How Was Tavon Austin's Missed Field-Goal Return Not Ruled a Safety?

The first half between the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers ended in a bizarre way.

49ers kicker Phil Dawson came out and attempted to knock home a 55-yard field goal to give his team the lead. The kick wound up falling short, which gave Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin a chance to return it—he was waiting in the back of the end zone for it.

With no time left on the clock, it looked like Austin was just going to take a knee. Instead, he hesitated and decided to take the ball out of the end zone. Obviously that didn't go well.

The folks over at SB Nation posted a GIF detailing exactly what went down:

Credit: SB Nation

At first glance, it sure looks like that should have been ruled a safety. Austin clearly exits the end zone with both feet, then cuts back and is tackled in the land of pay dirt.

Not so fast. Somehow the refs decided that Austin's forward progress was actually stopped before he left the end zone, which took two points off the board for the 49ers.

Mike Sando of ESPN.com disagreed with their decision:

On the flip side, Mike Pereira—the former vice president of officiating in the NFL—threw his two cents in and explained why the refs made that call:

The craziest part about this whole thing was that the officials sitting in the New York command center had a chance to review the play. Still, as Pereira explained during his breakdown, it was a lot closer than it looked on TV.

What do you think? Should that play have been ruled a safety? Or did the refs actually make the right call?

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of ESPN.com.