After Further Review: Jets-Pats

by Site Admin

By popular demand, we're again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.

Penalty Count

Patriots 5-70 (leading to two Jets first downs)

Jets 8-106 (leading to two Patriots first downs)

Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.

Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage

Jets Penalties

  • False start on Morgan Moses. Early jump before the ball had even been snapped.
  • Illegal motion on Garrett Wilson. A lack of focus here from Wilson, who doesn't need to get set before the snap but cannot be moving upfield before the ball is snapped. If he reaches his spot before the snap of the ball, he should jog on the spot.
  • Irv Charles personal foul. It wasn't clear what he did but he got into it with a Patriots player having been frustrated as he got stonewalled by a double-team while covering a punt.

Patriots Penalties

  • Jahlani Tavai personal foul for throwing Breece Hall to the ground at the end of a play that was already whistled dead. Obvious call, although these don't always go the Jets' way when they face New England.
  • Illegal formation on Caedan Wallace. Lined up too far off the line of scrimmage.
  • Facemask penalty on Rhamondre Stevenson to negate a long run. Definitely had his finger(s) inside Chazz Surratt's facemask and grabbed at it. Well spotted by the officials.
  • David Andrews holding on Quinnen Williams. Driven to the ground by a powerful bull rush so he dragged Williams down with him.
  • Wallace holding penalty on Takk McKinley on the next play. This was a similar play where Wallace was driven back and grabbed McKinley.
  • Wallace holding penalty again for the third play in a row. Similar to the other one but this time it was declined because Williams had a third down sack.
  • Roughing the passer on Josh Uche. Definitely a late and forceful hit.

Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation

Jets Penalties

  • Morgan Moses offensive holding. He had a good grip of the shoulder pad, which you can usually get away with but if the quarterback rolls out and the edge rusher tries to disengage upfield or to the outside, this can lead to a hold because you're clearly preventing the player from moving in that direction. To their credit, the Jets adjusted to this whenever Aaron Rodgers did it thereafter.
  • Tyler Conklin offensive holding. A really soft call. This was similar to the above only this time Conklin had his man sealed to the outside so the only way he could get back into the play would be to give ground and drop back. If Conklin momentarily prevented him from doing this it was literally just for a split second.
  • Personal foul on Jamien Sherwood for a hit on a defenseless receiver. Sherwood went low and led with the shoulder but made contact with the helmet because the receiver was going to ground. By the letter of the law perhaps the NFL could justify the penalty and will therefore be able to fine Sherwood for it, but the rule should really be re-written to allow for situations like this.
  • DJ Reed pass interference on a deep ball. This was an interesting one. Reed did grab the receiver's arm and impeded him from making a play on the ball, but you'll often get away with that because the contact is inside the defender's frame and therefore difficult to see. However, based on where/when the flag was thrown, this looked like it was actually called based on Reed bumping the receiver in the back just before the ball got there. Except he didn't - it was an optical illusion that saw Reed and the receiver lurch forward as he let go of the arm. Anyway, you can't review a pass interference call but if you could, this one would be upheld even though it would be for a different reason than the one that caused the flag to be thrown.
  • Deuce Carter pass interference penalty that was offset. He had a handful of jersey here but actually didn't slow the receiver down so he gained no advantage as the jersey just stretched. It was easily seen though.
  • John Simpson unsportsmanlike penalty. Went "looking for work" and lit up the edge rusher, which is fine. But then jumped on top of him after the whistle, which is not fine.

Patriots Penalties

  • Personal foul for leverage on Kyle Dugger as he tried to block a kick. Jumped over a blocker, which is only okay if you don't make contact with them. He landed on two guys.

Notable no-calls etc

Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:

  • Jacoby Brissett got away with a possible intentional grounding call because he was out of the pocket.
  • Wilson almost had a sideline catch but didn't quite touch the ground with his back foot. He must have been a millimeter away from kicking up pellets.
  • Hall's touchdown was clearly an incorrect call as it was marked down, forcing the Jets to waste a challenge. His hip was still off the ground and he leaned and reached for the goal line.
  • When the Jets accepted the leverage penalty and kicked off from the 50, the ball bounced in the landing zone but looked like it was going to go out of bounds, so the return man should probably have left it and they would have had the ball at the 40 instead of the 24.
  • The Jets were awarded a sack when Brissett's forward progress was stopped. Basically what used to be "in the grasp". But he got the ball away to a teammate in the flat and arguably the officials blew their whistle too early there because in similar situations they give the quarterback a moment to try and squirm free.
  • The Hall fumble out of bounds near the sideline seemed pointless to review but it did affect the yardage (he lost a yard because he was marked at the point of the fumble rather than where he went out) and the clock (which had stopped but shouldn't have, so the Pats elected to have 10 seconds run off).
  • Xavier Gipson could have had a late hit out of bounds called on New England following one of his returns.
  • Rodgers was also tackled out of bounds, which should probably have been flagged.
  • Once again the Jets used two timeouts to prevent a delay of game penalty. When this happened last week, the Jets made good use of the timeout because they had a first down, a touchdown and another first down on the play after it. This week they just had a three and a six-yard gain.
  • On the Williams sack, Brissett was originally ruled to have got rid of the throw as he fell to the ground but replay assistance got this changed because his hip was down before the ball left his hand.
  • A flag was originally thrown for illegal man downfield on John Simpson but this was picked up on advice of the replay assistance unit. This was nowhere near a penalty. Simpson shoved a guy who was a yard or two beyond the line of scrimmage but not until a long beat after the throw was released. He was a good yard or so behind the line of scrimmage as it was thrown and you get a yard of leeway.
  • Finally, the fumble was upheld as Chuck Clark ripped the ball away from Stevenson. This was correct, as the ball was out before any part of him was down.

Let us know what we missed - or misinterpreted - in the comments...