The National Football League seems to have flip-flopped on a disputed play that loomed large in the 2019 AFC Wild Card Round between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans.
Buffalo offensive lineman Cody Ford was handed a costly 15-yard penalty for, what the officials deemed to be, an illegal blindside block in the contest that ended in a Houston victory.
The flag knocked the Bills out of range for a potential game-winning field-goal attempt in overtime -- only to lose by three points when the Texans capped their subsequent possession with a field goal of their own.
Many fans and observers disagreed with the call right away, but the league dug in, said the call was appropriate, and even proceeded to fine Ford.
This week, however, the league spotlighted the infamous play on social media - and called it out as example of a clean and legal hit.
The play in question appears in a video montage posted by NFL Officiating on Twitter on Friday. A narrator describes Ford's block of Houston's Jacob Martin as "more of a nudge block," and the clip ends without showing or addressing the penalty flag.
“Not the type of forcible contact threshold that has to be met for a blindside block rule,” the narrator says.
It was unclear what accounted for the apparent discrepancy, or if the league had discussed the reversal with the Bills or Ford.
The blindside block has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, as the league has looked for ways to eliminate unnecessary violent collisions in its bid to curb traumatic brain injuries.
The video encourages blockers to use more "nudge"-style blocks on unwitting defenders, rather than the devastating full-speed shots that can result in injury, particularly to the head and neck.
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