Kicker Eddy Pineiro made a 27-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to give the Carolina Panthers a 13-10 halftime lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While that’s a relatively normal sequence in an NFL game, getting to that kick was anything but.
It started the play before. On a third-and-three, it looked like Carolina scored a touchdown on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Young to Adam Thielen. While the play was ruled incomplete, it was reviewed.
While the review was going on, Fox went to commercial.
Bizarre sequence late in the first half of the Buccaneers-Panthers game.
Part 1:
Bryce Young and Adam Thielen seem to connect on a TD but it’s ruled incomplete.
The play is reviewed. pic.twitter.com/N8hRJToqU1
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2024
During the commercial break, the ruling on the play was upheld. When Fox returned to the game, Pineiro immediately booted the ball through the uprights. The officials whistled that play dead, though, rendering Pineiro’s kick moot.
While the confusion was being sorted out, Mike Pereira looked at the previous play.
“I thought right here, he has the ball. Knee, elbow in. And does it move right here? That’s what they’re saying. Not enough to overturn the call,” Pereira said.
While Pereira was talking, Pineiro and the Panthers once again lined up for the field goal. Once again, it was moot. This time, the Buccaneers called time-out before the ball was snapped. That gave Pereira a chance to explain the review in more detail.
“Obviously he got down in bounds with both a knee and an elbow,” Pereira noted. “But you never really got a shot that showed that he controlled it when he hit the ground out of bounds. Without that clear and obvious shot that there was no movement of the ball, that there was no loss of possession, they just had to stay with what the ruling was — which was incomplete pass.”
Finally, after several minutes of dead time, Pineiro off got a kick that counted.
Part 2:
While Fox is at commercial, the ruling is upheld. As the game returns from the break, Eddy Pineiro makes a short FG but it’s whistled off.
They line up again and the Bucs take a time-out.
At last, the third time was the charm.pic.twitter.com/qCWlOXQwGK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2024
While his short kick wasn’t exactly dead center, it was good.
[Photo Credit: Fox]