NFL had the Bucs' backs during crucial moment against Commanders and it helped them win the game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were trying to stymie whatever momentum the Washington Commanders gained after making it a 23-14 game late in the third quarter and a crucial 32-yard screen pass to Rachaad White on 2nd and 5 from the Tampa Bay 33 put the offense in a great spot to respond to the latest score.

But, the refs threw a flag on rookie center Graham Barton, citing him as an ineligible downfield receiver, therefore the play was no good. This flag is thrown when a player who is ineligible to receive a pass is over one yard from the line of scrimmage at the time a forward pass is thrown.

The Bucs were about to go from having a 1st and 10 from the Washington 35 to having a 2nd and 10 from their own 28. That's a huge momentum swing in the Commanders' favor and it would've only added to their attempted comeback.

In somewhat surprise move, the NFL's replay system got involved, reviewed the play, and proceeded to buzz the in order refs to tell them that Barton was indeed within the one-yard threshold. Per FOX Sports lead rules analyst Dean Blandino, this is something the NFL's competition committee has been pushing for when it comes to making sure these calls are correct.

"This is something the competition committee wanted the replay to get involved in because this is such a tough call," Blandino said during the broadcast. "It's when the pass is released and you can see as we watch that one replay, the line of scrimmage was the 33 [and] the lineman was not beyond the 33. Replay can see that, they can freeze it, and they did a good job picking up the flag."

It's common sense and hopefully we see this happen more throughout the season. Especially on a consistent basis. The wrong call, here, could easily change the outcome of the game and that's exactly what it would've done in this instance because the Bucs went on to score a touchdown off a 32-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to rookie Jalen McMillan, which sealed the deal as the they went on to win by double digits.

That squashed whatever momentum Washington built/had left and the Bucs went on to start the 2024 season 1-0.