In their win over a division rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the last laugh and put up some impressive defensive plays. But they should have had another big play because video review disputed there was a whistle on the called-back Antoine Winfield Jr. touchdown, according to a post on X by Jenna LaineESPN.
“Re: the ‘erroneous whistle' with Antoine Winfield Jr., I went back to check NFL Next Gen Stats, to review the play, and in both the TV copy and all other views, this is where the film cuts off.”
However, there’s an admission from an official that he blew his whistle, according to NBC Sports.
“We ruled that there was a fumble,” referee Ron Torbert said. “It was recovered by the defense, but there was a whistle blown from the other side of the field. The official thought that the runner was down. We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble, but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterwards.”
Bottom line: Buccaneers got a raw deal
The good news for the Buccaneers is that they won the game, picking up an important division victory over a rival.
Still, head coach Todd Bowles apparently felt miffed about the reversal of a score, according to joebucsfan.com.
“No, he said it was an erroneous error in blowing his whistle,” Bowles said. “[Winfield] legitimately stripped him. I have no answer.”
And Bowles said he liked the way Winfield played throughout the game.
“He had a hell of a day,” Bowles said. “I’m still pissed off over some of it, but that’s tough sledding. He did a hell of a job today getting the ball out.”
And Bowles said he’s happy to see the bye week roll around, according to buccaneers.com.
“It will be huge,” said Bowles of the Bucs' upcoming bye. “It's halfway through the season. We need it more than anybody. I credit those guys for fighting week-in and week-out, people stepping up, and people moving to different positions and helping us win, which you have to do in order to be a good team. So we've done that the first half. We've got to rest up. It's going to be a hell of a second half, so we've got to be ready for it.”
