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Cris Collinsworth Could Not Understand Controversial Rams Pick-Six

Cade Otton couldn’t protect the ball and it resulted in a very odd pick-six.

Stephen Douglas

Cade Otton had the ball and a knee down, but didn’t preform an act common to the game.
Cade Otton had the ball and a knee down, but didn’t preform an act common to the game. / NBC / @AwfulAnnouncin
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The Rams had a huge first half against the Buccaneers on Sunday NIght Football as they took a 31-7 lead into intermission. Matthew Stafford got whatever he wanted while Baker Mayfield took a beating.

While Stafford threw three touchdown passes, Mayfield threw two first half interceptions, including one in the first quarter that turned into a pick-six. Mayfield threw a pass to Cade Otton that was bobbled and then taken away by Cobie Durant, who returned the ball 50 yards for a touchdown to put Los Angeles up 14-0 late in the first quarter.

It was an odd play and NBC's Cris Collinsworth wasn't convinced Otten shouldn't have been called down and given credit for a reception. Rules analyst Terry McAuley joined the broadcast to explain why Otton wasn't down even though he was kind of down.

"I thought it was obvious that he had control when the knee went down," said Collinsworth, "but I know that's not enough, right Terry?"

"Exactly, Cris," said McAuley. "He then has to have it long enough to preform an act common to the game and as we see it got stripped pretty quickly. It just isn't clear and obvious that he had it long enough, enough to reverse to down."

They then agreed that Otten had control and his knee was down, but it he wasn't down "by rule."

The good news is that the game isn't close enough for the call to matter.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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