Chargers, Ravens lose three possible touchdowns on two razor's-edge goal line calls
Well, it doesn’t get any closer than this. The Los Angeles Chargers had two different would-be touchdowns — and the Baltimore Ravens had one, too! — called back on two hairsbreadth instant replays that entirely changed the character of Sunday’s first playoff game.
In what had been a field-goal kicking fiesta — seven attempted, five made — Los Angeles, leading 12-3, fought its way down to the Baltimore goal line. Fullback Derek Watt caught a short pass, rolled over, and was deemed down at the six-inch line. A further replay showed that Watt seemed to get the ball through the plane of the goal line, but an official review confirmed the ruling on the field: no touchdown.
That left Los Angeles with third down and goal, and quarterback Philip Rivers handed off to running back Melvin Gordon, and that’s where it got strange. Gordon began falling toward the end zone. Just as the ball crossed the goal line — or just before, or just after, who knows — Gordon lost control of the ball. It tumbled into the hands of Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey, who proceeded to house it all the way to the far end zone for a touchdown. That could have cut the deficit to 12-10, so it was, as you’d imagine, a critical play.
And it was also, for Baltimore, an erased one. Officials ruled upon review that Gordon had been touched just short of the end zone, so the fumble was irrelevant. The very next play, Gordon banged his way into the end zone and Los Angeles followed up with a two-point conversion to go up 20-3 … so that was, in effect, at least a 14-point swing in this game.
Was Gordon down? Should Baltimore have gotten the fumble and the 105-yard runback? That’ll haunt Ravens fans for a long time to come.
____
Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Robinson: Keeping Jason Garrett paid off for Jerry Jones
• Warriors-Kings combine to set history for most 3-pointers in NBA game
• 19-year-old Cal DB dies after collapsing during workout
• Deshaun Watson’s streak ends in loss to Colts
