official moves player out of the way

Don'ta Hightower attempts to stand over Jets long-snapper Tanner Purdum just before Nick Folk's 58-yard field goal at the end of the Jets' loss to the Patriots. Hightower should have been flagged. But an official intervened and told him to move. Why? (NFL.com)

UPDATE (9:46 a.m.): Controversy's canceled, you guys. The NFL says what the official did was "standard officiating procedure." Details here.



FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Brace yourselves for another officiating controversy involving a field goal at the end of a Jets-Patriots game, America. Because what the heck is this?

Thursday night, Jets kicker Nick Folk tried a 58-yard field goal on the game's final play. The try was obviously a longshot (duh): Folk had never made a kick attempt longer than 56 yards, and this one was blocked by Patriots defensive end Chris Jones. The Patriots won, 27-25, and the Jets got to slink back to Florham Park to figure out what to do, their season in ashes now that they're 1-6 with six straight losses.

Now, the Jets did plenty wrong and deserved to lose. Their season is a trash heap because they stink. But this isn't a good look for the NFL's officiating crew.

Check out what happened just before the ball was snapped. Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower approached the line of scrimmage and attempted to stand just over Jets long snapper Tanner Purdum. According to the rule book, this should have been a five-yard penalty. But instead, an official stepped in, grabbed Hightower by his right arm, and presumably told him to move over, which Hightower quickly did. But why?

An NFL spokesman did not immediately return an email message seeking comment, but that might have something to do with the fact that it's now past 3 a.m.

You can watch the video here; I'd embed it, but the NFL would rather not do anything to make life easy for its fans.

The video begins just as the official steps up to nudge Hightower aside. I've screen-grabbed it for you at the top of this post. And here's a close-up Vine that gives a clearer view of the official's actions:

Loading *PLEASE SHARE* ... HOLD UP DID YOU SEE THE REF SAVE N.E FROM GETTING A PENALTY FOR LINING UP OVER THE CENTER???? He should've just thrown the flag ARE YOU KIDDING ME? @NFL View on Instagram

The entire sequence is an odd echo of the last Jets-Patriots game, played last October down in North Jersey. That afternoon, Jones—yes, the same player who blocked Thursday night's game-ending kick—blocked a 56-yard Folk field goal attempt in overtime. But, at the time, Jones was assessed a penalty for pushing teammate Will Svitek into the line of scrimmage, which violated a rule the NFL had only implemented prior to last season. Jones was assessed a 15-yard penalty, the Jets got a new set of downs, and Folk later hit a field goal from 42 yards out to win the game. That triggered some confusion over the what the rule actually said. And the NFL would later admit the Jets should have been flagged for the same type of infraction earlier in the game.

But at least that was an honest mistake. What happened Thursday night seemed to be active intervention on the part of an official to prevent what, by rule, should have been a penalty. Had Hightower stayed where he was, inside the shoulder pads of Purdum, Rule 9-1-3(a) calls for a five-yard penalty for illegal formation: "When Team A presents a punt, field-goal, or Try Kick formation, a Team B player, who is within one yard of the line of scrimmage, must have his entire body outside the snapper's shoulder pads at the snap."

But the official intervened instead, and immediately after Hightower got nudged, he moved outside Purdum's shoulder pads, where he was lined up legally. Again: Why?

A five-yard penalty would have given Folk a shot at a field goal attempt from 53 yards out. There's obviously no telling whether Folk would have made it, but he has successfully kicked five field goals from 53 yards or greater in his career, and he was a perfect 13-for-13 on field goals this season—including one from beyond 50 yards—before his would-be game-winner Thursday night got blocked.

Dom Cosentino may be reached at dcosentino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @domcosentino. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.