October 27th, 2008 
Matt Loede 
Posted in
Sometimes you get the calls – sometimes you don’t. Sunday in Philly, the Falcons were by all means robbed by the refs, as the stripes called a fumble on a punt when it looked like Adam Jennings may have touched the ball on the Falcons 40 with 2:28 to go.
If the Falcons get the ball, which they should have, they would have had a shot for rookie star Matt Ryan to drive down the field and win the game. Even with no timeouts, you know that the Falcons would have had a golden shot to win the game with Ryan at the helm.
Instead, with no challenges left, coach Mike Smith had no choice but to look on, and two plays later Brian Westbrook went 39 yards that made a 21-17 game into a 28-17 game. In other words – game over. Bottom line is the rule should be changed so that the refs have the ability to get it right – if a coach has a challenge or not.
I understand it’s important to get the games going a little faster, but at the same time, it would have been nice for the RIGHT thing to happen and for the Falcons to have had a shot to win it. Not have been robbed by a bad call from the refs and then the fact they didn’t have any more “challenges.”
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The Falcons and Eagles are in a tight race in the NFC for a wild card spot. Even though it is early in the season this missed call could determine which team gets a wild card spot. The official in the booth should be able to review a call at anytime not just in the last 2 min. Getting the call right is more important than the time it takes to review one or two extra calls.