Monday night was probably the ugliest performance we have seen this season from a group of NFL officials, and one of them may have have gotten confused because of his days officiating at the collegiate level.
In addition to the inadvertent whistle that may have cost the New England Patriots a touchdown, there was also a play at the end of the game where Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins caught a pass and got out of bounds, but the official chose to keep the clock running. As a result, time expired and the Bills did not get an opportunity to throw a Hail Mary from their own 48-yard line.
After the game, crew chief Gene Steratore explained that the head linesman, Ed Walker, ruled that Watkins gave himself up in bounds, which is why Walker chose to wind the clock. Ben Volin of The Boston Globe spoke to a source from the NFL Referees Association who has officiated “dozens of NFL games,” and that source is convinced Walker accidentally applied the collegiate rule.
Steratore’s explanation sounds good, but the source said Steratore was just covering for Walker, who is in his second NFL season and used to officiate in the Pac-12.
The source said Walker mistakenly applied the college rule instead of the NFL rule. Just because Watkins went backward does not mean he gave himself up as a runner; running sideways or backward is still considered trying to “advance” the football. For the runner to surrender himself, he has to truly give up on the play — such as when a quarterback slides before taking a hit.
“In the NFL, the way it’s always been officiated is if a guy gets out of bounds, you give it to him and stop the clock,” the source said. “But he called it like the college rule. I’m not sure he knew the NFL rule.”
It makes no sense that Watkins would have given himself up before getting out of bounds in that situation, which is why it is baffling that an official would make that ruling. If you haven’t seen the play, you can watch it here.
The source also told Volin that the performance from Monday night’s officiating crew was “really bad” and has a lot of other NFL officials “rolling their eyes.” We certainly don’t blame them.
H/T Deadspin
