One week after a first down debacle at the end of the Redskins-Giants game, NFL referee/punching bag Jeff Triplette was up to his old tricks, inexplicably reversing a call in the Bengals-Colts game that gave Cincinnati a touchdown it didn’t deserve.

With 1:14 left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, Bengals running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis was stopped on a fourth-and-goal run from the one-yard line. Officials ruled that Green-Ellis had been touched in the backfield before falling to the turf and sliding into the end zone. Indianapolis would get possession inside their own five-yard line.

The replay official looked at the play, as is standard for all plays that come with under two minutes remaining in a half, and challenged the call. Triplette went under the hood, where he watched the same CBS replays that showed Colts nose tackle Josh Chapman appearing to trip up Green-Ellis. The running back stumbles when Chapman’s hand makes contact, then fell to the turf, before scooting into the end zone.

On CBS, Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf barely entertained the idea that Triplette would overturn the call, even while the ref took a lengthy look at the replays. Every angle appeared to show contact. Then the ref made his announcement.

“After review, the ruling on the field is reversed. The runner is not touched and slides into the end zone. It is a touchdown.”

Gumbel and Dierdorf were as incredulous as you’ll ever hear announcers in an NFL booth.

“Are you kidding me?,” Gumbel asked. “Are you kidding me? Not touched? What did he think he tripped on back there at the five-yard line?”

“Jeff Triplette doesn’t think that Chapman hit his foot,” Dierdorf said in disbelief.

It was as bad a call as we’ve seen in the NFL this season.

Though almost all observers believed Chapman clearly made contact with the runner’s foot, let’s suspend reality for a moment and say that the contact was in doubt, like we don’t know for sure. Even then — even then! –Triplette still didn’t have indisputable visual evidence to overturn the call! Remember, Green-Ellis was ruled down on the field. In order to change the call, Triplette needed to see clear proof that he wasn’t. No matter what you think, no one can claim there was anything incontrovertible in that replay.

Esteemed NFL writers saw it the same way.

The overturn by Triplette in Cincinnati: disgraceful. Indefensible. — Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) December 8, 2013

The NFL has to fire Jeff Triplette. He’s consistently the worst ref in the NFL. — Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 8, 2013

Jeff Triplette is so bullet-proof with the NFL that he’ll probably get the Super Bowl assignment out of this week’s screw-ups. — Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) December 8, 2013

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