New Orleans/Denver

[bisonlj]

I was just watching First Take on ESPN and they showed a play from near the end of the New Orleans/Denver. NO had a 3rd and 1 from around the Denver 30. One of the Denver DBs lined up on the end of the LOS and appeared to be in the neutral zone. No flag was thrown and the runner was tackled about a yard behind the LOS (the DB was not part of the tackle but it was right in front of him).

The commentators discussed if this call was worse than the Denver/San Diego call. They all agreed it was a horrible call but disagreed on the whether it was worse than last week's call.

Those who thought it was worse gave Hochuli the benefit of the doubt because his was a bang bang play from a weird angle while this play the official had several seconds to look at the defender and make a decision. If a flag had been thrown, NO would have a first down and could have driven closer for a shorter field goal or possibly touchdown. The player was on the bottom of the screen and they claimed it was the call of the official on top of the screen showing their ignorance.

My thought is the official probably had the right angle and in his judgement the player was either not in the neutral zone or not enough to gain an advantage. Thoughts?