First the tuck rule, now the “must have possession when hitting the ground” rule? It seems like the NFL is trying to screw the Raiders over every time they have a chance. With the game tied at 7 in the second quarter, JaMarcus Russell hit Louis Murphy with a 19 yard pass over the middle in the end zone. Murphy caught the ball cleanly, had possession for a few seconds, landed with both feet down in the end zone, and then it popped out as he hit the ground. It was a catch in every sense of the word and Murphy even jumped into the Black Hole to celebrate his first career TD, one that would have given the Raiders a 14-7 lead just before halftime. After a lengthy review, the officials came up with some bogus reason to nullify the score, making it 4th and 5 for the Raiders. They wound up kicking a field goal to go up 10-7, missing out on four points.
Much like the Bills earlier in the evening, the Raiders were surprising everyone by playing such a solid game, beating a team with whom they had struggled so many times before. And just like the Bills blew an 11 point lead with five and a half minutes to go, the Raiders blew their improbable lead with 2:34 to go. Had that Murphy TD counted as it should have, the Sproles TD would have only tied the game at 24, not given the Chargers the lead and the win. Then in overtime you could say the Chargers might have won it, but at least the Raiders would have had another chance to get the victory, one they deserved another shot at. Honestly, I don’t give a crap what rule the officials said was in effect; Louis Murphy caught a touchdown, end of story. Why the heck was that reviewed, much less overturned? Total bogus bullcrap.
Lastly, a few observations about the game: excellent Raiders debut for Richard Seymour. He’s not worth a first-round pick, but damn, he really improved that Raiders rush and pass defense and he made Al Davis proud. Next, it was impossible not to notice how infrequently LaDainian Tomlinson was on the field. Sproles was the go-to-back on the game-winning drive and LT really didn’t do much against a team he usually feasts on. He’s been going downhill for two years, make it three now.
Photo Credti: Getty Images
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Had Murphy been wearing any other colors besides Silver & Black, this would have been called a touchdown with no questions asked.
That was a TD. How many times does a wideout catch it in the endzone take 2 steps and immediately spike it? Ridiculous.
anyone notice that the Cowboys-Bills 2007 miracle comeback was also 25-24 with the turnover on the
kick and Romo also threw 50 passes? funky
Touchdown, no question. Al Davis should never have been a witness for the USFL against the NFL in their antitrust suit in the 1980’s.
By the rule I suppose a guy could catch a ball in the endzone, take 2 steps, then do somersaults all the way across the endzone and after a few the ball slips out of his hand….no touchdown!
Why is it when you catch the ball in the field of play, take 2 steps, fall down, even have your butt hit the ground…YOU ARE DOWN. But in the endzone that’s not good enough. If that happened on the 1 yard line they’d be reviewing it for a fumble and would come back to say he caught the ball and was ruled down when his arse hit the ground. no fumble.
Murphy has been always wearing Silver & Black colours. .
It would have been better if Murphy would have caught the bill on the 1 yard line…
By no means am I a Raider fan. Having said that, I still feel as though the Raiders were screwed out of a touchdown on this “BS” call by the ref.
1st the Raiders get screwed over against the patriots years back and now this? Shouldn’t NFL be doing something about this? Its not fair to any team…
And what a way to welcome a Rookie… by taking away his 1st touchdown.
WELCOME TO THE CORRUPTED NFL LOUIS MURPHY!