The Houston Texans were booed off their own field at halftime on Saturday at NRG Stadium after the Buffalo Bills shut out the Texans through two quarters to lead 13-0. Then things got extremely weird.
On the first play of the second half, the Bills appeared to score a bizarre touchdown on their kickoff to the Texans after returner DeAndre Carter flipped the ball to the referee after making a catch in the endzone, under the assumption that the play was over. The referee let the ball drop and signaled that the play was still live, and Buffalo recovered the ball for what would have been the easiest touchdown in NFL playoff history.
The officials then discussed the play and announced that Carter had given himself up on the play, so the touchdown was wiped off the board. According to NFL rules expert Mike Pereira, the decision was the right one, as tossing the ball to the official equates to giving yourself up.
Per the NFL rulebook, a runner can declare himself down by making no effort to advance, resulting in a dead ball.
Via NFL.com:
When a runner declares himself down by:
-
falling to the ground, or kneeling, and clearly making no immediate effort to advance.
Still, no whistle had been blown at the time Carter threw the ball to the referee.
The ESPN commentary crew hailed the overturned touchdown as a victory for common sense officiating, but reaction to the call on social media from players and fans was split.
