Missed hold on Greg Gaines that led to a Jalen Hurts TD
This one was bad, and it had a pretty significant impact on the game.
Late in the second quarter Jalen Hurts connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for a touchdown that broke a tie and gave the Eagles a lead they'd never surrender. It changed the entire momentum of the game, which at that point the Bucs felt like they were in.
It was an admittedly great throw by Hurts, and everyone was quick to heap praise on him without looking at what was going on around the play.
Good lord was this a beautiful throw by Jalen Hurts pic.twitter.com/95XKzyL0uh
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 26, 2023
Here's the problem, while it was a good throw that happened because of a pretty blatant hold that somehow got missed by officials. On the ABC broadcast, Joe Buck noted that Greg Gaines was just a step away from getting to Hurts before he made the throw, which is true because he was being held.
Just watch:
If Gaines isn’t held here, he’s not a step behind and pulverizes Hurts (maybe even forced a fumble) on that Eagles TD throw. pic.twitter.com/t9qrIA1hxU
— The Pewter Plank (@ThePewterPlank) September 26, 2023
A lot of things went wrong for the Bucs on Monday night but this play had a pretty significant impact to how Tampa Bay was forced to approach things from there on out. If this play if flagged -- as it should have been -- the Eagles eitehr settle for a long field goal or attempt a fourth down conversion.
At best the Bucs surrender only three points and the score is only 6-3 instead of Tampa Bay being down a touchdown. It was a game full of miscues like this, but Mike Evans dropping a pass is easier to stomach than the Eagles getting a leg up on a missed call.
Perhaps the Bucs still end up losing, if refs catch this hold and the Eagles don't score then Mike Evans' touchdown in the fourth quarter would have cut Philly's lead to single digits instead of two touchdowns.