In Chargers-Titans, replay worked. Let's celebrate a success.

Often maligned but sometimes essential, replay saved us from an ignominious finish in the Chargers-Titans game Sunday. The 2019 NFL season has been defined by gripes about increases in penalties and replay delays. The complaining is unlikely to end because of one positive development in a marginally important game, but at least this will serve as a counterbalance amid the constant doom and gloom.

One of the few cultural institutions that can bring wide swaths of the population together, the NFL often is dissected in a granular way that other leagues are not. Problems are often blown way out of proportion. Even Tom Brady,  the league’s marquee player, has publicly complained about the proliferation of flags during a prime-time game. 

But Sunday featured an uplifting moment for replay among the seemingly endless litany of awful shortcomings of the Chargers. Los Angeles had the ball in the red zone, trailing Tennessee 23-20 in the final minute. A second-down pass from the Titans' 16 initially resulted in a touchdown reception by Austin Ekeler. The play was overturned, however, on automatic scoring replay by officials, who ruled the running back's arm holding the football had not crossed the goal line. That set up the Chargers with a first-and-goal from the 1. 

After the teams swapped penalties to get them back to the same down and distance, Philip Rivers handed the ball to Melvin Gordon from the shotgun from the 1. Again, the Chargers were initially ruled to have scored the go-ahead touchdown, only for the result to be reversed on automatic scoring replay. 

Despite being denied twice by replay, the Chargers still had a more than decent chance of escaping with a victory. In classic Bolts fashion, they denied themselves on third down. Gordon, running from the 1, plunged into a mass of bodies but was stopped short. What the automatic review showed this time is that, not only was Gordon stopped, but he fumbled before being down, and the ball was recovered by Tennessee in the end zone for a touchback.

The review that proved decisive in the Chargers-Titans game illustrates how important the concept can be when executed properly. Had Los Angeles been awarded a probable winning touchdown on either of the other two attempts, or even been allowed another opportunity after having been stopped twice from the 1, scandal and outrage would erupt. Given that the Titans remain on the outside of the playoff picture, there’s a fair chance, come the end of the season, that the result could have postseason implications. It would have been something held against the league for months, at the very least.

Following that decisive stretch, former NFL referee and current CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore had more than a little relief in his voice. Steratore can sometimes be a little eager to defend officials and the rules they enforce, not altogether surprising because he spent 15 years serving in that capacity. 

At the same time, the fundamental utility of review has been under assault to some degree since it is creeping into every facet of the sport. That it can disrupt the flow of games should be included in the debate of how much review the league wants to allow. The baby shouldn’t be thrown out with the bathwater, however, as fans should be able to notice when replay serves a vital function, in an area that was already allowed with automatic reviews on scoring plays and within the last two minutes of each half.

If the game's result gives fans a modicum more faith in the system, it should also give serious pause to the Chargers (2-5) about the state of their backfield. Perhaps the front office feels vindicated for refusing to buckle to the contract demands of Gordon, who held out through the start of the season. But neither he nor Ekeler, who provides a much-needed boost in the passing game, got much traction on the ground (combined 39 yards) against the Titans.

The Chargers may curse their fate after what seems like a few cruel turns, but they only have themselves to blame if they don’t make the necessary adjustments.