Refs Missed One - Cards 'Lost' Down

Wednesday, November 24, 2004


By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

The NFL has acknowledged that game officials "lost" a down during the second quarter of the Carolina Panthers' 35-10 victory over the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday, and the botched call could bring the crew led by referee Bill Carollo some sort of reprimand.


In the big picture, the play had little to do with the final result, as the game was hardly determined by one oversight. But league spokesman Greg Aiello conceded that game officials are "held accountable for a mistake of that nature" and acknowledged the situation is being reviewed.


The play occurred with 1 minute, 23 seconds remaining in the first half and the Panthers leading 21-0.


With a first-and-10 at the Carolina 48-yard line, Cardinals quarterback Shaun King threw incomplete for wide receiver Bryant Johnson and, despite not being under pressure at the time, was flagged for intentional grounding. A television replay seems to indicate Johnson simply ran the wrong route.


What should have occurred was a 10-yard penalty and loss of down, meaning Arizona would have been moved back to its own 42-yard line, facing a second-and-20 scenario.


Game officials marched off the required penalty but, instead of signaling second down, the sideline crew indicate it was third down. Not only did the officials not catch their mistake, but neither did Cardinals players and coaches. On "third" down, which actually was second down, King ran for 16 yards. He fumbled on the next play and the Panthers ended up taking over on downs. Carolina scored four plays later to assume a 28-0 lead.


The official replay from the game cites the error, noting: "Officials inadvertently took away second down from Arizona."


Even though the play probably had no bearing on the outcome, Cardinals players and team officials were steamed afterward, and some privately suggested this week that game officials should be fined.

 

lol seems totally irrelevant to the course of the game. oh well :huh:

 

Okay, we'll change it to 35-17 - happy now? :xyzthumbs

 

Regardless of the outcome, officials have missed way too many blatantly obvious calls this year. Every game I've watched has at least one play where you ask yourself, "just what fucking game were those jackasses watching to make that fucking call?" and even on further review, they still fuck it up. They need to be held accountable, but they should also be compensated a little better given the financial status of the NFL. Increase their pay, and start handing out fines for blatant missed calls. I've seen too many shoulderpads to helmets get called for personal fouls, too many sideline catches be ruled out of bounds, too many fumbles ruled down by contact (this whole rule needs changing, it is simply grasping at straws, I say the whole body needs to be on the ground, fuck this one knee equals 2 feet shit), and just way too many horrible calls go the wrong way. Hold these fuckers accountable and increase their pay, officiating games that rake in the amount of money they do, and games that mean so much in only a 16 game season are way too important to let the lowest paid person on the field decide the outcome.

 

I remember that. I thought I had blacked out. Seemed like it was second down to me, too.