WATCH: “Refs ruined another game”- NFL’s terrible officiating costs the Texans’ a TD after officials overlook a key fumble

The referees ruled forward progress on a play that was a clear strip fumble which led to a subsequent TD for the Texans.

WATCH: “Refs ruined another game”- NFL’s terrible officiating costs the Texans’ a TD after officials overlook a key fumble

Officials overlook a key fumble during Texans' game (Via X)

Another week, another bad call, what else is new in the NFL? This time a call from the officiating crew has resulted in a touchdown being held as invalid. In the Houston Texans matchup against the Denver Broncos, the former team had been dominating the latter in the first half, however, as is the case with Denver, the team truly shows up to play in the second half. This game is no different.

The Broncos came close to beating the Texans as the score was 22-17 in the final seconds of the game. While Houston managed to win this one, had the Broncos scored a touchdown, it would have been over for them and there would be nobody to blame but the referees. In the 3rd quarter of the matchup, a rather interesting play took place, with a little over 7 minutes to go, it was the Denver Broncos possession on offense.

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Russell Wilson threw a bullet pass to Samaje Perine who caught the ball but before he was able to turn around and embark towards the endzone, he was run into by Texans CB Desmond King II. The corner tackled Perine with so much force that the running back ultimately ended up fumbling the ball. King then proceeded to grab the loose ball and score a touchdown.

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The referees ruled a forward progress on the Texans’ play thereby rendering the play ineligible for review

However, while the play appeared to be a perfect fumble and then a touchdown, the referees declared the play dead. The rationale behind their ruling was that the ball did not come loose immediately upon the defender’s impact. So it was a case of forward progress which is the point on the field wherein a player’s forward momentum stops. When the defense stops an offensive player, in such a case, the offense is awarded the most forward spot which they reached when such a ball is declared as dead.

In this case, the ball carrier, Samaje Perine fumbled the ball. Forward progress plays in the NFL are not reviewable and as a result, the entire play was declared dead. Fans could not believe that such an obvious fumble and subsequent touchdown was disregarded by the officiating crew, here’s what they had to say via X.

The Houston Texans won the game, lucky for the referees, it would have been extremely controversial if the Texans lost this game due to this call. It appeared to be a perfectly executed strip fumble and touchdown, however, once a play is viewed as forward progress, it can no longer be reviewed, which is exactly what ensued.

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