We’ve had near the top of the list of things to mention for two days a strange moment from the second quarter of the Bengals-Ravens game.
With the Ravens facing second down and 15 from their own 21, quarterback Joe Flacco completed a short pass to Mark Clayton, who gained nearly five yards before being tackled.
The ball came loose, the officials ruled that Clayton had been down by contact, the Bengals challenged the outcome, and the call was upheld. Ravens ball.
But the ball was then moved back to the prior spot — the Baltimore 21.
(We’ve confirmed the incident via the NFL.com Game Rewind feature, a surprisingly inexpensive tool for watching every game after the fact.)
Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times recently pointed out that the Ravens plan to raise the situation with the league office.
And the only plausible response from 280 Park Avenue will be, “Oops.”
At least they had time to comment on Rush…..
The officiating was bad, against the Ravens in other ways in that game, but I’m a Ravens fan and I even thought that was a fumble.
The officials definitely messed up the spot, but it should have been a Bengals touchdown anyway.
“Oops” as in it was clearly a fumble and should have been given to the bungles?????
Yes it was a muffed spot, but it wouldn’t have mattered on that series.
The ball was clearly coming loose before the knee hit. The ball was between his body and elbow, and coming out. That’s a fumble. Bungles ball at the spot.
“And the only plausible response from 280 Park Avenue will be, “Oops.”"
I don’t know. I think “If you don’t like it, watch UFL” would also work well.
This is going to sound bias because I am a Ravens fan; but the officiating and scheduling against this team has been terrible since ariving in Baltimore. It just seems like very seldomly will a call go their way. Honestly though with all of that said the Ravens have lost the last two games because their DB’s couldn’t cover a deadman in a csaket! They may have two of the fastest DB’s in the league but they can’t cover anyone!
The refs messed up the call from the get go
1. initially ruled a touchdown on the field
2. somehow changed the ruling without a challenge from the ravens
3. effed up the call a second time after a challenge
4. effed up the spot
It was a fumble, should have been Bengals ball,
And people are complaining about the mis spot of the ball(which was obvious) when it should have not been the Ravens to begin with?
These refs should have not been on the field… should be reffing JR. High IMO
Maybe I missed it, but at least try to explain what the hell if going on down on the field, that is why they mic the freakin’ Ref anyway….
what a shit show that was…
Seems to me the fault is the Ravens for not challenging the spot of the ball before the next play was run.
I didn’t see the game and don’t feel the need to go reviewing games that really don’t matter to me, so can’t comment on the fumble itself…..
That first sentence makes my head hurt.
How about: “A strange moment from the second quarter of the Bengals-Ravens game has been near the top of our list of things to mention for two days.”
I’m a huge bengals fan I could have sworn that that play was a fumble. I didn’t even realize the misplacement of the ball. But would it have even really mattered.
Expect Bagdad Bob Perreira to tell NFL Network the refs again made the right call.
One of the worst calls ever.
The ref closest to the play ran down the field and called it a touchdown – he was not ruled down until the play was over – no whistle. Still prob shouldn’t have been a TD because the players looked to be touching when the ball was recovered. Clearly a fumble and ruled a fumble & TD until the discussion so it should have at least been Bengals ball at the spot of recovery. Then they mess up the spot? WOW!
The initial call by the closest ref should have been respected and the Ravens could have challenged the TD.
Flowerio, why is this news? How many times each week do you comment on blown calls by the officials? Is this something new? The NFL’s officiating crews are by far the absolute worst in all of professional sports and until they hire and train full time officials with some damn COMMON SENSE then things will never change. It’s not like the NFL can’t afford it…
Can you ask them why they changed the ruling on the field without a challenge? I watched the game, and the officiating was horrible.
I was there and we were screaming for the refs to move the ball up. By saying it was OK because you think the original call was wrong is ludicrous. That’s like saying it would have been OK that the Bengals received the ball at the original line of scrimmage because the refs screwed up and called Frank Walker for pass interference right before Palmer threw the winning TD. There were numerous calls that were suspect in that game and the timing of them were highly suspicious.
What the hell were the Raven coaches doing on the sidelines? Reading Ochocinco’s tweets? That should be on them as much as the officials.
