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NFL Notebook, Week 7: Patrick Mahomes’ injury, trades, awards and more

By Zach Cohen

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on October 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on October 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 20: Austin Ekeler #30 of the Los Angeles Chargers is tackled just short of the goal line during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 20, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Chargers 23-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 20: Austin Ekeler #30 of the Los Angeles Chargers is tackled just short of the goal line during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 20, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Chargers 23-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The Problem That Wasn’t

You have to feel bad for the Chargers. After crushing back-to-back defeats to Denver and Pittsburgh, things couldn’t get any worse for Los Angeles, right? Well, if you saw that ending to their loss against Tennessee, you’d know that things did, in fact, get worse.

Following a long, drawn-out review that determined that Melvin Gordon was just short of the goal-line, Gordon was again given the ball, only for it to be taken away by the Titans’ defense. If you go back before Gordon’s two goal-line carries, Austin Ekeler also looked like he scored only for instant replay to say that Ekeler’s knee was just short of the end zone, too.

Some people were annoyed by how stretched-out the game’s final minute was, and while I certainly hoped for things to speed up, this is not that big of a problem.

Wouldn’t you rather have the officials taking their time to make the best, fairest call? The officials were actually doing their job correctly. There are some people who disliked the length of the process and to that, I say it’s better than the alternative.

If you don’t like instant replay or think it’s ruining the game, surely you must be aware that the other option is to let plays occur in real-time. This worked fine back in the days before the Internet, but now anyone can view a play over and over again.

Without instant replay, all those missed calls would be prodded and chastised like never before. There would be more attention to how unfair and bad the officials were. Instant replay and officials’ usage of it is far from perfect, but it’s necessary to ensure that calls are made with at least some accuracy.

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