The NFL has admitted its error, in letting the Jaguars win a game they should have lost.
But they’re not punishing the guys who allowed that to happen.
According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com, citing a source with first-hand knowledge of the situation, the league is not expected to issue any suspensions for the officials who blew the end of the Jaguars-Ravens game, allowing the Jaguars to kick a game-winning field goal.
As Seifert wrote: “Mistakes in judgment are part of officiating, and the NFL does not plan to make them subject to suspension.”
The Jaguars committed a false start which should have come with a 10-second run-off, and that should have ended the game with the score Ravens 20-19. But no call was made, no time was run off, and the Jaguars were left to celebrate.
The league has suspended officials previously, such as side judge Rob Vernatchi for his inability to control the clock in a Steelers-Chargers game earlier this year. That earned him a week off, and other members of Morelli’s crew were re-assigned to lower profile games. Then again, they were already working Ravens-Jaguars last week, so unless someone sneaks a Browns-Akron game in during the bye week, it’s hard to tell how much lower they can go.
As Florio noted yesterday, the goal should not be to simply bang on Morelli and his crew for another mistake. The goal should be to eliminate mistakes. And that would require some proactive work on the part of the NFL, as opposed to reactively punishing the boots on the ground enforcing a rulebook that players, coaches, fans and the refs themselves are having a hard time keeping up with.