Terry McAulay explains Eagles-Rams challenge flag controversy during Sunday Night Football

There was a little bit of controversy early in Sunday Night Football, after Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni decided to throw a challenge flag late, when the officiating crew wasn’t looking for it. The Rams fumbled the ball, and the Eagles recovered.

The initial ruling on the field was not a fumble, and that Rams running back Kyren Williams was down. But Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni wanted officials to look at it. The problem was he tossed his challenge flag a little bit late. And officials did not see the flag in time before the next play started.

The call was reversed after an official review. The play was ruled a fumble by officials, with the Eagles recovering the football.

Here is the video of the play here.

How could the refs not see that the ball was clearly coming out before Williams was down??? #Eagles pic.twitter.com/qOif6SFiVT

— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) November 25, 2024

SNF Rules analyst Terry McAulay discussed the officials honoring the flag, even though they didn’t see it before the ball was snapped on the next play. “Yeah, Mike, as long as he releases it into the field of play before the snap. It counts and replay assist can help with that,” McAulay explained in the booth.

It was clearly a fumble, so, it’s good that officials were able to take a second look and get the call on the field correct. The Rams led the Eagles 7-6 with 6:17 remaining in the first half.

Eagles wideout AJ Brown has had a solid first half, hauling in three catches for 63 receiving yards. Running back Saquon Barkley had to leave the game for a bit after taking a brief shot to the groin. But he still had 11 carries for 72 yards with 3:00 left in the first half.