SkyCam wire triggers little-known rule in Commanders-Buccaneers game

NFL Playoff games tend to have more cameras than typical regular season games. Usually, that’s a good thing. It gives people on television more views of big plays and potentially creates more angles on plays that are challenged or reviewed. But occasionally, extra cameras create issues.

That was the case during Sunday night’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Commanders.

Late in the fourth quarter, Tampa’s Chase McLaughlin connected on a 32-yard field goal. The ensuing kickoff was a touchback, sending the NBC broadcast to a commercial break. But when the game returned from break, the Buccaneers were once again lined up to kick off. Was it déjà vu? Well, not exactly.

Jack Browning’s kickoff hit one of the wires keeping NBC’s SkyCam in the air. And as Cris Collinsworth put it, that created a “Need for the do-over.”

While the rules state that a “do-over” is necessary in that situation, it ended up not making a difference. Like his first, Browning’s re-kick was a touchback. Washington started its possession on its own 30-yard line, moved down the field and won the game on a field goal from Zane Gonzalez — though the kick did not lack for drama.