The Green Bay Packers lost a gritty game to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, and things got interesting toward the end. With the Packers in Cleveland territory and the game tied, Josh Jacobs ran the ball for one yard, but he fumbled. The refs claimed that Jacobs got possession of the ball, and when they went back to review it, they upheld the call as well.
That left many Browns fans confused, because it looked like the Packers did not gain possession back. After the game, the pool reporter asked NFL VP of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth to walk him through the call.
“Yes, the on-field officials had the runner down by contact. Cleveland calls a timeout,” Butterworth said. “The replay officials stops the game because he sees the ball is coming out. There was just no clear and obvious video evidence that Cleveland recovered the ball. The two available angles we had showed yellow gloves – so the offensive gloves – on the ball, and then orange gloves – so the defensive gloves – trying to grab the ball. With the ruling of down by contact, even though there was a fumble, we did not have a clear recovery by the defense. Therefore, Green Bay kept the ball.”
He was then asked if the officials had ruled a fumble and the Browns recovered, would there have been enough evidence to say that the Packers recovered the ball?
“It was not enough to tell either way,” Butterworth said. “Now, if the on-field officials ruled that the defense had it, that does constitute a clear recovery. So, because they had the runner down by contact, we would have to find a clear and obvious recovery to overturn the call on the field.”
Nonetheless, the Browns were able to stop the Packers from scoring after blocking their field goal. The Browns then drove down the field, and they were able to kick the game-winning field goal.
The refs have the ability to change the outcome of a game just with one call, which is why it's important that they get it right the first time. In the Browns case, the refs got it wrong, and things could have been different if they didn't block the field goal.
