What You Missed In NFL: Did refs miss penalty before Ravens kicked record field goal?
We may not see a more bonkers finish to a game this NFL season than the Ravens’ 19-17 win at Detroit on Sunday.
The Lions trailed 16-7 going into the fourth quarter but scored a touchdown with 8 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the game. Ryan Santoso made a 35-yard field goal with 1:04 to play that seemed to win it for the Lions.
Facing a fourth-and-19 from their own 16-yard line, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson completed a 36-yard pass to former Chiefs receiver Sammy Watkins. With 7 seconds to play, Jackson spiked the ball. Then Jackson tried to gain a few more yards for a Justin Tucker field-goal try but ended up throwing the ball away.
Thing is, the snap clearly took place after the play clock reached zero.
Tucker then made an NFL-record 66-yard field goal that won the game. It was by the slimmest of margins.
Former NFL referee Gene Steratore, who is a rules analyst for CBS Sports, explained during the studio show that the back judge looks at the game clock and when it hits zero looks at the ball.
“That snap needs to occur right at that time,” Steratore said. “So is there an extra second built in there? Yeah there is just because of the human element, from play clock down to snap, that’s for sure. It does feel like that’s a little longer than your normal progression from a zero on the clock back down.”
Here are some of the other oddities from Week 3.
Flag causes muffed punt
Never let anyone tell you they’ve seen it all in sports, because here’s a new one. The Cardinals’ Rondale Moore muffed a punt when an official’s flag hit the ball.
What are the odds of this happening?
Kicker recovers kickoff
Washington’s Dustin Hopkins didn’t hang back after kicking off to the Bills during Sunday’s game, as he ran down field.
That hustle allowed him to recover the ball after Buffalo’s kick returner fumbled.
A 109-yard TD
The Cardinals tried a 68-yard field goal before halftime of their game in Jacksonville. It came up short and the Jaguars’ Jamal Agnew caught the ball in the back of the end zone.
Agnew took it from end zone to end zone for a 109-yard TD return, which tied an NFL record.
The NFL said Cordarrelle Patterson had a 109-yard kickoff return on Oct. 27, 2013 and Antonio Cromartie also took a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown on Nov. 4, 2007.
Travis Kelce would be proud
During the player introductions on NBC during the Packers-49ers “Sunday Night Football” game, San Francisco tight end George Kittle said he was a graduate of Tight End University. That’s the name of the instructional summit Kelce and Kittle played host to this summer in Tennessee.
Other NFL tight ends joined the summit to discuss ways to improve their game.
Here is the clip of Kittle, who attended the University of Iowa:
This story was originally published September 26, 2021 at 8:53 PM.
