The referees of this game better be thanking Kevin Stefanski after the game.
Kevin Stefanski has done his part to turn the Cleveland Browns around. More than that, he’s been a blessing in disguise for the club that hasn’t felt like they’ve had a chance to win in quite a long time.
One can see how much he cares for his team and players. No more was that relevant when he risked a challenge flag to keep a drive alive in.a crucial game.
As the Browns were getting ready to call another play, one could see there were more than 11 Baltimore Ravens defenders on the field. In fact, there were more than just your average man stuck somewhere in the mix.
Instead, there were 15 men on the field. The referees though were too busy twiddling their thumbs and missed the call. Instead of taking the fourth down play call, Stefanski threw the challenge flag and to keep things interesting.
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Naturally, the referees saw the mistake and awarded the penalty in favor of the Browns. It would help the score and eat at the lead, putting them down by a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
How do the refs miss that call?
There’s been plenty of egregious calls over the season but that might be the worst. Not only were there too many men on the field, but it wasn’t as if they were switching out. Look closely at the Ravens defense and one can see that even with three players running off, there’s still a 12th man lining up in coverage to take a shot at the play.
That’s a play that even the average football fan understands is a problem. More than that, it’s one where at least one of the seven referees should have seen it. Did they? Nope. Instead, now you have Stefanski risking a timeout for someone else’s mistakes.
At the end of this game, the referees need to apologize to the Browns head coach. No, not because they missed the call, but rather because it shouldn’t be a coach’s job to bail them out of a moment that they should be watching.