There were several moments during Saturday's Divisional Round matchup between the Packers and Cardinals that were hard to believe -- Green Bay converted two Hail Marys on their final drive and still lost, after all -- but the craziness of the overtime coin toss might be unrivaled.
We're referring, of course, to referee Clete Blakeman's toss that never rotated before it fell to the ground. Blakeman immediately picked up the coin and flipped again. The Cardinals won the toss for a second time and went on to a dramatic 26-20 victory.
Aaron Rodgerscalled the incident "confusing" and lamented it was "unfortunate it comes down to that." So what does the NFL think? Dean Blandino, the league's vice president of officiating, said Blakeman handled an unusual situation in the proper manner.
"I've never seen in football where the coin didn't actually flip," Blandino said on NFL Network's NFL Total Access on Tuesday. "And although the rulebook doesn't specifically state that it must rotate, I think common sense would dictate that the coin has to flip in order to have a coin toss. I thought (Blakeman) did the best job he could with what he had and common sense would dictate that we would flip it again."
Makes sense to us. Then again, the NFL is extremely fortunate the Cardinals won the toss in both instances. If Green Bay won the first toss, then lost the second (then the game), we are talking controversy that would make Dez Bryant's catch/non-catch from last year look adorably slight in comparison.
Really, we should all be thankful for this.
