Football can be cruel, especially when refs are involved in the outcome of a game. Ravens fans learned that the hard way this week, as it appears it was an officiating error — rather than a dumb penalty — that cost the team the game.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter relayed a statement from NFL spokesman Michael Signora saying that the Jaguars should have been penalized for a false start for the play prior to Baltimore’s devastating facemask.
The correct call in this case would have been to penalize the offense for a false start because all 11 players were not set, and whistle to stop the play. The ensuing 10-second runoff should have ended the game,” Signora said.
Instead, the Jaguars kicked a field goal and left Ravens fans walking out of M&T Bank Stadium dumbfounded that their already-struggling team had found a new way to lose.
But this the NFL, and there are no do-overs. Unless, of course, the refs working the game decide to review the play.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s unfortunate, it’s disappointing, it’s gut wrenching, it’s just the way it goes. But in the end, we have to overcome all of that stuff.”
