Football Zebras.com

Thursday, Dec. 15

• Jaguars at Falcons Ron Winter

Saturday, Dec. 17

• Cowboys at Buccaneers: Terry McAulay

Sunday, Dec. 18

• Dolphins at Bills: John Parry
• Seahawks at Bears: Ed Hochuli (Tony Corrente’s crew)
• Titans at Colts: Pete Morelli
• Packers at Chiefs: Gene Steratore
• Bengals at Rams: Jerome Boger
• Saints at Vikings: Walt Anderson
• Redskins at Giants: Alberto Riverón
• Panthers at Texans” Jeff Triplette
• Lions at Raiders: Bill Leavy
• Jets at Eagles: Clete Blakeman
• Browns at Cardinals: Scott Green
• Patriots at Broncos: Mike Carey
• Ravens at Chargers: Carl Cheffers

Monday, Dec. 19

• Steelers at 49ers: Walt Coleman

Credit: Football-refs.com

• A challenge flag foils a fake field goal try. Replay equipment foils the challenge, but the fake field goal is still foiled (video).
• Redskins coach Mike Shanahan is not happy with some of the calls, especially a blow to the head that wasn’t.

More on these items coming Monday.

Week 14: Vikings at Lions

4th quarter | :09 remaining | Lions 34-28 | Vikings ball | 1st & goal @ 1 | video

The Vikings were on the comeback express, having trailed by 21, and were one yard from overcoming the deficit against the Lions with seconds remaining.

Vikings quarterback Joe Webb fumbled the ball on the final play, and after a mad scramble, the ball was recovered by the Lions with the time expired. Game over.

However, the officials missed two fouls committed by the Lions on the play.

Facemask penalty. Coinciding with the fumbled ball was a grasp and twist of Webb’s facemask by Lions DeAndre Levy. While this should have been caught, referee John Parry, who has coverage on the quarterback, obviously was not in position to see it. (Webb’s back was to him.) However, this is a huge missed call given to the entire crew.

Illegally batting the ball. In the scramble to pick up the loose ball, Steven Tulloch swatted the ball downfield. That is an illegal bat, and should have also been penalized. Because the game was under two minutes remaining, the rule for fumbles is that the fumbler is now the only offensive player who can pick up the loose ball and run. In this case, Webb was close to potentially recovering the ball, until Tulloch deliberately pushed the ball downfield. In my opinion, there was no intent to recover the fumble, as Tulloch hit the ball with his left hand, while his right hand remained at his side. In real time (without the benefit of replay) this is a hard judgement to make; therefore, it is rarely called.

Tony Corrente sat out a second straight week due to illness. We hope to have more information next week. Ed Hochuli worked the Thursday night game with Corrente’s crew, in addition to being scheduled on Sunday.

Scott Green returns after a three-week absence due to a knee injury. Look for him on Sunday Night Football.

Bill Leavy returns to the city of Seattle for the first time since Super Bowl XL. Leavy admitted to “kicking” a few calls in the game, and it wasn’t until this season that Leavy was scheduled for a Seahawks game.

Thursday, Dec. 8

• Browns at Steelers: Ed Hochuli (Tony Corrente’s crew)

Sunday, Dec. 11

• Texans at Bengals: Ed Hochuli
• Vikings at Lions: John Parry
• Raiders at Packers: Pete Morelli
• Saints at Titans: Mike Carey
• Eagles at Dolphins: TBA, Ron Winter or Alberto Riverón
• Chiefs at Jets: Terry McAulay
• Patriots at Redskins: Jeff Triplette
• Falcons at Panthers: Walt Anderson
• Buccaneers at Jaguars: Jerome Boger
• Cots at Ravens: Clete Blakeman
• Bears at Broncos: Carl Cheffers
• 49ers at Falcons: TBA, Ron Winter or Alberto Riverón
• Bills at Chargers: Gene Steratore
• Giants at Cowboys: Scott Green

Monday, Dec. 12

• Rams at Seahawks: Bill Leavy

Credit: Football-refs.com

Week 13: Lions at Saints

Clete Blakeman’s crew officiated a game that could have easily become uncontrollable at any moment. It didn’t help that they were shorthanded.

Umpire Garth DeFelice left the game midway through the first quarter with a foot injury. That required the crew to readjust their mechanics to officiate most of the game shorthanded. Side judge Greg Meyer moved into the umpire position, leaving only two deep officials.

The game (highlight video) had six personal foul penalties, including the following:

• Lions receiver Titus Young was involved in a post-play push near the goal line (video)
• Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew contacted line judge Jeff Seeman (video)

Seeman, under the circumstances, could have called for Pettigrew’s ejection. Impermissible contact with an official is not, despite widespread opinion, an automatic ejection, and it took tremendous restraint not to disqualify Pettigrew. In the analysis, Pettigrew was still reacting to the play when Seeman was hit. While it was still a penalty, the officials realized that the contact was not directed at Seeman. It also appears that Pettigrew apologized right away, to help save his place in the game.

While there was a lot of dead-ball action that had to be controlled, the crew made certain that they maintained their composure throughout.

Week 13: Falcons at Texans

1st Quarter | 8:24 remaining | no score | Texans ball | 3rd & 7 @ ATL 14 | video

Well, this one is weird, to say the least.

Texans quarterback T.J. Yates throws an apparent incomplete pass while he is being hit. As the ball rolls without a whistle being blown, Falcons safety James Sanders astutely grabs the ball and runs 90 yards for a touchdown. Since the play was not ruled dead, Sanders correctly played it as a fumble, not an incompletion.

