Watch: Was the First "Monday Night Football" Game of the Year Marred By a Glaring Missed Call?
The first “Monday Night Football” game of the 2023 NFL season is officially in the books — but not without some glaring controversy.
The New York Jets defeated their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills in a thrilling game, with a 22-16 overtime victory.
It was a storybook victory given the context: The Jets, with all of the hopes and expectations in the world, lost their star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to an apparent Achilles injury four plays into the season. Despite that, the Jets forced overtime and won the game on an electric punt return.
It’s literally just a slight variation of the plot line to “Friday Night Lights.”
Well, except for the apparent missed call at the end of the game.
ESPN, which airs “MNF,” brought on its rules expert, former NFL referee John Parry, at the end of last night’s broadcast, and he immediately called out what appeared to be a missed tripping call.
You can see the critical play and potential missed call below — and judge for yourself:
“You’ve gotta put an asterisk on it because there’s a tripping call that was not made. A trip, a leg whip, right near the 23-yard line, No. 55, which would have brought the touchdown back.”
ESPN’s John Parry says that Jets LB Chazz Surratt should have been flagged on the GW-TD pic.twitter.com/QwP10ArAAx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2023
“It is [a big block], but you gotta put an asterisk on it because there’s a tripping call that was not made,” Parry said. “[There was] a trip, a leg whip, right near the 23-yard line [by] No. 55, which would have brought the touchdown back.”
Indeed, on subsequent viewings, it does appear that Jets linebacker Chazz Surratt, while going for a diving block, extended his leg at the end of the play.
And it does seem like Bills tight end Quintin Morris, who was certainly in position to tackle Jets returner Xavier Gipson on the game-clinching play, had his legs kicked out by Surratt’s legs, which is certainly a penalty.
That being said, there is no asterisk at the end of the day, and the record will show that the Jets beat the Bills in overtime on a punt return — tripping penalty or not.
In a cruel and ironic twist, however, this Pyrrhic victory for the Jets somehow still leaves the Bills and their fans with more to be hopeful for this coming season.
Whereas the Bills may have lost, they can find some relative solace in the fact that, yes, it appears there was a critical missed call, but also, their star quarterback Josh Allen played one of the worst games of his career.
There’s plenty of room for internal improvement in Buffalo.
The Jets, meanwhile, got the win, but lost Rodgers in the process (the latest reports are suggesting Rodgers has a torn Achilles and is out for the year), and his backup Zach Wilson looked as overwhelmed as he ever has.
The Bills will try to get back on the winning track when they host the Las Vegas Raiders next week.
The Jets, meanwhile, will try to figure out life without Rodgers when they travel to face the high-powered Dallas Cowboys next week.
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