When is an Austin Seferian-Jenkins touchdown actually a fumble and a touchback? Only when the New York Jets play the New England Patriots, apparently.
With 8:31 left in the fourth quarter and the Jets trailing the Patriots 24-14, Josh McCown hit Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a four-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 24-21. However, the touchdown was called back after the call on the field was overturned by the replay official.
According to the official, Seferian-Jenkins had fumbled the ball out of the end zone. As a result, the Patriots were awarded the ball as the result of a touchback.
While that is the rule when a ball is fumbled in the end zone, there was one major issue: ASJ never fumbled the ball. It never came out of Seferian-Jenkins’ hands, and he touched the pylon with the ball while he was crossing the goal line.
It was a terrible call made by the referees, so bad in fact that even the announcers, who are usually somewhat biased towards the Patriots, said it was one of the worst calls they’ve ever seen.
The Jets would go on to lose the game, 24-17. While there is no way to say for sure they would have won had the TD stood, it was obviously a major turning point in the game and robbed the home team of all momentum.