult rule to understand.”
Buster Skrine: “I don’t know how somebody can fumble the ball with the ball still in their hands.”
Jeremy Kerley: “I was pissed off at the initial call like everybody else.” Even the members of the Evil Empire were, uh, miffed.
“It was a little shocking,” Patriots wide receiver Brandin Cooks said. “I never knew that rule, but now I know.”
Pardon my French, but the rule, frankly, sucks. It makes little or no sense. I haven’t decided which yet.
Sure, one more loss means that general manager Mike Maccagnan gets to keep one more future premium draft pick in his pocket should he need ammo to move up to select a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft, but that shouldn’t make Jets faithful any less outraged in the moment.
This is a brutal rule that needed to be changed yesterday. Referee Tony Corrente told a pool reporter after this disgrace that SeferianJenkins’ initial catch was not in question. No, no, no. This absurd overrule was about Seferian-Jenkins, the runner.
“Nothing to do with the catch,” Corrente said. “It was all dealing with goal line and going to the ground.”
Replays clearly showed Seferian-Jenkins cradling the ball in his left arm as he dragged safety Duron Harmon closer to the goal line. Cornerback Malcolm Butler rushed at the tight end and briefly jarred the ball loose with his right hand. It was a split second before Seferian-Jenkins re-gained possession with both hands, landing on his back and moving the ball safely to his right arm.
The replay officials believed that the brief bobble occurred as the tight end crossed the goal line and hit the pylon with his left elbow. Seferian-Jenkins regained possession and control after he landed out of bounds, they believed. Mind you, none of this was conclusive on any replay angles.
More from Corrente: “We’ll call him a runner at that point, with the football starting to go toward the ground. He lost the ball. It came out of his control as he was almost to the ground. Now he regrasps the ball and by rule, now he has to complete the process of a recovery, which means he has to survive the ground again. So, in recovering it, he recovered, hit the
knee, started to roll and the ball came out a second time. So, the ball started to move in his hands this way… he’s now out of bounds in the end zone, which now created a touchback. So, he didn’t survive the recovery and didn’t survive the ground during the recovery is what happened here.”
All the languagewords explain in can’t whatthe sufficiently Englisheveryone blessed with sight knows: It should have been a touchdown.
“I have to have better ball security,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “If I take care of the ball the way I’m supposed to – and I don’t let it move or anything like that, we don’t have this discussion.”
Added Bowles: “I’m not going to blame this game on one play.”
Fine. I will. Although it’s true that the Jets had opportunities to grab a spot alone atop the AFC East six weeks in for the first time since 2010, the overturned call was absolutely a sucker punch to the gut. The Jets forced a punt on the Patriots ensuing drive before Chandler Catanzaro’s 28-yard field goal got Bowles’ team to within one score, but the lost touchdown was too much to overcome.
To pour more salt on the wound, this is the first year when the centralized replay whizzes at league headquarters make the final call. (Full disclosure: Former NFL officiating guru Dean Blandino consulted with field refs on replays in the past). “We got the call,” Butler said. “And that’s all that matters.”
It’s challenging enough trying to beat the greatest head coach and greatest quarterback in the history of professional football. The margin of error always is small for anyone going up against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Now sprinkle in some replay/rulebook hooey into the equation and you got no earthly shot to win.
“It’s that much more frustrating,” Kearse said.
Ya think?