New Orleans Saints didn’t have to wait long to see the inconsistency in how a strip sack fumble would be called, and once again, the ruling went in the opposing team’s favor. Chase Young’s sack of Jared Goff that was overturned to an incomplete pass because he started his throwing motion with the intent to throw the ball forward set a precedent the league was never going to be able to uphold. Two weeks later, Tyler Shough’s intent was irrelevant when Malcolm Koonce sacked him.
A lot of things happened after that moment that weren’t in the official’s control, but that doesn’t take away the fact of it being a game changing call. The Saints were in field goal range, and making that kick would have given the Saints an 8 point lead. Instead, the Raiders went down the field and scored a touchdown to take the lead.
Shough’s arm rose, like Goff, and he was hit before his arm could go forward, like Goff, but Shough was not given the benefit of the doubt like Goff. It’s hard to look at those two plays and say they should have been officiated differently, but that’s exactly what happened. We knew this was going to come up and knew this would be the outcome.
NFL got it right, but that won't make Saints fans less upset
The truth is Shough’s play is a fumble nine times out of 10, and the only reason is nine times out of 10 instead of 10 times out of 10 is because the Goff play exists. It was a textbook strip sack that fans are rightfully questioning because the NFL unearthed a rule no one heard of to reverse Goff’s fumble.
NFL Vice President of Replay Mark Butterworth said, "all we are looking for is the hand coming forward with control to make it an incomplete pass." Saints fans were told the hand didn't matter in Week 1, but this is how this play is supposed to be officiated based on years of experience and just common sense.
It’s hard to be too critical of the officials on this play. Most of the criticism is truly critiquing the first call and the league not sticking to the standard. All this strip sack did was go to further exposing the ridiculous nature of the Week 1 reversal.
That was a turning point in the game from a momentum standpoint, and the Saints crumbled on their own after that. The Saints turned it over again for their next 3 possessions and put the nail in the coffin. It felt like after the fumble the team never got their composure back.
We can point out the inconsistency in rulings, but not blame the refs for the game. In a play of that magnitude and with how fresh the Goff play is, it’s impossible to not call it out
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