In the fourth quarter, the Browns trailed the Las Vegas Raiders 20-16 and were deep in their own territory when chance struck.
On a first down from the Browns’ 18-yard line, quarterback Deshaun Watson stretched the play and found an open Amari Cooper for an 82-yard touchdown in Sunday’s game.
The problem was that backup centre Nick Harris, who was filling in for the injured Ethan Pocic, was penalized for a holding penalty on Raiders defensive end Christian Wilkins, which nullified the play.
Cleveland was unable to recover from the 10-yard penalty, forcing them to punt on fourth-and-two less than 90 seconds later.
After the game, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was asked about the touchdown-nullifying play.
Analyst Daniel Oyefusi shared Garrett’s comments on X, noting that he was hesitant to call out the officials but yet delivered an honest answer about the holding call.
“As a man said before me, I like my money,” Garrett remarked, alluding to the possibility of a fine for criticizing game officials.
“I’ve seen and experienced worse,” he said.
Indeed, footage on social media show Garrett being held much more by opponents this season without receiving a penalty flag from the refs.
Had Cleveland completed that pass, the Browns would have led 22-16 and had a chance for an extra point, forcing the Raiders to try to score again.
Instead, the Raiders settled for short plays and punts on consecutive possessions, keeping the clock rolling while Las Vegas won its second game of the season.
Leave a Reply