MINNEAPOLIS -- NFL replacement official Ken Roan didn't just make a key mistake on a basic rule by allowing San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to challenge a play after calling his final timeout.
Roan did it twice in the span of six plays late in Sunday's game between the 49ers and Minnesota Vikings.
The errors cloaked the final four minutes of the Vikings' 24-13 victory in chaos, with fans throwing up their hands in confusion and normally mild-mannered Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier shouting at the officiating crew.
With the Vikings trying to run out the clock, Harbaugh called his last timeout after a run by Toby Gerhart on third down. He then decided to challenge the play, and replays showed that Gerhart fumbled the ball and 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis recovered it.
Roan said Harbaugh first called the timeout, then asked him if he still could challenge the play.
"What I told him was, 'Well, you challenged it not knowing what the result of the play was going to be,' " Roan said. "So I granted him the challenge, and we went and looked at it. That was wrong. I should not have."
Gerhart even disputed the replay ruling, saying he simply let the ball go after he heard the whistle blow to stop the play.
"I was stopped," Gerhart said. "They pushed me backwards. They blew the whistle. I was going down. I just put the ball on the ground and got up. They grabbed it, and I don't know. That one I have no idea."
Because the 49ers won the challenge, Harbaugh was given back his final timeout.
Five plays later, the Vikings had the ball again with less than three minutes to play. After a first-down run, Harbaugh called his last timeout, again only to decide later to challenge the play. Roan again granted Harbaugh the challenge, but replays showed Gerhart did fumble the ball before recovering it himself, so the Vikings retained possession.
"My interpretation of it was that he could do that based upon the time factors and not knowing it was a challengeable play to begin with when he called timeout," Roan said.
NFL rules require a team to have a timeout to challenge a play. Because Harbaugh called his final timeout before throwing the challenge flag, he should not have been allowed to contest the ruling on the field.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
