Lions challenge flag penalty has Raiders fans thinking tuck rule

The controversial call was when Texans' running back Justin Forsett looked to be tackled but a whistle was not blown and he ran it 81 yards for a touchdown. This alone would not have been an issue as all scoring plays are automatically reviewed in the NFL. But there is an odd "tuck rule" type rule that prevented the right call from being made.

The replay showed Forsett was clearly down with both his elbow and his knee.

The touchdown call would have been overturned and the ball place back around the Texans' 30 yard line. But that didn't happen because Lions coach Jim Schwartz threw the challenge flag before Forsett had even made it all the way to the endzone.

Throwing the challenge flag before a call could be made or on a non-challengable scoring play is a 15-yard penalty. That was not the issue. The issue is a weird rule that states that the play would then no longer be reviewable once the challenge flag was thrown.

Former Vice President of Officials for the NFL, Mike Periera, weighed in on it via his Twitter page:

"Just got back from the field. The rule penalizing Schwartz is good. The rule not allowing the play to be reviewed is horrible. Must change"

"Rule is if the coach throws the flag before the Replay official initiates a review,the play cannot be reviewed. This will change."

Adding to the reminiscent sting for Raiders fans is that this game is officiated by none other than Walt Coleman-- the same head official for the tuck rule game. In the case of the Raiders game, the call on the field was overturned. In this case, the play was not blown dead when it should have been. But more so, it was the stupid rule not allowing the play to be reviewed that really did the damage.

Some rules just should not exist. The tuck rule was one such rule partially because it is too much up to interpretation. Tom Brady made a pump fake and brought the ball back before he was hit by Charles Woodson.

That should have been a fumble. In this game, Forsett was down and therefore the touchdown run should have been a waste of his breath. Regardless of any other stupid rules for challenge flags, it doesn't change the fact that the wrong call was made and should have been corrected.

These stupid rules continue to destroy the spirit of the game. And don't even get me started on the "defenseless player" hit rules.