For a moment, it appeared that the New Orleans Saints scored a touchdown off of a fumble recovery in their Week 1 game against the Detroit Lions. Then replay review took it away.
The Lions were the beneficiaries of a controversial officiating call when an apparent strip sack of Jared Goff was overturned to an incomplete pass.
Saints defensive end Chase Young got past his man at the line of scrimmage and hit the Lions' quarterback as he wound up to throw. Safety Jonas Sanker scooped up the apparent fumble and took it to the house.
But after further review, officials ruled that Goff had started his forward throwing motion. Despite the backwards trajectory of the ball, the play was ultimately ruled an incomplete pass.
Controversial call was correct, according to NFL rules
The NFL rulebook has very specific wording for what constitutes a forward pass – or a forward pass attempt.
Among its phrasing is this part from Section 21, Article 3, Item 1:
"If contact by an opponent materially affects a passer after the passer begins his throwing motion, it is a forward pass if he passes the ball, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground, a player, an official, or anything else."
Officials in the Saints vs. Lions game ruled that Goff had started his throwing motion – per the NFL rulebook: "any intentional movement forward of [a player's] hand starts a forward pass." As a result, the ball's trajectory did not ultimately matter, and the play was correctly ruled an incomplete pass.
Since the play was on third down, the Lions ended up punting one play later. The Saints were unable to take advantage of the defensive stop, punting on their ensuing possession.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Saints had a scoop-and-score TD against Lions. Replay review overturned it
