It fully appeared the New Orleans Saints scored on a Jared Goff fumble during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions in Week 1. Upon further review, though, the NFL officials ruled Goff’s arm already moved forward with control of the ball, which meant the play was an incomplete pass.
That explanation wasn’t enough to not leave a vast majority of NFL fans and pundits confused over the overturned ruling. Count Goff among those who were scratching their heads.
The quarterback briefly discussed the ruling in his postgame press conference.
“That was a great call,” said Goff with a tongue-in-cheek tone and slight smile.
Goff then admitted that he didn’t understand at first why the officials changed the fumble call on the field.
“Nope. I was trying to figure it out on the fly too,” he added.
Here’s a full replay of the call in question.
Jared Goff, Lions Benefit Greatly From Confusing Overturned Fumble
NFL officials offered two explanations of why the league overturned Goff’s fumble. NFL fans also received an explanation during the FOX broadcast from rules analyst Mike Pereira.
On the field, NFL official Alan Eck said, “The quarterback started his passing motion before he lost possession of the ball. It’s a forward incomplete pass.”
Fans and pundits, including FOX broadcaster Jonathan Vilma, who was in the booth announcing the game, questioned why it’s considered a forward pass if the ball didn’t go forward. Pereira tried to clear up the confusion.
“He had started his throwing motion. Now, throwing motion is bringing the ball up. Forget about the hand at this point going forward, throwing motion starts — hand going up — then he’s hit. The ball comes loose. His intent was to throw it forward, and since that motion had already started, that’s going to be a forward pass no matter where it lands.”
Honestly, that explanation only made things more confusing. Pereira might want to take a mulligan on that analysis because “intent” doesn’t appear to have anything (nor should it) to do with this call.
Postgame Explanation of Goff Overturned Fumble
Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth offered a better explanation.
“If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass. Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass,” he said to a pool of reporters after the game.
Butterworth didn’t mention anything about Goff’s intention to throw the ball forward.
“The determining factor is does the passer begin his throwing motion prior to contact from the defender. The throwing motion starts as he begins to bring the ball up as a part of his windup and then the defender’s contact made the pass go backwards.”
A quarterback’s intention with his pass shouldn’t be a determining factor. Of course he’s trying to throw the ball forward and not fumble. It’s good that Butterworth didn’t include Goff’s intention in his explanation.
But the ruling is still confusing. If a quarterback’s throwing motion starts with his windup and not when his arm begins to go forward, then why, in the past, have rules experts emphasized whether or not quarterbacks have “empty hands” on close fumble calls.
I’m not rules analyst. But the difference between those two side-by-side plays could be that Goff actually never had an empty hand. He completed the throwing motion even though the ball does go backwards.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on the left above does appear to begin his windup. Is it a fumble because he doesn’t complete the throwing motion with the ball?
The NFL might need to further explain its ruling on Goff’s overturned fumble. Clearly, the quarterback isn’t going to offer much analysis other than support for how it benefited him.
Not that that’s his job. Goff and the Lions took advantage of the call going their way, beating the Saints in overtime by a point.
Lions’ Jared Goff Delivers Brief, Blunt Message on Controversial Week 1 Overturn