New York Jets: Phantom fumble a clear case of paralysis by analysis

The overturn on the New York Jets touchdown is a clear case of paralysis by analysis.

OK New York Jets fans, it’s two days later so I can talk about this. Referee Tony Corrente is not a man on the Christmas list of any Jets fans these days. We all know why. Austin Seferian-Jenkins scored a second touchdown on Sunday and we all know it. Even former referee heads know they scored. It was a touchdown and nobody has pointed out any visual evidence that says otherwise. But, it happened, that’s football, and the Jets lost.

Let’s first be real about it. It’s not the reason that they lost. If the Jets could have extended their 14-0 lead in the first half, it may not even have come down to that play. If there hadn’t been personnel confusion causing them to use two timeouts early in the second half, Josh McCown and the Jets would have had more time for a comeback. These are the reasons that the Jets lost the game.

But the call certainly didn’t help. And it made things harder to swallow when the call was wrong to everyone except Tony Corrente and Al Riveron.

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Here is what this call is an example of, however. When we look at every single scoring play, it is possible to start overanalyzing. Then we get into what is called paralysis by analysis. That is what occurred here at the New York Jets expense.

In short, paralysis by analysis has to do with over thinking. If you watch a football play long enough, for example, you can likely find a penalty. Watch every kickoff return. You will undoubtedly see a block in the back every single time. The offensive line will be guilty of holding on just about every play. We don’t stop and watch everyone, do we? Of course not. The human element remains part of the game.

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The review was automatic, this I understand. But you can’t take ten minutes overanalyzing it. The fact that nobody mentioned an issue with the play and that it took until the commercial break ended to review is a problem. Could it have bobbled, a little bit? Sure. But that’s not good enough. There has to be irrefutable evidence on that tape and nobody has been able to point out any.

That’s what happens when we look at a tape for ten minutes. One guy watches the tape that long, his eyes find something that nobody else sees. It’s called paralysis by analysis. A time limit for these reviews would help a lot.

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