Did the ref blow the whistle too soon, cost the Chiefs on Titans’ two-point try?

Chiefs fans won’t deny that Derrick Henry’s fumble wasn’t a fumble, but what about Marcus Mariota’s two-point conversion play on Saturday night?

The Titans went for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter after scoring a go-ahead touchdown. Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen broke into the backfield and caught Mariota. The Titans quarterback tried to break free and the ball squirted loose.

Frank Zombo scooped up the loose ball and raced to the end zone for what would have been two points. That would have given the Chiefs a 23-22 lead. Instead, the referee blew his whistle before the ball came out and the play was ruled dead.

The Chiefs were unable to score when they got the ball back and lost 22-21 in the AFC Wild Card Game.

Here is the play in question:

What do you think?

“(Sorensen) turned him around once, he turned him around a second time and he kept driving him back,” referee Jeff Triplette told pool reporter Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star. “You just rule forward progress at that point. (At that point), the play is over.”

However, rules analyst Mike Pereira thought the officials had a rough game:

This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 7:14 PM.