Controversy ensued as the Baltimore Ravens were denied a last-ditch touchdown in their encounter with the Kansas City Chiefs - with Lamar Jackson leading the protests.
The visitors had looked like they tied the game in the dying embers of the clash at Arrowhead Stadium after Isaiah Likely caught Jackson's pass in the end zone. However, a review showed the tight end to have strayed out of bounds meaning that the officials ruled out the touchdown.
Video footage showed that Likely's right toe had just veered over the white line as they effectively lost the game by a matter of inches. This handed the Chiefs a 27-20 victory in Week 1 as the back-to-back Super Bowl winners made a positive start to their tilt at a potential unprecedented "Three-peat".
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In full, the rule on the issue reads: "If any part of the foot hits out of bounds during the normal continuous motion of taking a step (heel-toe or toe-heel), then the foot is out of bounds. A player is inbounds if he drags his foot, or if there is a delay between the heel-toe or toe-heel touching the ground."
Amid the dramatic scenes on the field at Arrowhead, referee Shawn Hochuli confirmed the stance of the officials present as they were left with no option but to rule out the touchdown. He explained: The runner's toe hit out of bounds. It's an incomplete pass. The game is over. Kansas City has won."
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Later, Likely reflected: "The ref looked at me, I look at the ref, and when he signalled touchdown, I thought it was what it was. Then, obviously we were going to win the game. At this point, you just have to live with the call. You have to look on, obviously watch the film, see where we can get better to not put ourselves in the situation to leave it in the refs' hands to be able to call that."
Meanwhile, quarterback Jackson admitted he was reeling from the call, saying: "I thought it was a touchdown, I still think it's a touchdown. We were just hoping. I saw 32 and 20 turning to pursue him when he realised where the ball was going, so I threw it so he could make a play on it. Great job, acrobatic catch, I believed it was two feet in."
Moreover, Ravens middle linebacker Roquan Smith added: "I didn't think it was enough evidence to overturn it. But I feel like that'll be something that the refs will have to deal with whenever that time comes and that's out of my control."
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