In Tijuana's recent loss to Portland, a questionable call helped to swing the tides in Portland's favor. On a 3rd and 7 at their own 37, Portland completed an 18 yard pass. While this is not a positive outcome, the Luchadores and their overpowering defense still had a chance to stop Portland from scoring. Tijuana leads the league in sacks, TFLs, and forced fumbles. Any one of these things could've happened to help Tijuana win the field position battle. Instead, when DE George Fantobens got mad at himself for not getting off the block, the referee assumed that the colorful language Fantobens used was directed at him instead of into nothingness. The referee threw a penalty and despite Fantobens' pleas, the Portland Pythons were spotted a free 15 yards which they used to kick a field goal. This let the Pythons stretch their lead to 7 points, before a Tijuana turnover made it into a 24-10 game at the half. Who knows how the game would've played out without that questionable call.
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