The NFL’s explanation for the Tyler Shough call comes down to one key detail: control.
In the Saints’ Week 3 loss to the Raiders, New Orleans was in front by five and facing a third-and-4 from the Las Vegas 29-yard line in the fourth quarter when Shough was hit from behind as he tried to throw. Officials ruled it a fumble on the field, Las Vegas recovered, and replay left the call in place.
NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth later said the league’s view was that Shough had already lost the ball before his throwing motion really got going.
“The quarterback clearly lost control of the ball before his hand was coming forward,” Butterworth said. “We were able to confirm the ruling on the field.”
Butterworth had already been in the spotlight in Week 1 after a different Saints sequence against the Detroit Lions was overturned on replay. In that game, the Saints briefly appeared to have a defensive touchdown, but the league ruled that Lions quarterback Jared Goff had already started his throwing motion, which made the play a forward pass even though the ball went backward after contact.
After that Week 1 game, Butterworth explained it this way: “If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass. Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass.”
He added later that “the defender’s contact made the pass go backwards” in a follow-up answer.
Asked Sunday about the difference between the Goff play and the Shough play, Butterworth said the league was focused on whether the hand was coming forward with control.
“All we are looking for is the hand coming forward with control to make it an incomplete pass,” Butterworth said. “In the play that happened today, the hand was not coming forward with control of the ball.”
The ruling loomed large. Las Vegas got the ball after the replay decision, marched down the field, and scored the go-ahead touchdown. The Saints then turned it over on each of their next three possessions, all in non-controversial fashion, and the Raiders finished off the comeback.
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