Dean Blandino believes Josh Allen converted the key fourth down

During the AFC Championship, CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said he believed Bills quarterback Josh Allen got the ball to the sticks on the key fourth-down play in the fourth quarter, when Buffalo led the Chiefs, 22-21.

Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino, the former NFL senior V.P. of officiating, agrees.

“The spot on the fourth down was close,” Blandino recently told TMZ.com. “When I watched it live, I thought it was a first down. I really did. I thought he made the big line. It was close. You know, when you watch the two officials, one official was coming in from the top. Looked like that official had the spot at the line to gain. The other official had it just short. When you have those situations, really, who does the ball open up to? Does one official defer to the other? Thought they both had fairly decent looks at it. They went with the spot that was short. And once you get it that close it’s gonna be tough to overturn.”

Blandino’s explanation confirms our point from Monday — that Line Judge Jeff Seeman yielded his spot to Down Judge Patrick Holt’s.

Plenty of armchair experts have argued that Holt was closer to Allen, so his spot automatically controls. That’s not how it works. Both were in position. Both were watching. Allen’s back was facing Holt; he couldn’t have seen where the ball was when forward progress was stopped.

But Seemed ultimately surrendered his position to Holt, as the two officials made the walk from each sideline to the scrum of players.

In a situation like that, the spot controls because it’s virtually impossible to find clear and obvious evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. The ruling negotiated between Seeman and Holt became the official spot that could not be changed by replay review.

It’s all the more reason for a full embrace of technology when it comes to figuring out whether the football got to where it was supposed to go. Until that happens, the original no-tech approach of sticks and chains and snap judgments made with the naked eye and resolved between two officials with different opinions will be the machinery for making some of the most important decisions that are ever made during an NFL game.

As the league keeps growing and the stakes keep rising, it’s more and more clear that the current process isn’t acceptable.

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