The Carolina Panthers lost another close game in which their lack of top end talent, thanks primarily to injuries, proved the difference. It is hard to evaluate much about this team when so many of their starters are missing, but such is our duty as fans: to judge failure as harshly as we celebrate success.
Then, of course, there is the elephant-sized zebra in the room. The Panthers had the ball stripped from them on the goal line by the officials and handed to the Broncos over a challenge that Sean Payton threw as the ball was being snapped on the next play. Officials let the play continue because they did not see the flag and then announced there was a flag.
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Multiple video angles from fans in the stands show Payton throwing the flag up to 0.1 seconds before the snap on second and goal, with the flag landing on the ground well after the play commenced.
There are two pieces of language that are relevant here. The first is the NFL rule book:
The head coach or head coach’s pregame challenge designee can initiate a challenge by throwing a red flag onto the field of play before the next legal snap or kick.
The next is the postgame comment from the referee:
Replay can get involved to make sure that the head coach throws his challenge flag prior to the next snap,” Butterworth said. “We were actually able to use angles to show that the flag was out prior to the ball being snapped, and so we permitted the challenge.
There seems to be some discrepancy between “the flag was out” and “onto the field of play” to me. What do you think?
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