Watch: Marquez Callaway robbed of a miracle TD by an early whistle

What a crazy catch by @CallawayMarquez 🤯

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24 yards and the first down but the whistle blew, ending the play#Saints 📺: FOX-8 pic.twitter.com/DF3KzBYctd

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 27, 2022

Wow. That’s all you can say after watching Marquez Callaway catch a twice-deflected pass off of Tre’Quan Smith’s hands, which also bounced off of a Los Angeles Chargers defender’s mitt before Callaway managed to snare it. And it should have resulted in a New Orleans Saints touchdown — but officials on the scene whistled the play dead prematurely, believing the ball hit the turf when Smith first tried to catch it.

But replay sparked by a Dennis Allen challenge showed Smith kept the ball from touching the ground with one of his hands, keeping the play alive the whole time. It’s a shame that Callaway’s would-be scoring play didn’t materialize. Instead, this goes down as a mundane 24-yard reception with the ball marked dead at the spot of Callaway’s catch.

With that said, it’s a rough look for Smith. He should have secured that catch to keep Callaway from ever factoring into the play. He’s really fortunate that a teammate caught the ball rather than a Chargers defensive back. It’s not the sort of moment he can risk putting on tape considering the moves the Saints have made to improve their receiving corps.