CINCINNATI - Really, NFL? The replay wasn't definitive?
Sorry, what replay were you watching?
The NFL says Tyler Boyd's fumble wasn't reversed because the replay didn't show "clear and obvious" evidence that the fumble call on the field was wrong.
That's how VP of Officiating Dean Blandino explained it on Twitter. Watch for yourself.
#CINvsPIT The Boyd fumble from earlier today & why the play was upheld after review #SNF @NFLprguy @NFL345 pic.twitter.com/Tj5myS2OJ8
— Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) September 19, 2016
Blandino showed several angles and even used red arrows - like a second-grade teacher - to make his point - not that Boyd fumbled, but that the replay official couldn't tell definitively that Boyd didn't fumble.
The NFL could have saved their money and just asked any Bengals fan.
Boyd said his knee touched the ground before Steelers linebacker James Harrison knocked the ball loose.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he saw it that way, and so did everybody but the officials.
"Everybody on the field thought the opposite, and it didn't work that way," Lewis said at his Monday media briefing.
So the Bengals didn't get a chance to score the tying TD and 2-point conversion in the last two minutes of their 24-16 loss to the Steelers.
They didn't deserve to win anyway, but that's not the point. And we don't need a red pointer to make it.
If the NFL is going to use instant replay, they should use it fearlessly and impartially. They shouldn't be afraid to reverse a call against the Steelers in Heinz Field in the final two minutes with the game on the line.
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