One former NFL ref believes RB Jaylen Warren’s fourth-quarter run should’ve ended in a first down, not a fumble. Warren crucially fumbled on the Washington Commanders’ 1-yard line trailing 27-21 midway through the fourth quarter, the ball ripped away from him as he was going to the ground in a scrum. Washington recovered and took over.
Opining on the play, ex-ref and current CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore thinks there’s a strong case to be made for the refs stopping the play before Warren lost the ball.
“To me though I felt like Jaylen Warren got held out long enough that you could’ve blown that play dead for forward progress. I felt like there was a time where you could’ve blown that dead for progress,” Steratore said during the broadcast following the play.
Here’s a look at the play.
It’s a judgment call of when the refs rule a player has had his progress stopped versus when to allow a play to keep going. Here, the refs let things play out as the Steelers’ offensive line pushed the pile ahead to try to get Warren into the end zone. Instead, it ended with a fumble.
Steratore noted that the play isn’t reviewable so the call on the field stands without any chance of it being overturned. But it was a huge call that went in Washington’s favor.
Pittsburgh’s defense did force a punt and get the offense the ball back. As of this writing, the Steelers are in Commanders’ territory late in the fourth quarter.
