Patriots catch a break when Jets get TD taken away on controversial call

The New York Jets were surprisingly competitive on Sunday against the New England Patriots, and they certainly didn’t need the officials taking a touchdown away from them.

A controversial call hurt the Jets’ shot at an upset in a 24-17 loss. In the fourth quarter, trailing 24-14, Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins seemed to cross the goal line near the pylon for a touchdown. Officials ruled he scored.

But every scored play is reviewed, and they looked really, really close at that one, because the touchdown call was reversed and the ball was given to New England.

On the replay, it was clear the ball was knocked loose momentarily. Officials ruled that it was knocked loose before Seferian-Jenkins cross the goal line, and he didn’t get control back until he was out of bounds. That meant the worst rule in the NFL went into effect, and instead of a touchdown it was ruled Seferian-Jenkins fumbled out of bounds in the end zone, so it was Patriots ball at the 20-yard line.

Seferian-Jenkins was upset on the sideline and it’s clear why. It was very tough to tell that Seferian-Jenkins didn’t have control by the time he went out of bounds. If nothing else it seemed like an incredibly harsh punishment for losing the ball for a split second, but for some reason the NFL has held onto the rule that a fumble out of bounds at the 1-yard line is not a big deal but a fumble out of bounds in the end zone changes possession.

The Jets gave it a great fight on Sunday. Had a close call gone their way, it might have been a different outcome.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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