I don't agree. The QB lets go of the ball just in front of the 5 yard line and Verse contacts the ball in front of the 5. Just because the receiver is standing behind the 5 doesn't mean the ball would have been behind. They lead them all the time. Everybody is being influenced by where the receiver is standing. It really is not conclusive. It is very close, but that is the point of inconclusive. Nothing about this over turn is correct.
Look, it brings me no joy to supply video evidence, but facts are facts. I'm just as upset by this loss as everyone else on here.
The call had many different layers to it, no doubt about that. A LOT of crazy and controversial stuff on this play.
But it was DEFINITELY a backward pass.
The points to be compared are: (A) when the ball leaves Darnold's hand and (B) when the ball makes contact with Verse.
Reminder: the rule only stipulates that for the ball to be "live", the ball had to be either backward or PARALLEL to the line of scrimmage. So the threshold for "conclusive" is to prove that that THE BALL DIDN'T TRAVEL FORWARD.
I'm not a techie guy, but here are 3 still photos I snapped from the crucial
overhead view.
Pic # 1: Ball just about to leave Darnold's hand. Just a shade behind the 4-yard line.
Pic# 2: The ball right after it was released, again just a bit behind the 4 yard line, but clearly heading backward.
Pic # 3: The ball just as Verse touches it with his hand/forearm. As we all can plainly see, the ball has gone backward, and is now closer to the 5 yard line than it is to the 4 yard line.
As I say, it's a bummer. Conclusive video evidence this was NOT A FORWARD PASS.
Hey, we're all Rams homers. And over the decades we've had some bullshit calls for us and some bullshit calls against us. And for me personally, this game was a heartbreaker in that we were so unbelievably close to securing home field advantage.
But yeah, I kinda wish somebody on ROD could step up to the plate and at least acknowledge it was a backward pass. Kinda frustrating.
Hey, I can respect people who are pissed that McAuley called the video replay guys to "alert" them. Definitely fishy. And the whole "inadvertent whistle" thing is complicated as hell and has a ton of different precedents and is a rule that needs to be clarified and revisited.
But was it a backward pass? Yeah, it was. On that SPECIFIC point, there's no dispute.