‘Sunday Night Football’: Officials Overturn Colts Interception During Chiefs Game, and Social Media Vents Frustration

The Indianapolis Colts were able to come away with a 19-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. It was a big win for the Colts because they handed the Chiefs their first loss of the year and the Colts improve their record to 3-2. However, there was one play in the game stood out that did not sit well with Colts fans.

In the third quarter, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a pass intended for fullback Anthony Sherman. However, the ball bounced off his hands as he was going to the ground and it fell into the hands of Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke. It would have been a big play for the Colts and it would have been Mahomes’ first interception of the season. But officials reviewed the play and determined the ball hit the ground which took away the interception from the Colts.

And it was clear fans did not like the call. Here’s a look at social media reacting to the play.

The Play

Sunday Night Football on NBC was able to get a screenshot of the play and it asked if it was an interception or no. It may look like the ball hit the ground, but there’s not enough evidence to overturn it at least from that angle. Social media responded and the answers were mixed. 

Why Reverse It?

Jim Ayello who covers the Colts for the Indianapolis Star is not sure why the play was overturned. He said, “I’m not sure how they reversed that. I didn’t see anything convincing.” From his vantage point, he didn’t see anything to overturn the call. But officials may have more angles and cameras at their disposal. 

Still A Big Play

Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star believes the penalty the Chiefs committed along with the non-interception was the most important part of all of this. He said, “It was not. On replay, it was an incomplete pass. The penalty on the Chiefs still stands, though, and it feels pretty big. That was 4th-and-2 in going-for-it territory without the penalty.”

That was an Interception

Another writer for the Indianapolis Star believes the officials got it wrong. Gregg Doyel said, “That’s a bad overturn. Nothing incontrovertible on that replay. Okereke screwed out of a pick.” As much as Okereke wanted that interception, he’ll take the win any day of the week. 

Critical of Al Riveron

Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk shares his thoughts of Al Riveron who is on the Sunday Night Football Broadcast and he’s a former NFL official. He said, “The fun thing about Al Riveron is sometimes he treats instant replay as “I have to be 100% sure to change the call” and other times he treats it as “If I’m 51% sure that’s good enough.” He really makes watching football a wild ride.”

Cheating?

This fan believes the call never should have been overturned. He said, “They cheating now. How’s it an incomplete forward pass and it never touched the ground? That’s a tipped ball?”

Again it worked out for the Colts because they were able to upset the Chiefs in Kansas City. 

 

No Cris Collinsworth Fan

This fan didn’t like the fact the broadcast team, specifically Cris Collinsworth, was analyzing every call made on the field until they couldn’t anymore. He said, “Broadcast team is beating every call to death. Can Collinsworth shut up just once?”

I don’t think Collinsworth is going to stop talking anytime soon. 

Colts LB Darius Leonard

Colts linebacker Darius Leonard did not play in Sunday’s night’s game because of an injury, so he had to watch the game at home. And when he saw the interception was overturned, he said “That’s crazy.”

The Colts can’t wait to get Leonard back who has missed the last three games due to a concussion. In 2018, Leonard was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after finishing with 163 tackles, seven sacks and two interceptions.