Skycam blocks the pass

On a 3rd & goal early in the first quarter, Jets quarterback Justin Fields has his pass batted backward, but high in the air. The batted pass then collided with the aerial camera. The pass was ruled incomplete by referee Alex Moore and umpire Terry Killens.

The rule states that whenever “a loose ball in play” touches an object, such as the skycam or even a penalty flag, the down is nullified, and the clock is reset to the time of the snap. In this case, it seems very unfair to have the defense turn in a great play and to wipe it out for something seemingly inconsequential — although a case could be made catch of the deflection is possible without the camera interference.

The question is whether “in play” has some interpretive wiggle room. We checked with an officiating source that said there are no exceptions.

Since Moore and Killens are not ball watching, they probably did not see the ball hit the skycam. Any other crew member that saw the ball hit the camera had a responsibility to bring this to Moore’s attention. Replay official Tyler Cerimeli and replay assistant Desiree Abrams have the responsibility to intervene when there is objective (as this is) evidence the ball hits an object. Without a replay review, a coach can also challenge this, which is the only scenario where both the coach and replay booth can call for a review of the same play, with the exception of the replay assist function.

In a technical sense, the Jets were entitled to get a do-over for third down, even though it does not seem to be a fair ruling. The crew misapplied the rule in this case.