The Tennessee Titans lost their third consecutive game on Sunday and are in danger of playing their way out of the postseason, but the officiating crew is at least partially responsible for their latest disappointing effort.
On Tuesday, NFL vice president of football communications Michael Signora confirmed that an error made by Walt Anderson’s crew cost the Titans what would have been a successful onside kick recovery. The play occurred after DeMarco Murray scored a touchdown to tie the score at 20-20 with 4:23 remaining in the third quarter. Tennessee caught the Los Angeles Rams out of position on a surprise onside kick, but a penalty flag was thrown.
The Titans recovered the kick, but Anderson announced that the Rams had called a timeout. He then said they hadn’t and ruled that the ball was never put into play. Signora admitted that was a mistake in an email to Jason Wolf of The Tennesseean.
“The officials inadvertently miscommunicated to the Los Angeles sideline that it was a full timeout instead of a 30-second timeout” Signora explained. “When L.A. was not ready for the kickoff due to the miscommunication, the officials decided to shut it down and allow for a re-kick.”
The Titans then chose to kick the ball deep. They went on to lose 27-23, so the onside kick recovery could have been huge. Kicker Ryan Succop said the ball had been put in play and an official gave the signal indicating that was the case. Titans coach Mike Mularkey was furious after the game.
“I don’t even want to try and explain what they said,” Mularkey told reporters.
Officials make mistakes like anyone else, and it appears that’s what happened in this situation. The play didn’t get quite as much attention as a controversial ruling in New England, but it could prove to be one of the most costly officiating flubs of the season.
