Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta referee craziness at the end

[mrbowling300]

TB won the game 31-27, and didn't cover 6.5. They had the ball with about 2 min left at around the Falcons 10 yard line. On a 3rd down and 2 play. TB ran the ball up the gut, and the guy was clearly short,...which most likely they would have tried the FG to put the game at 7. Who knows what Atlanta would have done at that point with the game at 7. Instead, the referee took the ball, and physically slid it past the first down marker and awarded a first down, which at that point, TB ran out the clock, and won the game but not covering.

Look at the videos at this stie:

 

[John Kelly]

Not sure which is worse: The inaccurate spot or the replay review saying the call stands.

Probably the replay review because they're in place to correct errors.

Never a good look for the NFL, especially in a one-score game where both the natural outcome and the point spread result are in the balance.

Lots of eyes on the late-game NFL product these days.

 

[John Kelly]

Since when does the down judge declare first downs?

I would argue that's the referee's job.

The job of down judges is to mark a runner's forward progress.

These days, I often see down judges instructing with a finger point to move the chains.

 

[John Kelly]

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of speeding up the action.

Fewer measurements are a good thing.

But not at the sacrifice of accuracy.