Patriots screwed for second straight week by so-called forward progress (Video) #Raiders #NFL #Steelers #HereWeGo #Pickett #Franco

The New England Patriots have been screwed over for the second consecutive week by a forward progress ruling, this time against the Miami Dolphins.

For the Patriots to keep their slim postseason hopes alive, they need to defeat the Miami Dolphins in Week 17. That pursuit was not aided by the officials on Sunday, as what should’ve been called a Dolphins fumble was instead ruled down, per forward progress rules.

However, Miami running back Raheem Mostert was very clearly still churning his legs forward. A New England defender made contact with the ball and a scrum ensued, with the Patriots recovering said fumble.

That…wasn’t even close. What makes matters worse is it’s the second straight week the Patriots had such a call go against them.

Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 16, a New England fumble should have been called down due to forward progress.

All of these are judgement calls, and forward progress cannot be reviewed. That leads to questionable decision making like we’ve seen the last two weeks in Patriots games.

What is forward progress?

Per the NFL rulebook, forward progress is “the point on the field where the forward momentum of a player who is in possession of the football is stopped by a defender or by going out of bounds. A player is awarded the most forward spot the runner reached when the ball is declared dead even if he is pushed backward.”

Why can’t forward progress be reviewed?

Forward progress cannot be reviewed by the replay booth. As explained by the officials, “since a call of forward progress is up to the discretion of the referee, and because the play is automatically ruled dead when forward progress occurs, the play is not reviewable.”