The New England Patriots' first TD against the Denver Broncos might have come earlier had the officials not made this mistake.

The Patriots were not awarded a defensive touchdown about 3 minutes before halftime. This left CBS broadcasters Jim Nantz and Tony Romo confused. Rule analyst Gene Steratore admitted that it should have been a touchdown.

“When Stidham goes this way, he’s pushing it with two hands forward, not backward; that’s why the flag hit the ground,” explained Steratore. “The rest of the officials are playing it live and letting it go, but after discussing it, they went with intentional grounding.”

He was talking about the time when Patriots' Christian Elliss tackled the Broncos' QB, Jarrett Stidham, causing the football to come loose. Elijah Ponder picked it up and ran into the end zone untouched.

But the officials had blown the whistle, calling the play intentional grounding. At the time, the Broncos were leading 7–0 late in the second quarter, and a defensive touchdown would have given New England a sudden lead before halftime.

Instead, after Patriots' head coach Mike Vrabel protested, it was ruled to be a fumble recovered by the Pats. But they were only given possession deep in Broncos territory.

Steratore said the officials stopping play prevented any advancement, so the defense would take possession at the recovery spot. Romo sought clarification on where the defense would get the ball after a tipped backward pass.

“No, you would rule on where it was tipped at. It was where it would leave his hand, and where the defense tipped it. That’s clearly backward, though, and a good job on that. But they should have left the play go, and had a touchdown as a result," the rule analyst said.

Even referee Alex Kemp said, "The down judge explained that he extended his right arm to signal that he had a backward pass, and at that point we determined that New England had picked up the then backward pass. We awarded possession to New England with no advance.''

Though the official did give the Patriots a touchdown, the play worked in their favor. The Broncos' QB was not happy with how it worked out.

Jarrett Stidham Disappointed After Controversial Play Led to Patriots Touchdown

Once the Patriots got possession after this play, they scored their first and only touchdown of the game. Drake Maye rushed 6 yards into the endzone with 2:10 left in the 2nd quarter. This was the final touchdown of the game, which gave the Patriots the lead and the win.

“I thought I had thrown it forward, and obviously, the replay or whatever said differently,” Jarrett Stidham said when asked if he thought it was a forward pass. “Probably should’ve just eaten the sack anyway and let Jeremy (Crawshaw) and the punt team punt it down the field and flip the field. But like I said, I can’t do that.”

So despite the setback, it ultimately worked out for the Patriots. What did you think of their performance? Which was your favorite match moment?

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Joyita Das