Saturday’s Panthers-Buccaneers game included a bizarre sequence in which a backward pass hit the ground, was picked up by Carolina running back Rico Dowdle, and was blown dead. Initially, referee Brad Allen mistakenly said the ball went out of bounds.
It absolutely didn’t.
Carolina continued the drive at the spot of the recovery, giving the Panthers second and 17 from the Tampa Bay 41.
After the game, Allen explained the outcome of the play to pool reporter Greg Auman.
“The line judge made an initial ruling of incomplete, then the down judge saw that the pass was clearly backward,” Allen said. Allen added that replay assist was not used, and that the ruling was made on the field.
Allen then was asked whether an erroneous whistle was blown, which should have given the Panthers the choice to replay the down.
“What was reported to me was the ruling on the field was a backward pass, and once it was possessed, the receiver or runner gave himself up which by rule caused the play to become dead,” Allen said. “Because of the erroneous whistle, the Panthers could have had a choice to replay the down.”
What does “could have had a choice” even mean? They either were given the option to re-play the down, or they weren’t. Given that the Panthers didn’t choose to re-do first and 10 from the 34 in lieu of second and 17 from the 41, common sense says Allen’s crew never presented them with that option.
It wasn’t just a mistake by Allen’s crew. The league office could have intervened, reminding Allen that the Panthers should have had an opportunity to re-play first down. That clearly didn’t happen.
The drive ended three plays later, with a 54-yard field goal attempt that came up short. In a game that was decided by two points.
So, yeah, the failure to give the Panthers first and 10 from the Tampa 34 instead of second and 17 from the 41 may have impacted the outcome of the game and, if the Saints beat the Falcons on Sunday, the resolution of the NFC South champion.