The play was just challenged by the Bengals, why would the Ravens challenge the same play again.
They should be happy they even got the ball that was a freaking fumble…got called TD it wasn’t TD but it was a Fumble…
The real idiot here is the Ravens. Sure, the refs messed up, but they also messed up themselves. So they have no one to blame but the guy in the mirror.
Even the announcers picked it up that they screwed up the spot. That’s bush league type stuff there.
they messed up the spot, then there was an offsides right after that should have given them a 1st down (if the spot had been correct)…dont remember what happened the rest if the series though
Horrible refereeing, but the coach has to catch that.
Only the Ravens are at fault here. Sure, the refs blew the call, but the Ravens didn’t notice either. So they have no one to blame but themselves for being idiots.
Yeah, well “oops” to the Ravens for not noticing and making it an issue at the time.
What kind of coaching staff doesn’t pick up on that?
Didn’t see the game, so I can’t comment on that call–and I’ve already had a crazy Bengals fan (CurseofBoJackson) on another PFT post call me nasty names for defending Lewis’s hit on Johnson (except I never even mentioned Lewis’s hit on Johnson because I haven’t seen it). But I’ll here’s my two cents …
Refs don’t deliberately make bad calls or favor one team over another. But officials need to spend the off-season studying the rules, studying film, practicing with their units on simulations so they can get the calls right. Only they can’t do that because they’re busy working their “real” jobs. And during the season, they’re working both jobs. Yeah, they can make good money. But they still make less than officials in any other sport. If the NFL wants to maintain the integrity of this sport, the owners need to invest more in the officiating.
Well…How funny it’s about time this was recognized, only Florio missed the true blunder on this play of a fumble. You cannot even imagine how many times and different places I have seen Ravens’ fans cry about officiating of this game with this play as their strongest arguement that they were hosed. I laugh everytime because although the spot was horrible the obvious fumble ruled on the field and clearly shown on replay resulted in them still maintaing the control of the ball. They all know it as well, but turn their heads to make their crying about other officiating calls look more legit.
Flacco had a bad game. I won’t say he’s a real MVP candidate but he’s above average.
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Break out the WAAA-mbulance again in Baltimore. This is becoming, quite frankly, pathetic. Move on! You lost! On a side note… what is it going to be next week?? Adrian Peterson is to good.. he shouldn’t be allowed to play against us?!
This seems to be indicative of a pattern of lack of focus, lack of mental discipline, and lack of attention to detail by the Ravens. Why was there not one single person on the Ravens sideline or on the field that could point out to the refs they had the ball placement wrong?
All last week all their attention seemed to be on the previous week’s game and complaining about officiating; not just from players, but from the team’s head coach. Rather than looking forward and preparing for the next game, their focus was on something they could not change: the score of the previous game. And the person that set that tone, both lierally and figuratively was Harbaugh. It did not surprise me in the least bit that the Bengals were able to go on the road and win that game as a result. And it didn’t surprise me that they learned nothing from the previous game by taking a dumb (i.e., unnecessary) penalty at a key moment either.
Then again maybe somebody from the Ravens did say something at the time, but the refs had grown so tired of their complaining that they had simply tuned them out at that point.
Except for the spot I think they did it right. First, the question of the fumble replay – I (Bengals fan) thought it was coming out but was it clearly indisputable? Not really. Close, but… Second, regarding letting the play continue, the refs were instructed to do this because too many change of possessions were overturned because of a premature whistle. What if it were a disputable fumble but he had been ruled down? Then people would be upset because of the quick whistle.
The Ravens were probably so glad to get away with what should have been a fumble that they didn’t notice the spot on the ball.
The refs were probably told to pay more attention to the QB getting hit while he released the ball.
See, there’s this thing called scarcity, and if Goodell thinks that he can ask the refs to do more policing of the players and less refereeing of the game itself, they are going to miss things. It’s simple.
And Goodell couldn’t care any less what you think. He probably spent more money on the pink gloves and towels, and all the marketing, all the pins all that crap, than he did for retired NFL players. I’m sure he spent more on that exercise in PC fun than he did on counseling the 78% of NFL players who will be or are flat busted.
