INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — When Jeffery Simmons chopped at Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert's elbow and sent the ball into the hands of Roger McCreary for an apparent defensive touchdown late in the first half, the Tennessee Titans thought they had created the break they so desperately needed.
But the strip-sack and score was changed to an incomplete pass following video review. And the Titans faded away in a 27-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
"That right there, I've never seen," Tennessee wide receiver Calvin Ridley said. "That looks like a fumble to me, to pretty much everybody. They can't take that back. It changes the game. It really messes the flow of the game up, I think."
The Titans (2-7) looked as though they were about to take a 14-13 lead into halftime, but it was determined Herbert maintained possession of the ball as he sidearmed it forward — wiping out McCreary's 20-yard fumble return.
"Once we went into review, all we need is the hand moving forward with control of the ball, and so we ended up overturning it to an incomplete pass," NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said in a postgame pool interview.
Titans first-year head coach Brian Callahan was irate on the sideline when informed of the reversal. After the game, he made his displeasure known without critiquing the call.
"I thought it was going to stand on the field," Callahan said. "They initially told me that it was going to stand, and they took another look at it as I walked away. And then as I came back, they told me it was going to be overturned. And that was all the explanation I got.
"I'll let you guys decide what you think the call should have been, but I don't want to lose any money."
Even Herbert acknowledged he was not confident it would be ruled a pass.
"I felt like I did a pretty good job of holding onto it," he said. "But those are moments where it's not really in your control. I'm grateful for the decision of overturning it."
What both sides did agree on was the decision to overturn the call had an effect on the game. Tennessee would have gotten the ball to start the second half with a chance to build on a lead, likely by leaning on a run game which ended up averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Playing from behind could have forced Los Angeles (6-3) to move away from its rush attack and take more risks on offense.
"Yeah, it was a huge momentum-turning play, which I feel like we've had a lot of those this year that haven't gone our way," Callahan said. "And, you know, that's sort of what happens when you're not playing well enough is all plays that you make feel so critical. And when they get taken away, they hurt, and that was a big momentum swing for us."
Herbert also described it as a "huge" turn of events.
"To be able to go to halftime with the lead and to avoid a play like that is big time," he said.
When they did get the ball to start the third quarter, the Titans drove down to the Chargers 8, but Will Levis sailed his pass to tight end Josh Whyle incomplete out of the end zone on third down. Nick Folk kicked a 27-yard field goal, cutting Los Angeles' lead to 13-10.
Tennessee then gave up a 56-yard kickoff return, setting up a touchdown drive that put it in a 20-10 hole.
Levis took two sacks on the ensuing drive, leading to a punt, and the Chargers used a suffocating 95-yard march to put the game out of reach at 27-10 midway through the fourth quarter.
McCreary said a "lack of focus" was responsible for the frustrating second half.
"We come out strong, and we just can never finish," McCreary said. "A couple things, I feel like that affect the whole team. And we just have to feed off each other. One side is down, the other side got to pick it back up, and I feel like that's what we're not doing good at."
That it happened in a rare instance where Tennessee's offense protected the ball made it all the more frustrating.
Levis, who started after missing the three previous games because of a shoulder injury, ended up 18 of 23 passing for 175 yards and two touchdown throws to Ridley. Levis didn't have a turnover, but was sacked seven times.
"I thought Will was good at times," Callahan said. "I thought a couple of times, it felt like he was trying to find a bigger play in later parts of the game. And once he started getting the ball out and just trying to play faster, I thought that was good. I thought he did some good things today, and there are definitely some things that are encouraging and things to teach off of."
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