New Orleans Saints fans had a beef with NFL referees on Sunday after what was initially called a fumble by Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff was overturned to an incomplete pass.
It was an odd ruling for some fans to digest since, after Goff was hit by Saints defensive end Chase Young in the pocket the football went flying backward, which would technically be a fumble if a quarterback did this on his own.
The caveat, per NFL rules, is that since Young’s contact caused the ball to go backward after Goff had begun his throwing motion, referees overturned what was a Saints fumble recovery touchdown into an incompletion.
If the fumble had been upheld, the Saints, who were a seven-point underdog entering their NFL season opener, would potentially have been tied with the Lions early in the second quarter.
The Lions eventually built a 21-0 lead in the third quarter before the Saints stormed back to force overtime.
Despite forcing overtime, the Saints lost 31-30 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt. Since the game ended up being so close after all, Goff’s overturned fumble remained a point of debate online after the matchup concluded.
“No wonder people believe the games are rigged,” X user @Medium_Dumb wrote about the play.
NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth was asked about the controversial ruling after the game during an interview with pool reporter Ben Raven.
“If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass,” Butterworth said. “Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass.”
“The determining factor is does the passer begin his throwing motion prior to contact from the defender,” Butterworth added. “The throwing motion starts as he begins to bring the ball up as a part of his windup and then the defender’s contact made the pass go backwards.”
By that definition, it seems that the play was ruled correctly.
However, fans began compiling video clips of similar plays in the past that appear to fall under the same criteria of a quarterback starting his throwing motion before contact by a defender forced the pass out of his hand.
In those videos, which can be seen below, posted online by social media users, the quarterback was ruled to have fumbled instead of throwing an incomplete pass.
Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who now works as an analyst on the NFL’s broadcast of Thursday night games on Amazon, joined in on the bewilderment at the controversial ruling.
Fitzpatrick joked that the NFL should review and potentially overturn some of his career interceptions due to his intent not to throw them. During the Saints-Lions broadcast, Fox rules analyst and former referee Mike Pereira said that Goff’s play was not a fumble because he had the intent to throw a forward pass before Young hit him even though the pass went backward.
“@NFL per this ruling, I’d like the league to review all 169 of my interceptions,” Fitzpatrick wrote on X. “My intent was clearly to throw to MY receiver. Please advise.”
Saints head coach Kellen Moore did not seem extremely upset about the play after the game, although he did call it unfortunate.
Despite the call benefiting the Lions, head coach Dan Campbell said after the victory that he thought Detroit was fortunate to have the replay review turn out in their favor.
“I’ll take that one. I’ll be the first to say, I thought we lost that one,” Campbell said about the video review of Goff’s fumble turned incompletion. “The arm was going forward, it had a forward motion, that was how they saw it. We got one. We’ll take that.”
The Saints will face the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday, while the Lions play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football this week.
