After Further Review: Jets-Broncos Officiating

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

Broncos 6-50 (leading to zero Jets first downs)
Jets 8-89 (leading to three Broncos first downs)

Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage

Jets Penalties

  • Shaq Lawson neutral zone infraction. Poor attention to detail here as Lawson did the same as Tim Ward last week and lined up level with the ball.
  • Brandin Echols pass interference on Courtland Sutton at the goal line. Very clear as Echols had two handfuls of jersey with the ball in the air.
  • Ryan Griffin illegal block in the back on a kickoff return. Happened off-screen, seemingly after Griffin was beaten by his man downfield.
  • Justin Hardee taunting penalty after a fair catch. Hardee can have no complaints here after getting in the face of a Broncos player having already been pretty vocal on each of the Jets' punts. He gave an aggressive and determined effort but crossed a line there based on the current emphasis.
  • Marcus Maye facemask at the end of a 10-yard Melvin Gordon run. Very clear grab and although Gordon's own stiff arm got him in the side of the helmet, there was no violation by Gordon.

Broncos Penalties

  • Sutton false start. Flinched before the snap.
  • Graham Glasgow holding on CJ Mosley to negate a run down to the one-yard line. Clearly grabbed Mosley at the second level, preventing him from making the stop.
  • Noah Fant illegal block in the back on Quincy Williams. Clear shove from behind preventing him from getting to the bell on a run that only gained two anyway.
  • Fant again, this time for illegal formation. Denver had two many players on the line of scrimmage. It's possible someone else was at fault - perhaps the tight end inside him should have been off the line - but the call was correct.

Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation

Jets Penalties

  • John Franklin-Myers defensive holding. This was a strange call because a defensive lineman can be called for holding if they're preventing an offensive player from making a block, perhaps if they're pulling or trying to peel off. However, that didn't seem to be the case here, although Franklin-Myers clearly had his hands up in Noah Fant's helmet so the end result (illegal hands to the face) would be the same and the penalty was declined anyway.
  • Thomas Morstead delay of game to negate Matt Ammendola's 56-yard field goal. This was very harsh. Usually when the clock goes to zero, you get a full second before they'll flag anything. This was snapped immediately after the clock was at zero and you'd usually get that leeway.
  • Bryce Hall illegal use of the hands on Tim Patrick's 27-yard catch. This seemed like a harsh call and Hall was actually justified in calling for a push-off as the ball was in the air. In the gamebook, this was credited to Bryce Huff, but that appears to have been an error.
  • Alijah Vera-Tucker illegally downfield on a pass. Timing was bad here as he was five yards downfield before the screen pass was thrown. Morgan Moses was too, though, so they probably got this out quicker in practice.
  • Lawson roughing the passer. This was a bad call as Lawson was pulling up and did not hit the quarterback hard. He even attempted to keep him upright. If you make this effort, you should never be penalized.

Broncos Penalties

  • Dalton Risner taunting after Denver's second touchdown. Got in Marcus Maye's face. Really, the two players got in each other's face here but obviously Maye had nothing to taunt about so this seemingly makes it somewhat easy to draw such a penalty in such a situation.
  • Teddy Bridgewater false start on 3rd-and-3. Fant jumped for what would have been his third penalty but the officials called Bridgewater for a head-bob on the hard count instead.

Notable no-calls

Here were some of the notable missed calls, controversial moments or review situations.

  • Teddy Bridgewater could easily have been ruled down, in the grasp or called for intentional grounding when he spiked the ball as Sheldon Rankins dragged him down. The ruling of incomplete bailed him out and seemed like a hometown call.
  • Fant initially looked to be down before the marker when he caught a pass in the red zone and was tackled by Mosley. However, the replay showed that Fant stretched out before his hip hit the ground and the spot was correctly applied as a first down.
  • Glasgow got away with a blatant block in the back on Mosley, who protested the non-call.
  • Moses constantly drops into his stance a split second before the ball is snapped and could easily have been called for a false start a few times.
  • Hardee was also blatantly blocked in the back, which was perhaps part of the reason why his trash talking escalated later.
  • Folorunso Fatukasi reacted to a hard count but managed to avoid crossing into the neutral zone.
  • The Jets wasted a time-out because they didn't want to get called for a delay of game but actually the ball was snapped on time.
  • Nathan Shepherd got away with a ridiculously blatant hold on Del'Shawn Phillips' fumble return, bear-hugging a potential tackler from behind.
  • Wilson could have been called for intentional grounding when he threw the ball out of bounds under heavy pressure and didn't get it back to the line of scrimmage despite being outside the tackle box. The officials generously ruled Griffin was in the area even though it was well over his head.

Let us know what we missed - or misinterpreted - in the comments...