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One of the biggest turning points in the Denver Broncos' loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship came in the second quarter of the game. On a 3rd-and-4 from the Denver 33, quarterback Jarrett Stidham was flushed out of the pocket and seemingly pushed the ball out as Patriots defender Christian Elliss closed in on him.
Initially ruled intentional grounding, the play was discussed and ruled a backward pass (a fumble), recovered by New England at the Denver 12. The Patriots scored a touchdown two plays later, tying the game at 7-7.
After an eventual 10-7 loss, Stidham accepted responsibility for the turnover.
“Obviously, I can’t put our team in a bad position like that," Stidham said. "I was trying to throw it away to TB [running back Tyler Badie], he was in the area. The pressure… (Elliss) just got up on me real fast, and I was trying to get rid of it. Like I said, I can’t put the ball in a position like that, so that was completely on me.”
Head coach Sean Payton questioned whether the play should have been ruled a backward pass, but said he did not have a good enough angle on the field to judge it accordingly.
"On the turnover, I know it was reviewed," Payton said. "It’s always hard from the field level as a backward pass, but that was a frustrating thing when you play that back and forth. We were playing well enough defensively. That was a big play if you said a turning-point play, but I couldn’t really tell on the angle of the backward pass.”
Stidham didn't think he threw the ball backward.
"I thought I had thrown it forwards and then obviously the replay or whatever said differently," Stidham said. "Like I said, probably should’ve just eaten the sack anyway and let [punter] Jeremy [Crawshaw] and the punt team punt it down the field and flip the field. Like I said, I can’t do that.”
Stidham and the Broncos now enter the NFL offseason as the Patriots prepare to play in the Super Bowl.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Jarrett Stidham take blame for fumble: ‘Completely on me’
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Initially ruled intentional grounding, the play was discussed and ruled a backward pass (a fumble), recovered by New England at the Denver 12. The Patriots scored a touchdown two plays later, tying the game at 7-7.
After an eventual 10-7 loss, Stidham accepted responsibility for the turnover.
“Obviously, I can’t put our team in a bad position like that," Stidham said. "I was trying to throw it away to TB [running back Tyler Badie], he was in the area. The pressure… (Elliss) just got up on me real fast, and I was trying to get rid of it. Like I said, I can’t put the ball in a position like that, so that was completely on me.”
Head coach Sean Payton questioned whether the play should have been ruled a backward pass, but said he did not have a good enough angle on the field to judge it accordingly.
"On the turnover, I know it was reviewed," Payton said. "It’s always hard from the field level as a backward pass, but that was a frustrating thing when you play that back and forth. We were playing well enough defensively. That was a big play if you said a turning-point play, but I couldn’t really tell on the angle of the backward pass.”
Stidham didn't think he threw the ball backward.
"I thought I had thrown it forwards and then obviously the replay or whatever said differently," Stidham said. "Like I said, probably should’ve just eaten the sack anyway and let [punter] Jeremy [Crawshaw] and the punt team punt it down the field and flip the field. Like I said, I can’t do that.”
Stidham and the Broncos now enter the NFL offseason as the Patriots prepare to play in the Super Bowl.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Jarrett Stidham take blame for fumble: ‘Completely on me’
Continue reading...
