Baltimore Ravens get away with delay of game no-call vs Detroit Lions

One of the biggest storylines from Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season was the Baltimore Ravens defeating the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker lined up to nail a record-setting 66-yard field goal to grab the win.

Justin Tucker had the spotlight on him and he was the hottest topic of the NFL weekend. With that said, if you missed the game, there was a clear delay in the game penalty that was never called on the Baltimore Ravens. It led to the game-winning field goal attempt.

One play prior to Justin Tucker making history, the Baltimore Ravens had their offense on the field. QB Lamar Jackson was in shotgun formation and his goal was to find a receiver along the sideline to make the field goal attempt a bit closer than 66 yards.

There were seven seconds left in the game but the play clock ticked down to zero and the ball still wasn't snapped. The ball was held on to for another two seconds approximately before being snapped.

Lamar Jackson threw left towards the sidelines and it went out of bounds with three seconds left. Justin Tucker took the field and the rest is history.

If you look closely, Lamar Jackson pauses after the snap as he expects a whistle for the penalty. There was no whistle and he continued on with the play and rolled with it. If the penalty had occurred, it would have pushed the Baltimore Ravens back five yards and it would have been a 71-yard field goal.

A missed delay of game penalty allowed Baltimore Ravens to kick game-winning FG

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the no-call post-game. He said:

"Yeah, there's nothing I can say to that. Tomorrow you'll get an apology [from the league], and it doesn't mean anything. That's life."

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh argued it wasn't a delay for the game, stating there was "leeway." Harbaugh argued there was a built-in delay for the back judge, who monitors the game clock and play clock.

The delay is only half a second, at most. The time between the play clock reaching zero and the ball being snapped was more about 1.5 seconds. Former NFL official Terry McAulay stated it should have been a flag thrown for delay of game on the Baltimore Ravens.

In the NFL, there are also blown calls. Some are minor and some can alter the outcome of a game, such as this one. The delay of game call did lead to the Ravens beating the Lions in Week 3 and involved a record-setting FG attempt.

However, there have been bigger blunders. An example of a bigger missed call was the "Intertouchdownception" or "Fail Mary" of 2012 between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks on the final play of the game. One referee waved off the TD as an INT while another called it a TD. Blown calls are just part of the game.