Referees missed apparent penalty that would have nullified Ravens’ stunning ‘kick-six’ win

Baltimore’s Brent Urban blocked the kick in perfectly legal fashion, but his teammate Anthony Levine appeared to be lined up offsides prior to the kick. Levine initially jumped too early, but recovered in time to not be flagged for encroachment. While he got set again, he lined up with his hand and head in the neutral zone.

UPDATE: The NFL says that Levine was not lined up in the neutral zone. Dean Blandino, NFL Vice President of Officiating, says the ball was spotted at the 33 1/2-yard line, and the media “going around” have the line of scrimmage at the 33-yard line, giving it the appearance of Levine being in the neutral zone.

Levine did not have an impact on the play and Urban would have blocked the kick whether Levine had lined up onside or not. Still, it’s pretty obvious he should have been flagged for being in the neutral zone.

Had he correctly been flagged the block and the subsequent game-winning return would have been nullified. Instead the Browns would have had another chance to win, this time from 46 yards.

If you want to dig even further into a potential referee oversight, there is grainy footage leading some to believe Will Hill stepped out of bounds on the return. That part, unlike Levine being offsides, is much less clear.

While it appears the Browns got the short end of things this time, the Ravens were finally on the beneficial side of a refereeing error, having previously been on the wrong side of things earlier this season. This is the second time the Browns have been on the wrong side of a call like this. They were flagged for being offsides against San Diego, giving the Chargers a second chance at the win after a miss.

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