Did a Ref Help the New England Patriots Beat the New York Jets on TNF? [GIF]

Well--it appears that the New England Patriots may have had some help from the refs during the Jets field goal attempt at the end of the game Thursday night. According to the rules, defenders can't line up right over the snapper on field goals.So when the ref moved this over he saved the Patriots from a five-yard penalty and stole a chance for the Jets to kick again, but from five yards closer.

It's a lot easier to make a 53-yard kick than it is a 58-yard one.

via Uproxx

So is this another case of the NFL secretly planning to keep the evil regime in Foxboro on the winning side of things?

As easy as it may be to believe the answer is no.

If you watch field goal kicks close enough you will notice this kind of thing happen a lot. With the snapper being exposed in the process of the snap the idea is to keep teams from abusing these guys so the refs err on the side of safety when they can rather than throw a flag and wait for the long snapper's neck to be immobilized so he can be carted off the field.

Sorry Jets fans--no conspiracy this time.

[Uproxx]

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