NFL referee Clay Martin completely botched the overtime coin toss that benefited Bryce Young and the visiting Carolina Panthers against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon, the second time this has affected Raheem Morris’ squad in three weeks.
The epic shootout between Bryce Young’s Panthers and Michael Penix Jr.’s Falcons required overtime, with the game tied 27 apiece after 60 minutes. When Young went to meet Clay Martin for the coin toss, the head referee made a bizarre mistake.
As everyone knows, the team that wins the toss can decide whether to kick or receive, with the other team then deciding which end zone they wish to defend. But after winning the coin toss, Young said Carolina wanted “to kick that way,” and Martin inexplicably awarded him both requests:
Carolina’s defense forced an Atlanta punt, and Young needed just five plays to set up kicker Ryan Fitzgerald for the game-winning 28-yard kick.
As noted by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the NFL referees made another coin toss mistake when the Falcons visited the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin two weeks ago.
The Colts got to call “heads” or tails”, even though they were the designated home team and not the visiting club. Head referee Clete Blakeman was informed of the error and redid the toss, with the Falcons winning it and electing to receive.
