The refs & replay directly cost the Falcons 3 touchdowns on Saturday

I think it is unquestionable that Bill Vinovich and his crew, as well as the NFL’s replay system, were as mixed up on Saturday as the NFL schedule this week. You could see it on the Falcons HC Arthur Smith’s face from right before halftime until the conclusion of the game.

Often times you can say one bad flag here or there stalled a drive that could’ve ended in points but this week the Falcons were directly robbed of three touchdowns—two on offense, and one on defense. Here we will go over each of the three blunders.

Blunder #1: Replay in New York somehow doesn’t overturn Demarcus Robinson’s TD catch

This one baffles me (actually all of them baffle me) because you see the NFL overturning plays that are originally called catches to non-catches over the smallest things. Apparently, they decided to put a blindfold on when they reviewed a touchdown catch by the Ravens’ receiver with 2:23 left in the second quarter.

I do not blame the refs on the field for this one because it looked like a catch live but when they showed it in slow motion it became obvious that the ball slipped ever so slightly after he landed out of bounds. That is not a catch and the NFL has proven that by overturning nearly identical plays in the past.

I simply do not get it, how is that a catch? The ball clearly slips in his palm and if he had “possession” then the ball would have never dropped while his hand stayed in the same place.

This play came on a third down, meaning the Ravens almost certainly would have kicked a field goal. The NFL gave the Ravens four extra points on this one (a common theme). Anyways, let’s move on to the next one that received much more attention.

Blunder #2: Refs throw a flag on Desmond Ridder for intentional grounding despite the defender hitting his arm

We have already gone over this one but let’s review it. The NFL rulebook clearly states that intentional grounding shouldn’t be called if the quarterback is out of the pocket and his arm, or even his body, is hit, causing the ball to not reach the line of scrimmage.

Bill Vinovich did not use common sense on the play that occurred right before halftime. There is no way Ridder could have thrown a pass that basically went sideways and flew like a duck. It is downright obvious that his arm was hit. Not to mention, there was a defender who was all over him.

Vinovich commented on the play after the game and his explanation was senseless. It made no sense when you compare his reasoning to what the rulebook states.

The Falcons would have kept the ball on about the one-yard line with one timeout, instead, they had to kick a field goal. We cannot guarantee that they would have reached the end zone but with running backs like Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson, there was a decent shot. It could have been four more points on the scoreboard. Nevertheless, they should have run it on first down instead of throwing the ball like they did.

Blunder #3: The Falcons have a touchdown called back on a phantom holding call

The Falcons reached the end zone thanks to a 13-yard run by Cordarrelle Patterson on their first drive of the second half. Olamide Zaccheaus made a nice block on the edge that sprung the play open.

However, the officials had another idea as they misinterpreted the Ravens defender falling for Zaccheaus holding him. Arthur Smith lost it on the refs, as he should have.

I will admit, initially watching it live, it did look like holding, but on replay it became obvious that it was just an excellent block. The officials have to be able to distinguish between the two, there are no excuses. If you are uncertain, then it is best to keep the yellow flag on your waist.

The Falcons ended up kicking another field goal. Four more points gone thanks to some awful officiating. If you are keeping track, that is a net of 12 points that the Dirty Birds lost on bad calls. It just simply cannot happen.

This isn’t to say that Atlanta didn’t deserve to lose, because they did, but it is still frustrating without a doubt.