The New England Patriots caught a big break early in their game against the New York Jets on Sunday, as they appeared to get away with a fumble on their opening drive.
Kendrick Bourne caught a short pass from Mac Jones on third down and was stripped by a defender as he was going to the ground. The Jets clearly recovered the fumble, but the officials ruled that the play was whistled dead when Bourne’s forward progress was stopped. You can see the sequence below:
Kendrick Bourne fumbled this ball, but the officials had already blown the whistle to stop the play.
Patriots get away with one here pic.twitter.com/bM7QIfQrub
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) September 19, 2021
The play should not have been blown dead, and it doesn’t sound like the whistle blew until after the ball had come out. It didn’t matter, as the ruling on the field was that Bourne’s forward progress was stopped, which is not reviewable.
Bourne’s catch resulted in a first down. The Patriots eventually punted, but the Jets were robbed of prime field position and threw an interception on the ensuing possession. The bad call was costly.
