NFL Admits Browns Should Have Been Given Controversial Fumble Recovery

NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron admitted the league missed a controversial fumble call in the Oakland Raiders' 45-42 overtime win against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4.

In a video posted to Twitter (explanation begins at 2:38 mark), Riveron said referees should not have blown the play dead because Raiders quarterback Derek Carr did, in fact, fumble the ball when he was hit by Browns pass rushers Myles Garrett and Genard Avery with 6:39 remaining in regulation. 

"We ruled the passer stopped for forward progress and we kill the play," Riveron said (h/t ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert. "This is not forward progress. Obviously, this is a fumble. We should not have blown the whistle." 

However, officials were not able to review the play since a dead ball was declared when the whistle sounded, making the play ineligible for review. 

Conversely, Riveron confirmed the NFL made the appropriate call when replay officials in New York City overturned an apparent first-down gain by Browns running back Carlos Hyde on 3rd-and-2 from Cleveland's own 17-yard line with 1:36 to go in regulation. 

"From the line feed, you can see the line to gain is just past the 19-yard line," an NFL spokesman said of the replay, per NFL.com's Marc Sessler. "One replay angle shows [Hyde's] wrist, and the elbow hit the ground simultaneously. Then when you go back to the line feed, you see the wrist hit the ground and you know the elbow is down. At that point, you are able to clearly see that the ball is short of the line to gain."

The Browns were ultimately forced to punt, and the Raiders forced overtime when Carr hit tight end Jared Cook for a seven-yard touchdown and Jordy Nelson for a game-tying two point conversion with 30 seconds to play.