The NFL hasn't had to deal with many officiating controversies this year, but it definitely found itself in the middle of one near the end of the Patriots-Jets game on Sunday. 

With just under nine minutes left to play in the fourth quarter and the Jets trailing 24-14, Josh McCown appeared to throw a four-yard touchdown pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins. However, the Jets didn't get any points on the play because the touchdown got overturned after it was reviewed. 

Not only did the call get overturned, but the Patriots were actually given possession because the man who reviewed the play -- the NFL's vice president of officiating Al Riveron -- ruled that Serferian-Jenkins had fumbled and never regained possession as he was sliding out of the end zone, which is treated the same way as a fumble out of the end zone: It turns into a touchback for the other team. 

After the Patriots 24-17 win, Jets players were livid about the call. 

"I mean, I've never seen somebody get called for a fumble when they're still holding on to the ball," Jets cornerback Buster Skrine told SportsNet New York. "I don't know how somebody can fumble if the ball is still in their hand."

Jets wide receiver Jermaine Kearse described it as B.S. 

"I thought it was a B.S. call," Kearse said, via SportsNet New York. "I'm pretty sure everybody is going to look back and say it's a B.S. call."

As it turns out, not everyone believes it was a B.S. call. Riveron defended his decision to overturn the call during an interview with MMQB.com on Monday. 

"As the runner is going to the ground, he loses control of the football," Riveron said. "In order for him to re-establish control, he has to have the ball when he touches the ground, and he has to survive the ground -- when he hits the ground he must retain control of the ball … He must complete the process of control of the football as he's going down, and he never regains full control of the ball while he is inbounds."

What we do know is that ASJ definitely lost possession of the ball. What we don't know is whether or not he actually regained possession before going out of bounds. 

The problem with Riveron's explanation though is that it goes against the spirit of the NFL's replay rule, according to two people who used to hold Riveron's position. Dean Blandino and Mike Pereira, who both served as the NFL's head of officials at one point, both believe that Riveron blew it when he decided to overturn the ball. 

The replay official isn't supposed to overturn a call on the field unless there's indisputable evidence, which doesn't seem to exist on this play. Blandino explained that he would've ruled a touchdown because that was the call on the field and ASJ did appear to get his left knee down inbounds after regaining possession (Seferian-Jenkins' knee is directly under the "3" on Duron Harmon's jersey). 

jets-knee-down-patriots-10-16-17.png
Did Austin Seferian-Jenkins get his knee down? NFL/CBS

"Looking at it, it did look like he did regain control and that left knee might have just touched inbounds before he slid out of bounds," Blandino said in a Fox Sports video. "There were a lot of 'if's' and 'might's' as [Mike Pereira and I] were looking at it, and usually, that means the call on the field should stand."

Pereira also agreed that there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call. 

"Ultimately, I would say that if it has to be clear and obvious, it just didn't seem to be that it was," Blandino said. 

Riveron didn't offer much of a response when told that his two predecessors disagreed with his call. 

"I really have no comment on that, that's really just their judgment," Riveron said, via ProFootballTalk.

The most interesting thing about this play is that the man who fumbled the ball is only blaming one person for what happened, and it's not Riveron. After the game, Seferian-Jenkins said none of this would've happened if he didn't fumble. 

"I need to have better ball security," Seferian-Jenkins said, via SportsNet New York. "I need to run through two defenders instead of letting them knock me down. At the end of the day it's my fault. I've got to have better ball security and I've got to run through those guys."

We'll never know if Seferian-Jenkins actually disagreed with the call because he didn't really want to get into it after the loss. 

"I don't think it does anything for me to come up here and blast the officials or blast the rules or anything," Seferian-Jenkins said. "The rule is the rule. They called it. It is what it is."