Jeff Fisher not pleased with forward-progress whistle

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Jeff Fisher not pleased with forward-progress whistle
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...her-not-pleased-with-forward-progress-whistle

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- As St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher stood before the assembled media Monday evening discussing his team's 13-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, he couldn't help but think of what he might have been talking about had the game not gone the Rams way.

More than 24 hours after Sunday's game, Fisher was still fuming about a whistle that came after Rams defensive tackle Kendall Langford tackled Niners back Frank Gore, forcing a fumble that linebacker James Laurinaitis recovered and ran to the end zone. With the Rams trailing 10-3 in the second quarter, the loose ball and apparent touchdown would have tied the game and potentially shifted momentum, but the officials waited a beat and then blew the play dead.

The ruling on the field was that Gore's forward progress had been stopped, so even though he fumbled, it was after his progress had ended.

“I think they’re fairly consistent as far as when they’re blowing the play dead," Fisher said. "This was highly inconsistent, however. This play was not dead. The ball came out. They made a mistake. Again, glad we won this game because that would be the major topic of discussion right now because that was a defensive score.”

Fisher, who is a member of the NFL's competition committee, knew forward progress was not a call that he could challenge, but he threw the red flag anyway. It's safe to assume he did so because he wanted to spend a little more time letting the officiating crew know that they had blown the call.

Replays show that Fisher had a legitimate beef, and though some might think it was a "quick" whistle, it actually wasn't quick at all. In fact, there was a moment where it appeared the officials were going to let it play out before they seemed to randomly decide to blow the play dead.

Fisher voiced his displeasure immediately after the game and said he saw nothing on the tape Monday to change his mind.

“I feel the same way," Fisher said. "I’ll just say this: I’s nice to have won this game because that is a game-changing call. That’s a defensive touchdown and it’s the wrong call, the incorrect call. It was not progress. The ball was out. He should’ve thrown the bean bag, ruled it a fumble. Then you go back to replay and replay shows it’s fumble.

"It’s a defensive touchdown. In essence, they took a defensive touchdown away from us because he blew the whistle. The forward progress …there were a number of other instances in that game where you could say, ‘OK.’ When they picked up Tre [Mason] and dropped him on his head, that’s forward progress. Whistles didn’t blow there. I was disappointed in the call and I will be. It’s the incorrect call, the wrong call.”

In many instances, calls that have gone against the Rams have contributed to losses. They also had a couple bounce their way Sunday in what was a rough day at the office for referee Jerome Boger and his crew in general. But this time, it didn't matter as much because the Rams found a way to win.