Thursday, September 18, 2008

TIMEOUT:Botched call speaks to bigger issues

Never underestimate the power of a referee’s whistle.

It was certainly enough to derail the San Diego Chargers’ chances against the Denver Broncos.

In the final minute of the game, down 38-31, the Broncos were a yard shy of the end zone. On second down, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler appeared to fumble the ball.

Then, the referee’s whistle blew. Ed Hochuli’s whistle, to be exact.

Hochuli called an incomplete pass, giving Denver the ball again. And the Broncos took advantage with a touchdown and two-point
conversion just moments later to win the game.

The sticking point is that Cutler did fumble. Replays showed it. Cutler admitted it. Hochuli admitted it.

But because of that whistle - and an arcane NFL rule - the Chargers couldn’t gain possession of the ball.

Here it is: if the whistle is blown on a fumble, the instant replay rule allows refs a review, but does not allow the other team to gain
possession of the ball, even if the initial call was incorrect.

In this case, Hochuli knew he’d blown it, but by rule, still couldn’t let San Diego recover the ball.

So Hochuli has become the referee with the bull’s-eye on his back. People are up in arms about the mistake.

I have less of a problem with the mistake than I do with the rule.

We all know Hochuli was wrong for the call. Say what you want, but in the end, the guy’s human. Humans are not perfect. Humans make mistakes.

Hochuli made a huge one that cost San Diego a fair shake at winning the game. And the Chargers won’t let him live it down, complaining publicly about the call.

But for all of San Diego’s griping, the team seems to have forgotten the game is never won or lost on one play.

To blame Hochuli for the loss is almost to say the Chargers played a flawless game.

So it goes back to the stupid rule that sparked this entire controversy. Hochuli knew he’d made a mistake, but, because he had to play by the books, he couldn’t do anything about it.

Instant replay should be used as a safety net, to confirm what the imperfect human eye can’t always see. And when mistakes are made, instant replay should be able to overrule a blown whistle and a blown call.

The NFL is already looking into the rule to determine whether changes are necessary. Good idea.

Hopefully, it will prevent guys like Hochuli from being thrown under the bus for a mistake he couldn’t fix.