The New England Patriots survived an AFC Championship Game duel with the Kansas City Chiefs thanks in part to a crucial replay review during the fourth quarter — one that Jerry Jones believes was ruled incorrectly.
With under nine minutes to play in the game, the Chiefs punted the ball back to New England. The ball took a hop and then appeared to glance off punt returner Julian Edelman and Kansas City recovered the ball inside New England’s 40-yard line. Edelman claimed the ball never hit him, though, and when officials reviewed the play they ruled that Edelman never touched the ball, although it was hard to tell.
Here’s the play:
WAIT…WHAT?! 😱 pic.twitter.com/gNxvoaF1IF
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 21, 2019
And one more look at Edelman’s hands.
Closer look at the Julian Edelman "muff" punt, he really didn't touch it. pic.twitter.com/O8MT49DmwB
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 21, 2019
Jones believes the Chiefs should have maintained possession because there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the original call.
“The call on the punt, whether he touched it, you can never get it right, because it was called on the field as a touch and then later, you couldn’t see an angle that he definitely touched it,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “But the rule says you’re supposed to go with the call on the field if you can’t see an angle that he didn’t touch it. I don’t know if you can get everything (right).”
“At the end of the day, it’s the official’s call and you live with that,” Jones said. “You depend on the integrity of the official, not necessarily his ability to make every call right or wrong. You assume that, and rightfully so, that there are no biases, and he’s just trying to make the right call. That’s part of sport.”
The overturned muff didn’t affect the outcome of the game, as the Chiefs got the ball back two plays later on a Tom Brady interception. The Patriots would prevail 37-31 in overtime, however, and now will face the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
