The Green Bay Packers had the perfect play called for third-and-9. Aaron Rodgers hit James Jones for what looked like a 14-yard gain. Move the chains. Except the play didn’t end there. Instead, this happened:
Packers WR gives up first down, loses 12 yards by breaking too many tackles
Jones had the first down easily, but kept fighting after the initial contact. Somehow he broke a pair of tackles and broke free. Thanks to his extra effort, Jones was a runner again and not given forward progress. Had officials blown the whistle as soon as Jones started getting pushed backward, he would have been given forward progress and the play ends there. Instead he kept going, fumbled and turned a 14-yard gain into 2-yard gain.
Forward progress is a judgement call and can be disputed at times. The Ravens were not pleased when Chris Johnson was not called down due to forward progress last week. That play worked out well for Johnson who gained an extra 57 yard. This time did not work out nearly as well for Jones.
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