The NFL acknowledged Friday that an errant whistle cost the Cleveland Brownsa fumble recovery in their 45-42 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders last Sunday.
The play, one of several controversial calls in the game, occurred with 6 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in regulation
NFL Officiating confirms fumble, bad whistle in #Browns vs #Raiders pic.twitter.com/ujOGIGTUvW
— Patrick Claybon (@PatrickClaybon) October 5, 2018
In a weekly video review released on Twitter, NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron said: “We rule the passer stopped for forward progress and we kill the play. This is not forward progress. Obviously, this is a fumble. We should not have blown the whistle.”
By NFL rule, Anderson’s call was not reviewable by instant replay.
NFL senior VP of officiating Al Riveron explains why strip sack fumble recovery shouldn’t have been blown dead & also why the play was not reviewable in this week’s officiating recap video #Browns #Raiders pic.twitter.com/f390HbPDWY
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 5, 2018
According to the league, Riveron pieced together the ruling by looking at evidence from two different views of the play.
Competition committee needs to bring up getting rid of forward progress not being reviewable.
