PFWA Pool Reporter Alex Zietlow Interview with Referee Alan Eck and Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth
Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers
Sunday, November 8, 2026
Question: Can you take me through what you saw on that red zone interception that prompted you to overturn the call on the field (Carolina 1st-and-goal, Denver 1, 1:35, third quarter)?
Eck: As the referee, I am watching the quarterback after the ball gets released. I had two officials that had a great look at the play. They felt the defender arrived at the same time as the pass. We refer to that as a bang-bang play. They felt the timing was fine. The official ruling on the field was an incomplete pass and then we went to replay.
Question: You found that it was not defensive pass interference because it was a play where they collided at the same time?
Eck: Correct.
Question: With 1:18 left in the game, the Bryce Young strip sack, what did you see so that it was not a forward pass and it was ultimately a fumble?
Eck: Bryce was contacted from behind and the ball came loose before his passing hand came forward. Since it was loose before the passing hand came forward, I ruled fumble, dropped my bean bag, Denver recovered. We went to replay and took a look at it and the result is that the ruling on the field stands.
Question: It appeared after the interception in which the ball ricocheted off of Tommy Tremble’s hands and the Broncos intercepted it in the red zone, it appears the Panthers ran a play before officials initiated the review. Can you take me through the process and the timeline of that situation?
Butterworth: Replay can get involved to make sure that the head coach throws his challenge flag prior to the next snap. We were actually able to use angles to show that the flag was out prior to the ball being snapped, and so we permitted the challenge.