It’s a sick game he’s playing.
Rezen
Can you ask them why they changed the ruling on the field without a challenge?
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Did likewise in the Giants game on an Oakland clear fumble after they announced down by contact PURPOSELY because they saw Coughlin was going to challenge the play SO ref then said momentum was stopped so it is unreviewable.
I think it was a bad play all around by the referees at that point, but for the Ravens to complain about the spot when they shouldn’t even have gotten the ball…
It wasn’t a bad spot. It ended up being ruled an “incomplete pass.” Of course, you would be hard-pressed to know that based on the tv announcing crew for the game (one of the worst I have ever heard) who failed to mention that. Anyway, I would find it hard to believe an NFL coaching staff would miss such a terrible spot but then again, I have seen some incredible stuff.
Is it me or are the officials screwing up more and more each week? I think you can attribute it to the increased amount of rules and their extreme detail. We didnt see nearly as many mistakes a few years ago.
It ended up being ruled an “incomplete pass.”
Actually it wasn’t an incomplete pass, if it was there would be no need for a review of a fumble. The ruling was that he was down on the field. I am a Ravens fan and yes it was terrible officiating, but it has been terrible officiating everywhere again this year. Also, yes the Ravens should have caught it, 70,000 fans in the stands were screaming for it. The comment from Harbaugh wasn’t a sour grapes complaint it was in the press conference the next day where he admitted they missed it but it would be sent to the league as every team does every week.
It’s becoming a sad state of affairs where referees are determining the outcome of games. Please let these guys play football.
I agree with some other comments. The refs are not out to get any one team. They are just incompetant. I would love to see them let the games be decided on the damn field instead of with the flags. They almost handed the Jets a win on MNF with the PI call on Edwards that put the ball at the 1. Horrible call.
To my fellow Ravens fans, the game is over. Let’s move on.
“Did likewise in the Giants game on an Oakland clear fumble after they announced down by contact PURPOSELY because they saw Coughlin was going to challenge the play SO ref then said momentum was stopped so it is unreviewable.”
Now that is the kind of inconsistancy that is frustrating. In the Steelers game Stephon Logan was stripped of the ball well after this “momentum was stopped”. However, they said that Tomlin couldn’t review that. What BS. The Steelers ended up winning the game, but I think that was a BS.
This is the best example of the referee problem. I am a Ravens fan, but that was a fumble. This sort of stuff happens multiple times each week. If a player made as many mistakes, they would be cut from the team! How many referees have been fired for poor performance? Ed Houchili was not even fined or reprimanded in any way.
I love the list from tigeralum99! The referees are a joke and with millions of their dollars on the line, I can’t believe the owners don’t want to do something. If the Ravens miss the playoffs by one game, then the Patriots game now has cost Steve Biscotti alot of $$$.
We need a system in which the refs can be fined for poor performance.
We need something, this is entertainment after all, and it is becoming less and less entertaining.
It was not ruled an incomplete pass, it was ruled a catch and down by contact….
The play could have went either way, it was one of those calls that was inconclusive and there was not enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. Initially no call was made after the Bengals picked up the fumble and ran it in for a TD, then the refs had their little pow-wow and said it was down by contact. The replay seemed to show that the ball was starting to come out as the knee hit the ground, but again it wasnt clear enough to overturn the call on the field. Remember you need INDISPUTABLE evidence to overturn the call, or at least thats what the league says!
The one indisputable part of the call was that it needed to be spotted on the 25, not the 21, and the Ravens coaches should have been all over that….
I was at the game and I saw the replays. These are my thoughts:
1. Clayton still had possession when his elbow hit the ground, therefore no fumble.
2. The refs initially ruled fumble and Cincy TD, but then conferred and changed the call to Ravens ball, down by contact. The refs can confer as a group and change the call, they do it from time to time.
3. Cincy challenged, the ruling on the field was upheld, but the refs spotted the ball (apparently) at the previous line of scrimmage. I think they simply screwed up.
