Officiating has been at the center of the NFL playoffs and it was under the microscope again after Sunday's wild-card game between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.
On the final drive, with the Panthers at the Saints' 21-yard line and driving for a game-winning score, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton was flagged for intentional grounding. Saints pass-rusher Cameron Jordan had Newton in his grasp, but the pivot managed to throw the ball out of bounds.
Newton thought he had gotten outside of the tackle box to negate the grounding call. Head coach Ron Rivera felt the same.
"I thought our quarterback was out of the pocket. I thought there was a receiver in the vicinity. I thought the ball passed the line of scrimmage. I mean, I don't know. It would be nice to have the explanation ... I didn't get the explanation," Rivera said after the game, according to NFL.com.
"We have a chance to score on that last drive, you know, and I kind of feel like it was taken away from us."
The Saints' defense held and New Orleans went on to win the game 31-26.
