A Ref Helped The Patriots Avoid A Penalty On The Jets' Game-Ending Blocked Field Goal - Here's Why

The New York Jets lost to the New England Patriots 27-25 in heartbreaking fashion on Thursday, driving down the field with a minute left only to have a potential game-winning field goal blocked as time expired.

After the game Dom Cosentino of NJ.com discovered something strange about the final play - a ref moved a Patriots player out of the way so he wouldn't get a penalty.

Right before the snap, the official ran up to Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower, who was lined up over the long snapper, and nudged him in the arm. Under NFL rules, defenders have to line up outside the shoulders of the long snapper on a field goal attempt. It's a penalty to stand directly above the long snapper:

Hightower was over the long snapper, in an illegal position, before the ref intervened:

He was in a legal position when the ball was snapped after the ref moved him:

The field-goal attempt was blocked and the game ended 27-25 Patriots.

If the ball had been snapped and Hightower was over the long snapper, it would have been a five-yard penalty. The Jets would have gotten another try at a field goal, this time from 53 yards.

So ... conspiracy, right?

It's not so cut and dry. While it doesn't make intuitive sense that refs should intervene pre-snap to help players avoid penalties, it does happen with some regularity. Wide receivers constantly look over at officials to make sure they are in a legal position on the line of scrimmage (that's what they're doing when you see them point over to the sideline after going in motion).

In addition, refs will move guys out of the way like this before a field goal all the time, says the NFL's officiating czar Dean Blandino.

"That is a standard officiating mechanical," Blandino said on Twitter, "No different than pointing out the line of scrimmage to a wideout."

An NFL spokesman told BI:

"It is a standard officiating procedure that occurs regularly. In fact, it is on Dean Blandino's video that went to the teams yesterday and will be on the version of it that goes to the media today.

"That rule was adopted for player safety purposes, another good reason to help avoid violations in advance."

The NFL doesn't want long snappers (who have their heads down) taking hits to the top of the head that they don't see coming. That's why officials push defenders out of the way before the snap.

The consensus among NFL junkies is that this is normal:

Still, a referee literally giving the Patriots a helping hand won't go down easy.