An officiating error gave the Broncos a temporary reprieve.
The situation, which was poorly explained by both the officials and the broadcast, unfolded when Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham, under heavy duress, threw a two-handed backward pass. The ball was recovered by the Patriots and returned by linebacker Elijah Ponder for a 12-yard touchdown.
The ruling on the field was that Stidham had thrown a forward pass, and that he had committed intentional grounding. Then, referee Alex Kemp said that, “after discussion,” it had been determined to be a backward pass, recovered by the Patriots.
It wasn’t a touchdown because the whistle had blown. The whistle had blown because the officials had gotten it wrong in real time, by misjudging the play as a forward pass.
The far better move in that situation would have been to let the play continue, with replay review available to turn the ruling of a backward pass into a forward pass.
It ultimately didn’t matter, because the Patriots scored on the ensuing short drive. But it was a mistake, one that wasn’t addressed nearly as clearly as it should have been — especially since today’s audience includes plenty of people who don’t follow the sport closely enough to understand what happened without a full and complete explanation.
