Rams Vs. Browns: Missed Call Contributes To Blocked Field Goal

The St. Louis Rams picked up their second win with a little help from lady luck. A botched field goal attempt with just over two minutes remaining preserved a one-point Rams' lead. All the offense had to do from there was play out the clock, which they did thanks to Steven Jackson's power running game. Upon further review, however, it appears that the good fortune of the missed field goal resulted in a little luck from a missed call on James Hall.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the Browns are fuming because Hall bobbed his head prior to the snap on that field goal attempt. Hall's movement caused the Browns' line to move, which should have been a penalty as well. Cleveland linemen Brian Schaefering and Alex Mack stepped right early, the long snapper rushed the snap that went off Mack's leg, causing the bobbled snap. 

It put a kink in the timing of the play, but kicker Phil Dawson would have made the kick except for James Hall who got his left hand on the ball, causing it veer left and miss the uprights. 

Here's Dawson:

You get this (flinch) by the defense and we react, and then here comes the snap, now the leg is in the way. So it's either offsides or it's a false start on us. It's one or the other.

I said, ‘It's either defense in the neutral zone or false start. It can't be nothing.' He said, ‘We have a guy watching.' I said, ‘Apparently not very well.'

Cleveland is expected to send a tape of the incident to the league office, but, as Dawson points out, that's not likely to result in anything more than an apology. 

Better to be lucky than good? Definitely, but the Rams and James Hall managed to be a little bit of both yesterday.