The Bucs had two turnovers in their 19-17 win against the Patriots, but should have had another one much earlier in the game. Head coach Bruce Arians still hasn’t forgotten about that and commented on what he believes was a blown call by the officials Sunday night.
With no score early in the first quarter, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completed a short pass to Jacobi Meyers, which was then knocked out by Shaq Barrett and recovered by Devin White, as he returned it to the Patriots 15-yard line. This would have set the Bucs up in great field position, but the play was reviewed and reversed to an incompletion.
It was an odd call as Meyers had starting moving up the field when Barrett hit the ball out of his hands. Arians was livid on the sidelines during the broadcast and was still questioning it the day after the game.
Here is a slow-motion replay of alleged fumble.
Shaq Barrett forces the fumble on the Play! Tampa takes over. 🔥
Play is under review if the WR had possession. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/FL8tw4GeN2
— AllThingsBucs (@AllThingsTBbucs) October 4, 2021
“It’s a shame they took away that fumble because that was a great play by him (Barrett) on that forced fumble,” Arians said. “I don’t know what a fumble is anymore. I would just challenge that in a heartbeat, and I’m still talking about it with the league today.”
Arians confirmed that he spoke with someone in the league office on Monday and still isn’t buying their reasoning. It got to the point in Arians’ case where the league official ended up agreeing with his stance on the play.
“I’ve always thought running towards the goal line was a football move,” Arians said. “They say he had two steps, total control, but there had to be a third element. I don’t know what the hell that is. Caught the ball and ran it the goal line, that’s a football move. The person I talked to in the league office agreed with me today, but he wasn’t on that game, so it’s very confusing.”