The Falcoholic
Darnell Mooney’s overturned touchdown late in the second quarter, if it had stood, at least would have made the blowout they experienced at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks a little less embarrassing. The score was overturned because officials decided Mooney hadn’t established himself back in-bounds after going out of bounds.
The Athletic’s Josh Kendall, our Falcons pool reporter, spoke with referee Alex Kemp about the play to get clarity on what was called on the field and why it was determined to not be a touchdown.
“We ruled that he did not re-establish himself back in bounds, that he went out on his own. He was not forced out,” Kemp said after the game.
When asked what Mooney would have needed to do to re-establish himself on the field of play, Kemp’s answer was no surprise: Mooney needed to get both feet down in-bounds. But Mooney did that. So what’s the deal?
“If he had (re-established himself in-bounds) and would have been the first to touch, it would have been a foul for illegal touching of a pass,” Kemp said. “The penalty enforcement for that would be the exact same as an incomplete pass. It’s loss of down at the previous spot. Had we ruled what we ruled or the other way, the result of the play would have been the exact same thing.”
Raheem Morris technically could have thrown a challenge flag, but not in a way that could salvage the overturned touchdown. And it wouldn’t have done any good.
“He could have challenged, but what he would have been challenging was if the receiver was out of bounds or not,” Kemp said.
And either way, the down would have been over and the Falcons wouldn’t have turned that play into a touchdown no matter what happened outside of the play.
