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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Danny Jaillet

Shannon Sharpe thinks refs got the Cole Strange first down call wrong

The final play of the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins game on Sunday has been a hot topic of discussion.

Several who watched the game believe that guard Cole Strange should have been given a first down, following his reception of tight end Mike Gesicki’s potential game-saving lateral pass.

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The call on the field was that Strange was short, after initially being ruled a first down.

It ended up being a big call, as it ended New England’s final drive and secured the victory for the Dolphins.

Analyst Shannon Sharpe talked about the play on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday and why he believed it shouldn’t have been overturned.

“I am shocked they overturned the call because I see nothing that’s conclusive to definitively say that he was short of the line to gain,” Sharpe said, via NESN’s Adam London. “…When you go back and look at it, on the field they said first down. How can you go and look at the replay and say, ‘No, he was short of the line to gain.’ I don’t believe they should have overturned that call.”

The loss on Sunday dropped the Patriots to 0-2 for the first time since 2001. Now, they will face another divisional opponent in the New York Jets next Sunday.

Sharpe is saying what nearly everyone in New England is thinking at the moment. It still doesn’t make the proverbial bitter pill any easier to swallow.

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