WATCH: Missed delay of game penalty leads to Patriots touchdown against Packers
Officials appeared to miss a delay of game penalty in the third quarter of Sunday’s game between New England and Green Bay, leading to a Patriots touchdown. The play clock very clearly hit zero before the ball was snapped, but reset to 40 as no flag was thrown and the play continued.
That led to quarterback Bailey Zappe throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker to give New England a 17-14 lead.
CBS Sports rules analyst and former NFL referee Gene Seratore took to Twitter to explain that there is typically a delay for officials to throw a flag, but this exceeded what is considered normal.
“When the play clock is about to expire, there is usually a half or one second delay for officials to blow the whistle because of the mechanics of how the play is officiated,” Seratore wrote. “The delay in #NEvsGB exceeded the normal amount of time that you usually see for a flag to be thrown.”
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The missed delay of game penalty could have ended up being critical in the outcome of the game, as the Patriots and Packers were tied at 24 at the end of regulation and went to overtime. However, Green Bay ultimately kicked a field goal to win 27-24.
The touchdown would be the only one all day for Zappe, who finished the game 10-of-15 passing for 99 yards. He entered the game in place of an injured Brian Hoyer, who started the game with Mac Jones out due to injury.
On the other hand, Green Bay rushed for 199 yards as a team, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers had 252 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception. The victory improves the Packers to 3-1, and they’ll hope to keep winning next Sunday when they face the New York Giants in London.