LOS ANGELES — Believe it or not, the New Orleans Saints were victims of yet another officiating error in their Week 2 rematch against the Los Angeles Rams. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan appeared to return a fumble 87 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter Sunday. But officials initially ruled the play as an incomplete pass by Jared Goff, so they whistled the play dead.
The Saints challenged the call, and replay showed that Goff indeed fumbled the ball when it was stripped from behind by defensive end Trey Hendrickson. But the Saints had to take over at their own 13-yard line and did not score on the ensuing drive.
It was unclear if any Rams players would have been in position to chase Jordan down if the whistle had not been blown, but he had a clear path to the end zone after scooping up the loose ball in stride.
Al Riveron explains the reversal of the on-field ruling of an incomplete pass in #NOvsLAR: pic.twitter.com/eXr8fMxTFt
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) September 15, 2019
Sunday’s call pales in comparison to the infamous missed pass interference call that helped the Rams beat the Saints in January’s NFC Championship Game — which led to groundbreaking replay rule changes in the offseason. But this remains a disturbing pattern for the Saints, who also were the victims on an embarrassing gaffe by the officials in their season-opening 30-28 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football.
In that game, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, Al Riveron, admitted that officials incorrectly forgot to reset the play clock in the final minute of the first half after a replay review — which cost the Saints 15 precious seconds and led to a missed 56-yard field goal attempt.