The Philadelphia Eagles almost had a touchdown literally stripped from their hands in the first half of their game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, but the call on the field was overturned.
On 3rd-and-goal early in the second quarter, Carson Wentz completed a pass over the middle to tight end Dallas Goedert, and the ball was ripped away by Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones in the end zone. Officials ruled it an interception and said Jones gained possession before Goedert completed the process of the catch. Here’s the play:
They're saying on field that before Goedert completed process of the catch the ball was ripped out by Jones. Obviously going to review. Would be a huge takeaway for #Patriots if call stands. pic.twitter.com/CaeQwlfcfo
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) November 17, 2019
Everything about that looked like a touchdown. Goedert caught the ball and took two steps before his knee hit the ground in the end zone. At that point, the play was over and the result was a touchdown. As soon as a player breaks the plane with possession of the ball the play is dead, and the fact that Goedert got a knee down before the ball was stripped only helped his case.
We have seen plays in the past where a seemingly obvious touchdown gets overturned, and the NFL has tried — and failed in some instances — to correct that. This is an instance where the officials got it right upon review.
