What Panthers coach Matt Rhule said about game-changing blown fumble call vs. Cowboys

When he saw a momentum-swinging fumble be called moot by the game’s officials in the first quarter of a tied game, Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule looked upward in AT&T Stadium.

“There was the world’s biggest jumbotron above me, so I could see it pretty well,” Rhule told reporters after his team’s 36-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. “(The officials) just told me I couldn’t challenge it because they ruled forward progress after the stop. So there’s nothing for me to say other than that.

“Obviously I thought it was a fumble, but I couldn’t challenge it because they said it was an unchallengeable play.”

The play in question came at a pivotal moment in the first quarter: With the Cowboys driving and the score tied at 7, Panthers defensive back Jeremy Chinn made a textbook tackle on Dallas tight end Dalton Schultz.

On replay review, the ball was jarred loose once Chinn and Schultz collided — a clear fumble — but the officiating crew blew Schultz down by “forward progress.” (In other words, Schultz was not down by contact but was ruled down because he wasn’t moving forward, a ruling typically reserved for when a play is at a standstill for a few seconds with the ball-carrier being driven backward.)

A few plays later, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott found Blake Jarwin for an 18-yard touchdown pass to give the Cowboys a 13-7 lead.

The play proved to be consequential in the end. The Panthers (3-1) lost by eight points (one possession) and did so in large part because they lost the turnover battle (Dallas forced two turnovers; Carolina forced none).

“It could have been huge for us. Those plays change ball games,” Chinn said postgame when asked about the ruling. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. But those plays can change a ball game.”

Said Schultz: “I don’t know if I was down. They stopped the forward progress.”

The Observer’s Scott Fowler and Jonathan Alexander contributed to this story.