The people in charge on Park Avenue, who have the authority to overrule decisions made on the field at any stadium, occasionally give into the temptation to replay review to take another look at a play. It is possible to disregard the purportedly applicable criterion.
Only when there is unmistakable proof that the decision was incorrect may it be reversed. Informally referred to as “50 drunks in a bar,” the bar was formerly officially known as “indisputable visual evidence,” and everyone would agree that it was a poor decision.
It’s reasonable to question whether the league office used the right standard when determining that the decision on the field of an interception by L.A. cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. was incorrect in relation to one of the most crucial plays of the Week Two game between the Chargers and the Chiefs.
This play was enormous. Chargers lead by ten points. The Kansas City 30 would have been the location of the ball. The host team’s supporters may have left early if the away team had increased its lead to 17.
But is it obviously incorrect that Samuel decided to take control of the ball before it touched the ground? That query was not raised. That query received no response.
There was just one inquiry left to ask and one response to provide. What unmistakable proof exists that the decision made on the field was incorrect?
In other words, would 50 inebriated bar patrons who were watching DirecTV without buffering say it wasn’t an interception? They won’t, in my opinion. The result should have been interception under the very high bar for replay review even if the decision had been incompletion had the rules demanded no respect to the decision reached on the field.
Here is another guideline for determining if the information is convincing enough to reverse the field judgment.
On Friday’s PFT Live, as Peter King and I were discussing the subject, I noticed myself stooping toward the display beneath my camera to obtain a better view of the crucial scenes in the play.
I had the idea at that moment. Can it ever be “clear and evident” that the ruling on the field was incorrect if you have to stoop down to see the play and judge if the ruling was correct?
