Perhaps the most egregious blown call of the entire NFL weekend had to be the incomplete pass by quarterback Derek Carr in the second quarter of the Tennessee Titans’ 16-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Carr’s arm clearly wasn’t coming forward when the ball was knocked out by edge rusher Arden Key, thus it should’ve been ruled a fumble. Adding to that, the Titans likely would’ve scored a defensive touchdown on the play, also.
Buy Titans TicketsInstead, Tennessee got neither while the Saints added three points. This was a game-changing play that ultimately resulted in a 10-point swing in a contest that was decided by one point.
To make things even worse, it was almost nearly identical to the play that ended the Titans’ 2022 season. However, you could argue that this one was even more obvious than the Josh Dobbs fumble.
One of these was ruled a fumble, the other was ruled an incomplete pass. They're the same play. pic.twitter.com/orVyns7TIa
— Justin Graver (@titansfilmroom) September 10, 2023
This isn’t some homer take, either.
Former NFL official and current CBS rules expert Gene Steratore stated during the broadcast that he believed the referees would give Tennessee the ball after the review but obviously not the touchdown since the play was blown dead for some ridiculous reason.
If that’s not enough to prove how ridiculous that decision was, another former referee, Dean Blandino, stated he believed “this was clear and obvious that this was a fumble.”
❗Make The Call❗
Rules expert @DeanBlandino explains why he disagreed with the call on a controversial play in the #Titans – #Saints game pic.twitter.com/ROqKTpxOQ6
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 11, 2023
Needless to say, when you combine those opinions with the eye test and sprinkle in a little common sense, it’s easy to see the decision to allow the Saints to keep the football was somewhere in between irrational and idiotic.
