By popular demand, we’re again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.
Penalty Count
Panthers 6-45 (leading to one Jets first down)
Jets 5-26 (leading to zero Panthers first downs)
Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.
Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage
Jets Penalties
- Simpson false start. Flinched before the ball was snapped.
- Jarvis Brownlee holding on a punt return. The second straight week he’s taken his man down near the line of scrimmage and nowhere near where the return happened. This pinned the Jets down inside their five.
- Malachi Moore defensive holding on a third down. Difficult to argue as he held onto his man beyond five yards. The pass was completed anyway but the Jets might have been able to challenge whether it was complete.
- Josh Myers illegal man downfield. The timing was off on this as Myers took off a split second before Tyrod Taylor dirted the pass.
- Armand Membou false start. Dropped into his stance a beat early.
Panthers Penalties
- Nick Scott late hit. There’s no doubt about this as he clocked Justin Fields while he was sliding. Despite moving his head out of the way, this was still late. This was wrongly announced as “roughing the passer”.
- Lathan Ransom personal foul at the end of the same play. It was unclear what, if anything, Ransom did wrong. They may have had the number wrong. Joe Tippmann went flying in with a shove to protect his quarterback and it’s surprising he didn’t get hit with a flag instead.
- Maema Njongmeta false start on a punt. Flinched.
- Ikem Ekwonu false start. Flinched.
- Delay of game on punt. The Panthers substituted too late and then there wasn’t time for the Jets to get their own special teams unit into the game. It was probably deliberate anyway, to create more room.
- Cade Mays false started. The center flinched with the ball.
Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation
Jets Penalties
- Illegal shift to negate a third down conversion in the red zone. This wasn’t, as the announcers said, because Tyrod Taylor snapped the ball before Allen Lazard was set. In fact, it was because Mason Taylor hadn’t been set for a full second before Lazard went in motion.
- Simpson personal foul at the end of a play. According to Simpson himself there were some shenanigans at the bottom of the pile and he had to grab his man’s facemask to get him off him. Unfortunate situation.
Panthers Penalties
- Xavier Legette offensive pass interference. The announcers said this was a bit soft as he made downfield contact on Jamien Sherwood to prevent him from getting to the flat, but the penalty was probably earlier than that as he rocked Jarvis Brownlee back by ramming into him on a rub route. Brownlee still made the stop.
Notable no-calls etc
Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:
- Micheal Clemons had a possible roughing the passer penalty but his hit was clean and not late.
- Fields was hit in the head, although mainly because a hit from behind propelled him into the other defensive player.
- The Jets stuffed a 4th-and-1 and the spot short of the line to gain was obviously correct.
- A flag for offensive pass interference on the Jets was picked up because Josh Reynolds’ timing on the block was fine.
- Another flag was picked up on a tackle by a Panthers defender at the sideline. Could the official have interpreted this as a hip-drop tackle, then changed his mind? There’s little else it could have been unless the flag was dropped by accident.
- The Panthers – specifically Chuba Hubbard – wanted a flag on Jermaine Johnson after his low hit on Bryce Young after the ball had been released. They may have had a point.
- Young was initially awarded a first down when he looked to be short. Sure enough, Aaron Glenn challenged and this was re-spotted.
- Legette made a catch after which the ball was stripped away by Brandon Stephens. That might not have been enough to establish possession but the Jets did not challenge because they were called for defensive holding anyway.
- Reynolds made a tough catch right at the marker and was ruled short. Again this was re-spotted after a Glenn challenge. The ball wasn’t moving around so it seems fair to spot it where his hands were as he first grabbed it.
- Jaycee Horn juggled his diving interception but looked to have control with a knee down at the back of the end zone.
- Sanders also stripped one away from Ja’Tavion Sanders, which was this time ruled incomplete. It came loose before he was down so could have been a fumble, but he hadn’t completed a football move so incomplete seems correct, and would have been even if his body was down a split-second before the ball came out.
- Taylor was lucky not to be flagged for intentional grounding. He was definitely still in the pocket and there was definitely no defender in the area. It bounced out of bounds less than half a yard past the line of scrimmage, so did it cross the line of scrimmage? Barely, if at all.
- Azareye’h Thomas had a big pass breakup but his hands were all over the receiver and he looked back at the ball late. The only thing saving him was that the throw was closer to him than the receiver so most of the contact could be seen as the receiver trying to get to the ball while Thomas was entitled to hold that position than the other way around. You expect these called on a rookie though.
- Finally, Derrick Brown was arguably lucky not to be called for a late hit over by the sideline.
Let us know what we missed – or misinterpreted – in the comments…