Denver's Shanahan says refs did 'heck of job'

Yahoo! Sports

Tue Sep 16 12:53pm EDT

Denver's Shanahan says refs did 'heck of job'

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Don't despair, San Diego citizens. Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said, after finishing his usual postgame officials report for the NFL, he felt head referee Ed Hochuli and his crew did a fine job officiating the game Sunday at Invesco Field.

"This was the best crew that we've had in the last 20 crews I've graded," Shanahan said. "They did a heck of a job."

Take comfort, Norv Turner. The Broncos beat the Chargers 39-38 on a touchdown pass and two-point conversion from quarterback Jay Cutler to receiver Eddie Royal with 24 seconds remaining. The Chargers didn't think Cutler and Royal should have had a chance for such heroics. With 1:17 remaining, the Broncos had the ball second-and-goal at the 1-yard line when the ball slipped out of Cutler's hands just before he was attempting to pass for a fumble that San Diego recovered.

But Hochuli had prematurely blown his whistle while signaling an incomplete pass. Hochuli confessed his error to Turner, the Chargers' coach, but by rule, because he had already blown the whistle, he could only rule a fumble, not a recovery.

Instead of San Diego ball, game over, the Broncos got the ball at the 10, which is where the fumble hit the ground. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's competition committee will look into altering the rule during the offseason. But that doesn't help the Chargers now, and it probably won't prevent the occasional bum call from affecting a game in the future.

"Every game that you see that's within a point or a field goal you can go back and there might a noncall, there might be a call - that's the nature of this game," Shanahan said. "You've got to find a way to win. We've still got third-and-10. We've still got to get it in the end zone. Third-and-10, fourth-and-4 and then we've got to make a two- point (conversion). It's not like somebody gave you a touchdown."

Source: Denver Post