NFL referees were forced to implement a little-known rule during the Wild Card Weekend.
During the playoff matchup between the Washington Commanders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a camera caused some confusion among the teams and officials.
GettyA little-known rule was triggered in the Commanders-Buccaneers game[/caption] NBC SportsA kickoff hit the SkyCam during the game causing a rekick[/caption]NFL playoff games tend to have extra cameras around the stadium to allow for higher production quality of the biggest games of the season.
However, those extra cameras directly impacted the game on Sunday night.
During the fourth quarter of the game, Tampa Bay was set to kick off to the Commanders after scoring a field goal.
Punter Jack Browning booted the kickoff into the end zone and it was registered as a touchback before the game went into a commercial break.
However, when the game returned from the break, the teams were once again lined up in the kickoff formation.
It turned out that Browning’s kickoff nicked one of the wires holding up NBC‘s SkyCam.
According to the NFL rulebook, the influence of the camera required that the kickoff be voided and retried.
It ended up not making any difference, as Browning’s second kickoff resulted in a touchback as well, putting the Commanders on the 30-yard line.
While the redo didn’t have much of an impact on the outcome of the game, fans were still intrigued by the rare ruling and shared their thoughts on social media.
“Very strange,” one fan said.
“Anyone know if time went back in clock?” another fan said.
“So it’s happened once in a million times,” a third fan said.
“With drones nowadays, is there really a need for skycam,” a fourth fan said.
“That is the first time I’m aware of that the skycam wire interfered with a live ball,” a fifth fan said.
Shortly after the kickoff hit the SkyCam, the Commanders went on to win the game on a last-second field goal.
NFL division round schedule
Sat 18 Jan, 4.30 pm ET (ESPN/ABC) – Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
Sat 18 Jan, 8 pm ET (Fox) – Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions
Sun 19 Jan, 3 pm ET (NBC) – TBC at Philadelphia Eagles
Sun 19 Jan, 6.30 pm ET (CBS) – Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Washington drove down the field from the 30-yard line into field goal range in about five minutes.
Zane Gonzalez doinked his field goal try off the upright, but it luckily continued through for three points.
The game-winning field goal helped the Commanders win their first playoff game since 2006.
Washington now has the tall task of facing the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The Commanders are 8.5-point underdogs.
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