This is an interesting call in light of the call the previous week that helped “cost” the Packers the game, when Greg Olsen was ruled pushed out of bounds and the bears were given a touchdown on a play that was very iffy. Here is an instance of a player who would have clearly come down in bounds, but was ruled that he would not have. Once again, the bears benefit and the Packers get robbed, on the same type of play.
From Greg Bedard at journalsentinel.com:
The official that ruled tight end Bubba Franks out of bounds on a fourth-quarter reception in the end zone against the Washington Redskins on Sunday was “really wrong,” according to Mike Pereira, the vice president of NFL officiating. With 10:06 left and the Packers leading, 17-14, quarterback Brett Favre threw a pass to the right corner of the end zone from the 8-yard line intended for Franks.
He caught the ball but was only able to get one foot in bounds before Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot pushed Franks out of bounds. The official ruled the pass incomplete because, in his view, Franks would not have gotten two feet down inbounds without contact.
“Clearly Bubba Franks would have come down in bounds and it would have been a catch,” Pereira said Wednesday night on the NFL Network. “I think we were really wrong in making that judgment.”