Alternate angle confirms Bucs got screwed on Antoine Winfield Jr. fumble vs. Falcons

Todd Bowles remarked on Sunday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn't beat themselves and the Atlanta Falcons, but he left out how officials were also working against his team on the field. For the second time this season, a game between the Bucs and Falcons was impacted by a missed call.

In the second quarter of Sunday's game, Kyle Pitts caught what appeared to be an easy walk-in touchdown after slipping behind a lazy Buccaneers secondary. Antoine Winfield Jr., however, had other ideas. He caught up to Pitts and punched the ball out of his hands, with the only question being whether it happened before it crossed the goal line.

The ruling on the field was that it had, and after review, it was a call that stood. However, NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira said on the broadcast that the lack of a down-the-line angle prevented officials from potentially overturning the call and ruling in Tampa Bay's favor.

Bucs fans now have that alternate angle, and can feel justified in their rage over the call standing.

New angle confirms Antoine Winfield Jr. forced a fumble on Kyle Pitts and the Bucs got screwed

FOX 13 sports reporter Sean Barie was posted up along the goal line during the play and captured an alternate angle that confirms officials missed making the right call. Barie's footage is still bang-bang, but when slowed down it seems to show the ball moving out of Pitts' hand before crossing the goal line.

This is the down-the-line shot the NFL didn't have in the moment and therefore didn't have enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

It's impossible to overstate just how key this play was in flipping momentum in the game. Plenty of other mistakes were made that helped lead to the Bucs losing, but officials missing this call helped a 14-point swing that buried Tampa Bay early.

After this touchdown wasn't taken off the board, the next Bucs' drive saw Baker Mayfield miss Jalen McMillan on what should have been an easy walk-in score to even things up. Instead, the Falcons got the ball back and scored to go up 21-14.

Tampa Bay never recovered from that swing, which is as much the team's fault for failing to respond but it's unfair to shield officials from their part in this as well. This isn't the first time officiating has impacted the flow of a game when it rather clearly should not have; Bucs fans remember the missed facemask on Bucky Irving the first time these two teams met and the Vikings got a dose of that on Thursday night.

The NFL is the highest level of the sport, yet fans are constantly subjected to blown or missed calls that seriously impact the game. It's weak to blame the refs, but when they make it so easy and obvious it's sort of hard to ignore the impact.

More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors