Referees Correct in Ruling Andre Johnson 4th-Quarter Catch-Fumble

With just under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter of the Houston Texans' Thursday night loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Andre Johnson brought in a short 13-yard reception over the middle on a pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick, tucked the ball and took multiple steps before fumbling it.

Colts safety Mike Adams recovered the fumble for Indianapolis. After the replay official challenged the pass completion ruling, the play was upheld, and in a night that saw 10 total accepted penalties, it was one of the good calls. 

See it again for yourself:

There was absolutely nothing in the replay to suggest that Johnson didn't have possession of the ball before he lost it—and even Johnson himself knew it was a turnover. 

The loudest (and essentially the single) voice of dissent, however, came from retired official Mike Carey, who joined CBS Sports in 2014 as a rules analyst.

Carey has been non-controversial so far in his first season as a rules expert, but his vocal disagreement with the ruling on the field was not a good look for CBS, especially for a play that was so clear to virtually everyone else. 

During the broadcast, Carey seemed to suggest that the pass was incomplete because Johnson did not tuck the ball as he advanced it, but that's not a prerequisite for possession. 

Carey was set to return to the field as an official this season, but CBS, in an effort to provide its own rules analysis angle like its competitors ESPN and Fox Sports have done with Gerry Austin and Mike Pereira, brought him on this season for its broadcasts instead. 

However, Carey's misstep was a memorable one this early in his career as an analyst. As the NFL's Joe Browne noted, Jim Nantz did not turn to Carey to get his take on the Fitzpatrick fumble at the two-minute warning just minutes after he shared his opinion on the Johnson call. 

Though we'll never know what the outcome of this game would have been had Johnson held onto that ball, the Texans would have had more than four minutes on the clock to convert a manageable 3rd-and-7 in Indianapolis territory if the reception had stood.

Only trailing the Colts by six and having converted four previous first downs on that drive, the game was still very much a winnable one for Houston at that point. 

Aside from the fumble, Johnson had his best game of the season for the Texans on Thursday after a slow start. His second-quarter touchdown was his first of the season, and he also posted season-highs in receptions (seven), targets (12) and yards (99). 

His chemistry with Fitzpatrick looked to be improved slightly, so this performance was something to build on for both quarterback and receiver moving forward in Bill O'Brien's offense.