NFL defends officials' decision on Texans' DeAndre Hopkins

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Reacting to the controversy surrounding Texans Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins being ruled out of bounds Monday night that prevented a potential touchdown, NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino has defended the call.

In a video, Blandino says that the wide receiver's heel seemed to touch the sideline. However, Blandino admitted that replay doesn't conclusively indicate whether the call was right or wrong.

Hopkins was ruled out of bounds during the first quarter of a 27-20 loss to the Oakland Raiders at Estadio Azteca as the Texans wound up settling for a 32-yard field goal by Nick Novak.

"The right foot at the 36-yard line, look at the heel," Blandino said. "The heel appears to be in the white. It's not right down the line. So, it's not definitive. But we certainly can't say he was obviously in bounds from this angle. The heel looks like it's down. It looks like it could be touching the white.

"It's not definitive either way. It certainly appears that the foot is out of bounds. There's no way we can say this foot is clearly in bounds and the ruling on the field is that he was out."

Texans coach Bill O'Brien wanted to challenge the play. However, under NFL rules that kind of challenge isn't allowed because the play has already been blown dead.

"This is not reviewable," Blandino said. "If we rule the player out of bounds, we're killing it, we're blowing whistles. You can't give an advance in replay. The theory is the players are stopping because of the dead-ball ruling and it would be impossible to tell where the receiver would have ended up if we hadn't killed the play."

O'Brien had a much different opinion on the play.

Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins races down the sideline after catching a pass in the first quarter. Although replays showed that Hopkins stayed inbounds, the play was blown dead, and it was ruled that Hopkins stepped out at the Raiders' 36-yard line. less Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins races down the sideline after catching a pass in the first quarter. Although replays showed that Hopkins stayed inbounds, the play was blown dead, and it was ruled that ... more Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff Image 1 of / 95 Caption Close NFL defends officials' decision on Texans' DeAndre Hopkins 1 / 95 Back to Gallery

"If you want to talk about (challenges), let's go back to that one," O'Brien said. "Did he look out of bounds to you? I had the flag out, but they told me I couldn't challenge."

As for Hopkins, when it was suggested to him that the officiating calls leaned toward the Raiders, he didn't criticize the officiating and replied: "You just said it yourself. I'm not talking about that subject. [Reporter] said that the refs were leaning toward the Raiders."