Philadelphia Eagles: NFL admits calling Miles Sanders’ TD back was wrong

Philadelphia Eagles rookie running back Miles Sanders scored his first touchdown this past Sunday. Unfortunately, a bogus penalty called it back.

What’s worse than witnessing a bogus penalty call back a scoring play on Sunday’s? Hearing the NFL admit that they were totally wrong about said bogus penalty. To no surprise, the Philadelphia Eagles got hit with one on Sunday — and the NFL stepped up and admitted wrongdoing.

It happened in the second-half when the Eagles were controlling the clock on offense and inching closer in the red zone. Quarterback Carson Wentz simply handed the ball off to rookie running back Miles Sanders who bounced it outside and was taking it up the field.

He showed elusiveness on the play — the kind of elusiveness that built hype around his name over the course of the summer. Sanders made it to the end zone for the first time in his NFL career, and Lincoln Financial Field went crazy as the rookie made his introduction to the NFL.

Unfortunately, the referees that day stripped away the moment by throwing a penalty flag. Apparently, fellow second-round pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside held Redskins’ cornerback Josh Norman on the play, that would take away Sanders’ entire run. After seeing the replay, the crowd wasn’t pleased as it was clear that Norman fell down and sold the hold. But the penalty would stand.

So it wasn’t a flag after all?

Sanders got over it, as he expects to do that more than a few times this season. However, Arcega-Whiteside still wasn’t happy. Being that the rookie wideout doesn’t want to make mistakes because he wants more reps, the last thing that he needs is a holding call against him on a play that resulted in a touchdown.

Knowing that he didn’t actually hold, Arcega-Whiteside was curious to know what he did wrong. “I was asking people what I could have done better,” Arcega-Whiteside told Allentown Morning Call’s, Nick Fierro. “Everybody was saying that you just can’t do anything better than that.”

It’s true — because Arcega-Whiteside’s block that got mistaken as a hold wasn’t actually illegal. His coaches knew it, the fans knew, he knew it, and now the referees are admitting that they know it as well. After further review, the NFL admits it was a bad call on the field. And by the time Arcega-Whiteside got back to the locker room, he was told the NFL sent an apology.