The New York Jets had a touchdown pass from Geno Smith to Jeremy Kerley snatched away from them on Sunday because some asshat called a timeout before the play. The TD would have tied the Jets at 31 with the Green Bay Packers.
Instead, they ended up losing by seven.
We now know pretty much exactly what happened on the play and it turns out the timeout never should have been granted.
Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg — yes, the same dope who used to coach the Detroit Lions — was wildly signaling timeout from the sideline before the play. Walking right toward one of the refs while doing so, in fact.
Apparently, he was making the signal to head coach Rex Ryan because he saw a problem with the formation on the play. Mornhinweg said that problem was corrected by Smith, but it was too late.
Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson also noticed Mornhinweg furiously signaling timeout. He admits he pointed this out to one of the refs and that guy blew the whistle.
Technically, neither the offensive coordinator or a player that isn’t in the game can call timeout. Only the head coach or a player on the field can legally call a timeout.
But the timeout was granted, so even though the refs screwed up, too bad.
After the game, some Packers players said they heard the whistle before the play. So while Jets fans can whine and say the play should have been a touchdown — no it shouldn’t have. Not if any Green Bay defenders heard the whistle and then didn’t bother to defend as they normally would have on the play.
What should have happened is the timeout shouldn’t have been granted, but that didn’t happen.
And so it is what it is.