NFL Clarifies Why Official Moved Ball in Ravens-Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals thought they had a first down until the official moved the ball back.

ARIZONA -- There's plenty of talking points surrounding the Arizona Cardinals' most recent loss, which came in 31-24 fashion against the Baltimore Ravens. 

One of which involved an official. Around nine minutes left in the second quarter, the Cardinals attempted a fourth-and-short which was ultimately deemed unsuccessful. The officials didn't measure the actual spot of the ball and instead simply pushed the ball backwards before ruling it a turnover on downs. 

Social media went into a frenzy and even CBS' broadcast team said they had never seen anything like that before. 

Seems legit. pic.twitter.com/ZU5dNTDUi0

— Vince Marotta (@Vincemarotta) October 29, 2023

Postgame, we asked Jonathan Gannon about the play and he relayed that the league's replay assistant from above made the call.

PFWA Pool Reporter and AZ Central's Bob McManaman got a further explanation from NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson:

"Yes, this was a replay assist from the booth at the stadium. With the replay assist rule, what that allows us to do is provide officials with objective information if we end up with clear and obvious video evidence. We waited a bit because we weren't exactly sure where the officials were going to initially spot the ball after all the players cleared and we could see it actually spotted on the big line. Then the replay official told the officials that the ball was clearly short and that's why the umpire ended up moving the ball. And obviously with it be short on a fourth down with the new rule this year, a failed fourth-down attempt is a booth review. But since we had already assisted, we knew it was short that's why we didn't stop further to review it again."

The Cardinals will be on the road against the Cleveland Browns in Week 9.