Cowboys Sin, Saints Win: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Week Four

The Ugly Continued

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called for an Ezekiel Elliott run up the middle to gain the necessary yardage. Proving his coaches right in their decision, Elliott made the yard and then a bit more for a first down.

But hold on, in a pile of humanity the Saints defenders were jumping up and down with excitement. The Line Judge and the Down Judge conferred and agreed that Elliott had fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Saints.

As NBC reviewed the play, they showed the view the Line Judge had on the play which was a mass of large humans lying on the ground with no view of Elliott to be seen. An assumption here since the Down Judge view was not shown but extensive watching of the replay showed that Vonn Bell, the Saints player who allegedly forced and recovered the fumble, was likely blocking the Down Judge’s view.

The conclusion drawn is that the two officials agreed that they didn’t see anything but could agree that the Saints came out of the pile with the ball. If they call the play a turnover, then replay will take a look and make a correction if it is needed.

Per NFL protocol, the turnover was reviewed and a camera angle caught Elliott with his elbow on the ground and two hands still around the ball. However, Bell’s hands were also on the ball and it was not clear and obvious that Elliott still had control of the ball. Too bad it is not baseball where a tie goes to the runner.

With no clear and obvious evidence that showed Elliott possessing the ball while down by contact, the play was not overturned. The same replay would have given the same result had the officials ruled Elliott didn’t fumble and the Saints were the challenging team.

So the NFL protocol protected the Saints this time, maybe making up for their lost touchdown against the Rams two weeks ago when a fumble recovered by Jordan Cameron was blown dead negating an easy run for a touchdown. In the game of football, the calls tend to even themselves out so consider yourself even in 2019 Saints.

The Saints would turn their lucky field position into an end of the half chip shot field goal. The three debatable points would ultimately help them in a game they would win by two points.

For the Cowboys, it was ugly to lose the turnover battle. Throughout NFL history, the team winning the turnover battle wins the game 78 percent of the time.  For Dallas, they need to quickly channel their inner Belichick and move on to the Green Bay Packers.