Colts: Is NFL going to explain screwing Indy on botched Darius Leonard lateral call?

So far … crickets from the NFL. And we’d love to know why. Because, while the Indianapolis Colts ended up losing the game despite scoring a touchdown anyway, one could argue this interrupted their momentum and forced them to eat more time off the clock, which hurt them in the end.

Midway through the third quarter, the Baltimore Ravens, trailing 16-3 to Indy, were knocking at the door. They had the ball on the one-yard line, ready to punch it in on first and goal.

Lamar Jackson took the snap, faked the handoff, and ran to his right, but he was met by Julian Blackmon, who got into the backfield after making a great read. He brought Jackson to the ground, and just inches before the QB’s knee hit the turf, the ball came loose. Linebacker Darius Leonard was right there to pick it up.

And it was off to the races. But Leonard, in another stroke of brilliance, likely realizing his speed and hobbled ankle wouldn’t be enough to take it to the house, lateraled the ball to cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who turned on the jets. GONE. Ninety-nine-yard fumble return for a touchdown!!

Or … wait?

The refs screwed the Colts and the NFL needs to tell us what this was about.

This wasn’t called an illegal forward pass in real time … it was REVIEWED and the refs determined it as such, erasing the touchdown and kicking the Colts back all the way to their own 19-yard line.

Indy then went 81 yards on six plays in just 3:36 to score the touchdown anyway to make it 22-3, so technically they didn’t get robbed in monumental fashion, but had they scored the touchdown on that defensive play, the complexion of the game is perhaps a bit different from the Ravens perspective.

They don’t get extra time on the sideline to strategize against the Colts defense, which had them blanketed for almost 45 full minutes. Instead, they have to immediately take the field again with Indy’s D possessing unmatchable momentum after that back-breaking play for Baltimore.

This is the freeze frame! How is that an illegal forward pass?! The Colts have had it hard enough this year. They can’t be having obvious calls like this go against them and play a role in affecting the game’s trajectory.

Sadly, this call was merely a footnote in the disaster that followed. Indy fell apart by missing two field goals while the defense allowed 28 points, including 22 straight to lose the game by six.

Even so, that won’t stop us from demanding an explanation from the league’s officiating office.

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