The matter of the touchdown became moot, because players from both benches began to enter the field, believing the play to be over. This resulted in offsetting illegal substitution penalties, but the fumble still counted. The ball was returned to the spot when the fouls occurred, at the Falcons’ 35-yard line.

Because of the penalty, the touchdown came off the board, and thus the rule that all scoring plays are subject to video review did not apply. Houston had to use a coach’s challenge in order to have the play reviewed.

Referee Bill Leavy ruled that the play was confirmed, even though it seemed to be a forward-throwing motion. I had to replay this several times, and there was no clear evidence that the pass preceded the hit. Yes, Yates’ arm was going forward, but if it is coincidental with a defensive tackle, then it becomes a forced fumble, not a forward pass.

I would have ruled it a pass, but I can see that there is not enough passing motion visible to rule so on a replay. Also, keep in mind that Leavy has 60 seconds to review the play, so there are only so many shuttles of the tape that can be done in that time, while also reviewing all other aspects of the full play.

Incidentally, the Falcons were intercepted three plays later. The Texans kicked a field goal; if there was a replay reversal, it would have been fourth down, and presumably it would have also resulted in a field goal.

What is your opinion? Should the play have been reversed to an incomplete pass?

Week 13: Packers at Giants

1st Quarter | 2:12 remaining | Tied 7-7 | Giants ball | 3rd & 6 @ GB 20 | video

Update, 12/6: Video link added.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin, in a game fraught with very tight replay situations, challenged an incomplete pass from quarterback Eli Manning to receiver Jake Ballard in the end zone. (There is no video of the play on NFL.com; we are trying to find another source.)

Coughlin contended that Ballard’s right foot came down, then the right knee in bounds. (Of course, we know that one knee equals two feet.) Ballard secured the ball through to the ground, so in all other respects he completed the process of the catch, and therefore it would be a touchdown.

Jake Ballard was ruled to have his right knee out of bounds on a challenge. Credit: UPI

Referee Jeff Triplette saw otherwise, and confirmed the call on the field, as he judged Ballard’s knee to be out of bounds in the end zone. Giants kicked a field goal on the next play.

As Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger reported, Coughlin said, “I just saw a picture that made me sick to my stomach, which Fox produced and showed [Ballard is]  in. Don’t ask me about [why it was not ruled that way] because I really don’t know why, but I did see the picture.”

A UPI photograph, shown here, clearly shows that Ballard, in fact, was entitled to the score. Not only did the Giants lose the challenge, but it cost the team four points.

Week 13: Packers at Giants

3rd Quarter | 9:59 remaining | Packers 21-17 | Packers ball | 3rd & 9 @ NYG 20 | video

Packers squeaked out a touchdown to pad their third-quarter lead when receiver Greg Jennings caught an Aaron Rodgers pass and immediately dropped the ball. It was ruled a touchdown on the field (back judge Steve Freeman made the call), but was subject to a replay review.

Referee Jeff Triplette correctly upheld the touchdown. While the grip on the ball by Jennings was tenuous at best, it was enough to establish control of the ball with two feet down in the end zone.  The process-of-the-catch rule does not apply, because Jennings was not falling to the ground.

4th Quarter | 3:40 remaining | Packers 28-27 | Packers ball | 2nd & goal @ 7 | video

Did Donald Driver step out of bounds? This was the only angle for review. Credit: NFL/Fox Sports

Donald Driver caught another Rodgers pass when there was a question as to whether Driver stepped out of bounds prior to the catch. Under the rules, a player who goes out of bounds is not eligible to be the first player to touch a pass. The top Fox Sports crew had only one view of Driver’s potential foot-out-of-bounds, but that was a bad angle from the camera at the 50-yard line. Nonethless, Joe Buck, our highly trained announcer who has shown to be an expert in venue maintenance, also professed to be an expert in angular depth of perception by declaring that Driver had not stepped out.

In any case, it would have been a hairline call, but there was no indisputable evidence to overturn, so Triplette allowed the touchdown to stand.

Umpire Garth DeFelice departed the Lions-Saints game early with a foot injury at 5:45 of the first quarter. (Apparently it was on the kickoff, because all seven officials were on the field for the preceding field goal.) Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya said that it appears to be a tendon injury on his left foot, apparently after feeling an unsettling pop.

Side judge Greg Meyer moved to the umpire position, leaving two deep officials.

Photo credit: Life magazine/Bob Levey/Getty Images: DeFelice after breaking up a fight in a November 2010 game.

Check @footballzebras for updates, or we will respond in the comments area of this post due to technical limitations this week.

Update. Some of our tweets, retweets and pretweets:

•  No #facemask foul if the runner stiff-arms the opp, but it is a penalty if there is a pull or twist of the facemask.
• No offsides for #Saints #PatrickRobinson on #BlockedFG. Perfectly timed with the snap.
• U #GarthDeFelice out with a foot injury.
• #NYG lucky to not have invalid fair catch signal on ko return
• I don’t profess to be a network-caliber director, but the so-called A team for Fox had only 1 (bad) angle to see if #GB stepped out on TD
• Tight, tight call for illegal contact on #NYG on a key drive.
• RT MikePereira The Jets have won 2 challenges so they are awarded a third.
• ATL has 2nd defensive TD nullified by penalty. Hard not to call holding when a shoulder pad pops out. Still tied 10-10.
• RT ProFootballTalk Richard Seymour ejected for throwing punch wp.me/p14QSB-ItM