NFL

Close butt inspection turns into TD: ‘I’m looking at the cheeks’

Slide over, ButtFumble, and make room for the ButtReview.

In Charlotte, N.C., the Panthers challenged an incomplete ruling on a pass from Cam Newton to Damiere Byrd in the back of the end zone against the Packers. With Carolina leading 17-14 in the third quarter, Byrd juggled the pass and grabbed it as he was falling to the ground, appearing at first look to land with his backside half inbounds and half on the endline.

“I’m looking at the cheeks,” Mike Pereira, former NFL head of officiating, said on FOX during the review. “Does the left cheek hit first?”

When the video was freeze-framed, Byrd had both cheeks inbounds when he contacted the ground, and the Panthers were awarded the touchdown.