Former NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira has now made his thoughts known on the overtime call made by the officials during the late game fake punt between the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
On the play, the officials declared that the forward progress of safety Eric Weddle had been stopped prior to the football being ripped from his arms by a Chiefs defensive player. The spot of the ball gave the Chargers a first down and the drive culminated in a field goal, which eventually won the game.
“In KC/SD game, Linesman ruled that progress was stopped at the 30 before the helmet came off or the ball came loose. I don’t agree,” wrote Pereira on Twitter.
Pereira did not stop there, however.
“Replay did not stop the game because the ruling of forward progress is not reviewable. Should have been a strip and TD in my opinion. The reason I say progress was not stopped is the surge of the pile is going forward. Teammate is pushing runner forward.”
Pereira promises to cover this play Monday on Fox Sports Daily.
In addition to the above, Weddle lost his helmet on the play, but that wasn’t addressed by referee Bill Leavy.
Forward progress isn’t reviewable; a helmet coming off is and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It won’t help the Pittsburgh Steelers, however.
