Julio Jones got robbed of his first Titans touchdown by the refs

In his second game with the Tennessee Titans, wide receiver Julio Jones should’ve had a beautiful first touchdown with his new team. But the refs hosed him.

The Tennessee Titans need something to go their way early in the 2021 season and new wide receiver Julio Jones tried to make that happen prior to halftime against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.

Trailing 17-6 late in the second quarter, Ryan Tannehill bought some time from the pass rush and found the superstar pass-catcher in the back of the end zone as he brought down a fantastic catch for a touchdown.

The officials ruled that Julio Jones got both feet down to make it 17-12:

But as all scoring plays can be reviewed, the referees went to the booth to make sure Jones indeed got both feet down inbounds. And upon the replay they watched, they ruled that he did not, thus leading to the Titans settling for a field goal.

That, however, was the wrong call.

A still-frame of the catch seemingly pretty clearly shows that Julio Jones got both feet down inbounds and that his heel was clear of the white line, which is what the referees said was out of bounds on the reception:

It’s one thing if they had ruled the catch incomplete to begin with and it was too close to call. But for the ruling to be a touchdown, there is no way anyone can watch that replay and definitively say that Jones was out of bounds. That’s absolutely terrible.

While replay can indeed be helpful in some instances, what’s the point if the officials are either A. going to get it wrong (which it sure seems like they did in this case) or B. not follow the letter of the law with irrefutable video evidence?

For a team in the Titans’ situation that got blown out by Arizona last week and is now clawing against a good Seahawks team, it’s hard to challenge those two teams and battle the officiating as well.