In the second quarter on Sunday, Saints receiver Rashid Shaheed fumbled, Buccaneers cornerback Antoine Winfield scooped the ball up and raced 47 yards to the end zone. But Winfield did not score a touchdown.
That’s because an official blew the play dead after Winfield recovered. Why? No one seems to know, but referee Ron Torbert said after the game that the official who blew the play dead was on the other side of the field.
“We ruled that there was a fumble. It was recovered by the defense, but there was a whistle blown from the other side of the field. The official thought that the runner was down. We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterwards,” Torbert told pool reporter Luke Johnson.
That explanation makes no sense. Why would an official on the other side of the field make that call, when officials closer to the play could clearly see that the runner wasn’t down?
That hasn’t been explained, but Torbert said that the crew discussed what happened and when one official admitted blowing the whistle, that meant everything that happened subsequently didn’t count.
On a bad day for NFL officiating, this play stood out: Winfield lost a touchdown because an official messed up.
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