Philadelphia Eagles

Refs in Browns-Eagles game couldn't decide if a kick was good

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:18 p.m. ET

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Chris Chase

We were barely 30 minutes into the 2016 NFL season before we learned the Cleveland Browns would not be improving via LeBron-related osmosis, the Jaguars appeared improved and officials were already in midseason form.

In the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opener against Robert Griffin III and the Browns, a 46-yard field goal attempt by Philly's Caleb Sturgis looked good off the foot but slowly faded wide right, by a pretty clear margin. This wasn't one of those kicks that sailed over the crossbar leaving refs making not-so-educated guesses about whether it would have gone through and it wasn't a hook at the last second that possibly snuck inside the uprights. This thing was no good like it came off the foot of a Vikings kicker in the playoffs.

The official directly underneath the ball saw this. The other official, well, maybe watching the Browns for an entire quarter rubbed off on him. My favorite part is how the official who was wrong looks at the other guy, sees their disagreement and then almost appears to raise his arms even higher, as if stretching out will somehow cover for his error.

They ended up getting the call right on the field, but I would have loved to have seen a genuine disagreement. If field goals weren't reviewable, they should have broken precedent and given the Eagles 1.5 points on the kick. Who knows, against the Browns that could have been enough.

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