Officials botch calls all the time. It's the human element of sports that makes them unpredictable. Ed Hochuli really screwed up Sunday in Denver when he ruled a ball that slipped from the hands of Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler was an incomplete pass and not a fumble that was ultimately recovered by the San Diego Chargers. The play could not be reviewed because the ball had been whistled dead.
The call undoubtedly gave the Broncos new life, as their drive culminated in a winning score and two-point conversion. But let's be circumspect about this — the Chargers gave up 39 points en route to their loss by one point, so let's not dump the defeat squarely in the lap of a man who is uniformly considered one of the best officials in the league.
It's appropriate that Hochuli received the backing Tuesday of the NFL Referees Association one day after the league said he would be graded down for the missed call. To define the man's career based on one play is to negate his 19 years in the game and the multiple Super Bowls and playoff games he's worked — assignments that were determined by the quality of his regular-season work.
Instant replay has gone a long way towards ensuring that the right calls get made. But not every play can get a second look. It's time for the NFL, the Chargers and anyone else still miffed by Sunday's miscall to move on. Ed Hochuli is one of the best in the business. Get off his back.
Ed was just doing a job. At one point or another each and every one of us has made a mistake at our job too. I give the guy credit for taking ownership of his mistake. Not every person is man, woman or NFL official enough to do that. The Broncos still had to get the touch down and the 2-point conversion. Maybe the Chargers need to take ownership of their loss. Signed, Glad to be a Ravens fan(we've had our share of bad calls - Remember the New England Game last year - we got over it!!)
Posted by: K Landes | September 17, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Two major problems with this perspective, even while granting he is one of the best officials.
1. This could be a season defining change for a number of teams. Just imagine if the Chargers miss the playoffs by this one loss in a Bradyless year. It could be a championship lost that they may never get back.
2. Denver was shutout in the second half except for this controversial touchdown. If Ed calls it correctly, the Broncos don't score a second half point. Don't presume the Broncos were scoring at will in the second half due to the high score.
The problem here is not that Ed made a monumentally bad call that altered the result of the game in an otherwise excellent career. The problem is that there is no mechanism to rectify the situation. There should be some available remedy.
Who would complain if the Chargers were awarded the ball at the point of the fumble? They were going to recover it. Not quite as solid an argument, but who would complain if the Cowboys had been awarded the ball at the 1 yard line after DeSean Jackson's ADHD kicked in at the worst possible time?
But because there is no mechanism to fix this, Ed's mistake becomes unacceptable and unforgivable. If he can't fix his mistake, then he simply doesn't get to make it.
Posted by: Malcolm | September 17, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Bad officiating is part of the game. If you aren't up by 14 points at the two-minute warning, you are subject to losing for many reasons. If the Chargers had taken care of business during the course of the game, they would have won. They did not, and they lost. The Broncos repaid the karmic debt by going for 2, giving the Chiefs an immediate opportunity to win the game.
The whistle ends the play. Any exceptions to that rule strike me as dangerous and dumb.
Posted by: Glenn | September 22, 2008 at 04:13 AM
Excellent post, thank you!
Posted by: Jay Smith | September 22, 2008 at 07:33 AM