One of the biggest plays in Sunday’s game between the Rams and Steelers came just before halftime when Jared Goff fumbled the ball and it was returned 43 yards by Minkah Fitzpatrick for a touchdown. That gave Pittsburgh a 14-7 lead with 1:44 left in the first half, taking any sort of momentum away from the Rams. The Steelers would hold on to the lead and go on to win 17-12.
The play was reviewed, as all touchdowns are, and the ruling on the field stood as called. Well, after watching the replay several times, many fans and analysts came away wondering if Goff actually fumbled it.
It could’ve very easily been called a forward pass and incomplete, but that’s not how the officials on the field saw it. Former NFL official and CBS analyst Gene Steratore disagreed with the ruling and shared his thoughts on the play on Twitter.
He believes Goff’s arm was coming forward when the ball came out, which would’ve made it incomplete.
"When a player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his hand starts a forward pass." In #LARvsPIT, Jared Goff's arm appears to be moving forward when that ball comes loose.pic.twitter.com/h9eisEMOpU
— Gene Steratore (@GeneSteratore) November 10, 2019
After the game, Goff was asked whether it felt like a pass instead of a fumble.
“It did. I haven’t seen a replay though. So I don’t know,” he said. “Once I see a replay, I’ll let you know, but it felt like I threw it, but who knows. I haven’t seen it.”
This will probably do nothing to help the way fans feel about Sunday’s game, but a former official with 15 years of experience views this play differently than those who were on the field Sunday.
Had the play been called incomplete right away, it likely would’ve stood if the Steelers challenged it. However, since it was deemed a fumble, the officials decided there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it.
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