The Browns had high hopes in the fourth quarter of their Week 4 game against the Raiders. That is, until the officials reexamined their mark on a Carlos Hyde run with 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Browns had third-and-two on their own 17 yard line when Hyde made a short two run up the middle of the field. At first, the officials brought the chains onto the field and gave the Browns the first down. But an official review overturned the original call. The officials decided Hyde had not made it to the first down marker and that he only gained one yard on the play. With the call reversed, the Browns ultimately had to punt on fourth down.
When the officials reviewed the play, they determined Hyde’s elbow was down short of the first down marker. According to an NFL spokesman, the ref changed his mind after he pieced together a few different camera angles of the run.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only terrible call from the Cleveland-Oakland matchup on Sunday. Earlier in the fourth quarter, the refs missed a fumble from Oakland quarterback Derek Carr that was picked up by Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi. That call also could’ve changed the game or at least helped the Browns. The game ended up going to overtime and ending with a 45-42 Oakland win; the Raiders’ first victory of the season.
Browns head coach Hue Jackson took the high road in his post game press conference, saying the Browns could have done many things better during the course of the game to get the win. He wasn’t going to blame the refs.
But the Cleveland Police department feels a little differently... And we’d have to agree.
Robbery warrant issued for tonight’s @Browns game @NFL “officials”.
— Cleveland Police (@CLEpolice) October 1, 2018
Ok. We can’t do that. Just sayin’.