NFL referee should never have allowed Eagles to change their minds

The LA Rams were called for a penalty. The Phiadelphia Eagles declined to accept it. But, after seeing the Rams offense line up for the next play, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni changed his mind. He wanted to take the 10 yard penalty. The thing is, that is against NFL regulations.

Perhaps it was a matter of compensation. After all, Land Clark and the Sunday Night Football officiating crew had already been embarrassed earlier in the game when nobody recognized that Eagles Sirianni had thrown the challenge flag onto the football field until the Rams offense had run its next play.

Much to the chagrin of Rams fans, the previous play had to be reviewed, resulting in a fumble by Rams running back Kyren Williams. That took an inevitable score away from the Rams. The Eagles' offense drove the entire length of the football field to kick a field goal.

The tempo of the game was set. The Eagles won by a score of 37-20.

Eagles Sirianni changes his mind, and Referee Land Clark allows it

While the final score may not seem to make this a big deal, in the grand scheme of things, you just never know. And the rules are set in place for a reason. That reason is simple, to avoid what occured in the second half of this game. At the time of the controversial play, the Rams were driving and the score was Eagles 27 Rams 14. The Rams had just thrown an incompletion with third down and three yards to go on the Philadelphia Eagles 13-yard line.

Rams center Beaux Limmer was called for offensive holding. The Eagles declined the penalty, creating a fourth down and three yards to go. But after the Rams kept the offense on the field and lined up to snap the football, Sirianni determined that he wanted to accept the penalty instead. That should never have been allowed.

Because Clark marched off the penalty of 10 yards, the Rams face third down and 13 yards to go. Stafford dropped back to pass and was subsequently sacked for a five-yard loss. When Rams kicker Joshua Karty arrived, he no longer faced a 32-yard field goal. He now faced a 47-yard field goal, and missed.

Allowing the Eagles to accept a penalty after seeing the offense prepared to go for it extinguished any hope for a Rams comeback.

The Rams lost the game by a score of 37-20. And there is little doubt that the Rams would lose no matter how that particular penalty was decided. But I believe all NFL fans would appreciate far less controversy from NFL officiating.

Thanks for reading.

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