4. I noticed it and couldn’t believe someone on the Ravens didn’t complain to the officials.
5. The poster who theorized the ruling was an incomplete pass explains the spot, but there’s simply no way the pass was incomplete.
On the final drive, the refs blew a flagrant hold against Cincy’s left tackle (in fact I think it was the play where Carson Palmer ran for a first down).
Ray Lewis committed a stupid personal foul against Ochocinco. (Funny thing though. When Ryan Clark did essentially the same thing to Willis McGahee last year in the AFC Championship, every Steeler fan on this board thumped their chests and called us pussies. And the refs didn’t call a penalty then.)
The pass interference call against Frank Walker was a horrible call. He never redirected the receiver, and played the ball. An excellent play deemed a penalty.
Having said all this, I have to give credit where it’s due. The Bengals were more physical on both sides of the ball, and clearly outplayed thje Ravens. Their defense completely throttled the Ravens and made the offense look as if it were the Kyle Boller version.
Now that the Ravens don’t hold tie breakers against Cincy and New England, and with an upcoming game at Minnesota (a probable blowout loss), I think the Ravens probably don’t make the playoffs this year.
The thing that made this play funny was the spot. On the field where this incident took place, there was one of those big “Breast cancer awareness symbols”. The refs that watched the play on replay had to know where the ball should be spotted. Clayton clearly had the ball and had recieved the pass. The call was “no fumble”, but then there was the poor spot. it pretty much looked like it was a fumble on the replay.
That crew was “drowning”. It appeared to be a compromise call made to get the teams going to the next play. The referee needed to take charge and use replay for the tool it is, instead of being a tool himself.
This was ridiculous on all ends. Officiating in the past 2 Ravens games were junk.
Perhaps if they didn’t run their mouths the week before about the officiating.
However, why aren’t the refs fined or penalized for bad calls? Why are the same “officiating crews” together, swap up the officiating teams, it would put pressure, maybe interally some guys would challenge others…
The refs have been a problem for years…soemthign needs to change.
the only way bengals make it to playoffs is by luck and help from the refs… that sorry team needs all the help they could get!!!
Its amazing that on the NFL.com play by play, Baltimore lost a yard on the pass. I wonder if the Ravens would’ve had a better chance to pick up the first down on 3rd and 5 instead of 3rd and 11.
2-15-BAL 21 (3:01) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-J.Flacco pass short right to 89-M.Clayton to BLT 20 for -1 yards (41-C.Ndukwe). Cincinnati challenged the fumble ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #2.)
3-16-BAL 20 (3:01) PENALTY on CIN-98-A.Odom, Defensive Offside, 5 yards, enforced at BLT 20 – No Play.
So did you want a tissue Deb?
26hawk nailed it. The play took place on a Breast Cancer Awareness Logo. How the refs screwed it up is beyond me, but what was Baltimore’s coaching staff doing? How the hell did Harbaugh’s staff miss that?
It was definitely not ruled incomplete. Here is the official gamebook entry…
“2-15-BLT 21 (3:01) (No Huddle, Shotgun) J.Flacco pass short right to M.Clayton to BLT 20 for -1 yards (C.Ndukwe).
Cincinnati challenged the fumble ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #2.)”
So a catch and run for four yards is entered officially as a loss of one yard.
This game was full of strange calls or non calls. And I’m not even talking about Ray Lewis’ personal foul call when he hit Ocho Cinco’s shoulder and 85′s lid flew off, making it look like hitting a defenseless receiver.
Trevor Pryce was called for illegally lining up over the head of long snapper Brad St. Louis, but replays clearly say otherwise. St. Louis snapped it wide and the extra point was missed, but the Bengals got a do-over due to the strange ruling.
With :48 left in the game Palmer completes a pass to Chris Henry on the sideline, but it appears Henry only gets one foot in. The Ravens sideline screams for a booth review (under two minutes), but the officials ignore them and the bang-bang play is allowed to stand.
Even if you want to argue the calls were correct, you have to wonder why there is no consistency from week to week, crew to crew, play to play.
Dear Ravens Fans,
Wah wah wah.
It’s the NFL, calls are always messed up on both sides. It happens get over it and have a nice day.
p.s – Great game
Love,
The Bengals