Perhaps lost in the drama of the Ravens’ 28-25 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday was a strange play in the first half.

With Baltimore leading 14-3 in the second quarter, the Cowboys were backed up near their own end zone, facing a third-and-10 from the 7-yard line. Quarterback Dak Prescott dropped back to pass and was tackled by Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike near the goal line. As Prescott fell to the ground, he tossed the ball forward to left guard Tyler Smith, who caught it and was immediately tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

The only problem? Smith was not an eligible receiver, resulting in a penalty for illegal touching.

But why wasn’t it called intentional grounding? The only eligible receiver anywhere close to Prescott was fullback Hunter Luepke, who was roughly 5 yards away from the quarterback when he released the ball. By rule, intentional grounding is warranted “if a passer, facing an imminent loss of yardage because of pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion.”

If the officials — led by crew chief Ronald Torbert — had called intentional grounding, it would have resulted in a safety, giving the Ravens two points and possession of the ball after a free kick by Dallas. From the sideline angle on the FOX broadcast replay, Prescott appeared to still be in the end zone when he let go of the ball.

“It touches a player, that makes it illegal touching because he attempts to touch it. It doesn’t touch him incidentally,” rules expert Mike Pereira said on the broadcast. “But if there’s no eligible receiver in that area, you disregard that touch and could convert that into intentional grounding.”

“I don’t think there was anyone in that area but Tyler Smith,” play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt said.

After the officials huddled to discuss the call, the illegal touching penalty stood, which the Ravens declined to bring up fourth down. Bryan Anger hit a 62-yard punt, and the Ravens took over at their own 47 following a 16-yard return by Deonte Harty.

Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy stood near the officials as they discussed the call after the play. Hours after the game, he remained confused by the decision.

“Today I found out that if a QB is goin down for a safety you can just pass it to an O-lineman and you good?!?! What?!?!” he posted on X.

A day later, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson chimed in in a reply to Van Noy’s post: “It would’ve been a safety if I did that,” he wrote.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday that the play might be “a loophole in the rule.”

“They said it’s not intentional grounding because somebody caught it, even though it’s an illegal receiver that caught it, which is a penalty. So, basically, they get rewarded for having a penalty there,” Harbaugh said of the explanation he received from officials. “That’s probably not what they want, by the rules, so we’ll see. Maybe it’s a loophole in the rule, I’m not sure. It’s something they’ll probably look at. Because a receiver caught it, you can’t call intentional grounding even though it’s an illegal receiver, and there’s no eligible receiver in the area, which would constitute grounding.”

While the play ultimately didn’t cost the Ravens the win in Arlington, Texas, as they took a 28-6 lead early in the second half, it might have cost them two points and a chance to turn the game into a bigger rout. Baltimore needed to hang on in the final minutes after Dallas scored 19 straight points in the fourth quarter, getting a clutch throw from Jackson to Zay Flowers on third down with 2:18 remaining and a 10-yard run from Jackson after the two-minute warning to seal the victory.