Screwed up Replay Call

quote:

---

A major failure by centralized replay as a review was made of a play that was not reviewable.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen stepped out of bounds while he threw an incomplete pass landing out of bounds. Referee Bill Vinovich, trailing the play, and not with the best vantage point, ruled that Allen stepped out of bounds prior to releasing the pass. Inside the 2-minute warning, the replay booth stopped the game for a review, which transfers the ultimate call to svp/officiating Al Riveron in the New York headquarters.

But an out-of-bounds call can NEVER be reversed to a subsequent action with the exception of a fumble or loose-ball recovery. In this case, an incomplete pass cannot be ruled, because that presumes additional action beyond the originally ruled dead ball. This could not be a completed pass, so we cannot rule an incomplete pass.

Even though the multiple people in the replay command center dropped the ball, the replay official, the replay assistant, and the alternate replay official in the replay booth AND all 7 officials and the 7 alternates on the field missed this. Someone needed to speak up.

---