To the surprise of absolutely nobody, NFL referee Jeff Triplette botched a critical call late in the first half of the Wild Card Game between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs.
Derrick Johnson sacked Marcus Mariota, and the ball came out before Mariota hit the ground.
😱 DERRICK JOHNSON, what a play! https://t.co/T4mRv53hFf
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 6, 2018
The Chiefs clearly recovered the ball, yet Triplette blew the play dead well before the ball had hit the ground. He ruled that forward progress had been stopped and the play was unable to be reviewed.
Jeff Triplette was a good 10 yards behind the play. He blew his whistle immediately when Johnson drilled Mariota.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 6, 2018
The announcers say, “his forward progress was stopped”, but he was standing still in the pocket the entire play. He was not moving forward when he got hit!
— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) January 6, 2018
This play ended up helping the Titans score their first points of the game. Instead of the Chiefs taking possession of the ball, Tennessee kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 14-3 in favor of the Chiefs.