For years, Bill Belichick has campaigned for the NFL to install pylon cameras in every end zone. While Belichick’s quixotic quest has mostly fallen on deaf ears, there are pylon cameras for “Sunday Night Football” on NBC.
They surely would’ve come in handy Sunday during Patriots-Raiders. Too bad the game was flexed out of primetime.
Derek Carr’s game-tying touchdown pass to Keelan Cole in Las Vegas’ shocking 30-24 win over the Patriots wasn’t overturned, despite the veteran wideout appearing to be out of bounds. Carr lobbed the ball towards the left corner of the end zone, and though Cole came down with the grab, his left toe didn’t seem to stay in bounds.
In fact, video replay showed white chalk flying in the air — a telltale sign that Cole’s left foot landed out of bounds.
But after an extensive review, the refs decided to uphold the on-field call. After the game, NFL VP of officiating Walt Anderson told ESPN’s Mike Reiss he didn’t see enough evidence to overturn the ruling. “There was nothing that was clear and obvious that his foot was touching the white,” said Anderson.
Later, Anderson said the officials’ best look came via a “high end zone view.” There was no pylon angle, because FOX, which carried the regional broadcast, doesn’t feature pylon cameras on its telecasts.
That’s right: the NFL, which generated $17.4 billion in revenue last year, doesn’t employ universal replay standards. The views that referees see on given replays is dependent on which network is carrying the game.
This is an example of when reality is crazier than fiction. It seems preposterous that the NFL wouldn’t ensure that referees can all see the same replay camera views, regardless of when the games are played.
But amazingly, that’s the case. Sometimes scrub teams receive scrub treatment.
The Patriots are now experiencing how the other side lives. It’s not fun.
