AFC Wild Card
We will be live blogging the calls and rules interpretations from the Bengals-Texans game. (If you see continue reading below, click it to see the entire feed.)
If you have any questions or comments, use the comments section of this post, or tweet us @footballzebras.
Today’s crew is headed by Alberto Riveron. The full crew list is at the bottom of this post.
Texans 19-13, final
Penalties – Bengals: 5 for 51 yards (plus one declined), Texans: 7 for 55. Replay reviews — Texans lost one challenge (call confirmed).
Mike Pereira noted that there was a missed chop block call on the Bengals interception return for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. At the left of the image (click to enlarge), two Texans engage a Bengals defender high and low illegally (video).
Since it is a personal foul on a scoring play, the 15 yards would have been applied on the kickoff, if it had been called.
Riveron makes sure that all parties go to their neutral corners after a sack by Texans defensive end J.J. Watt in the first quarter. (Houston Texans photo)
End of 3rd Quarter
3rd Qtr | 7:58 | Texans challenge. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a forward pass while being hit. Ball fell incomplete and the Texans picked up the loose ball after the whistle. Texans coach Gary Kubiak believed it was a fumble.
Riveron correctly confirmed the call on the field. While Dalton was hit, he maintained a grip on the ball, enough to pass it. Now, the pass was lousy because he was hit, but Dalton’s arm was going forward with enough control of the ball to constitute possession.
Not much mystery on the catch interference foul on the Bengals, as the receiver was tackled before the punt got there. It’s a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the foul.
End of 2nd Quarter
Penalties: Bengals 1 for 11 yards (plus one declined), Texans 1 for 5. Replay reviews: none.
2nd Qtr | 9:30. Nice job by line judge Gary Arthur on the Bengals pick-six. He had to reverse his field quickly, watch the sidelines, and not run into any sideline personnel.
2nd Qtr | 15:00 Riveron’s crew had a very uneventful first quarter. In my opinion all the fouls were there. If there were any butterflies at the kickoff they should be gone by now. The crew is in a good rhythm.
End of 1st Quarter
NBC just posted that this is Riveron’s third playoff game. Riveron did three playoff games as a side judge.
Alberto Riveron is officiating his first Wild Card game tonight. He headed the AFC Championship crew last year, and has worked three Divisional Playoffs.
| Yr. | Crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 57 | Alberto Riveron | 9 | Miami | sales, commercial restaurant equipment | |
| U | 11 | Fred Bryan | 4 | Corrente | Northern Iowa | superintendent, juvenile correctional facility |
| HL | 48 | Jim Mello | 9 | Riveron | Northeastern | facilities manager |
| LJ | 108 | Gary Arthur | 16 | Winter | Wright State | president, commercial printing company |
| FJ | 33 | Steve Zimmer | 16 | Riveron | Hofstra | attorney |
| SJ | 58 | Jimmy DeBell | 4 | Riveron | SUNY-Brockport | high school teacher |
| BJ | 12 | Greg Steed | 10 | Winter | Howard | computer systems analyst |
Jan. 30 • 
Jan. 29 • 
Jan. 29 • 11 Alive News WXIA/Atlanta (
Jan. 28 • 
Jan. 15 • The John Murphy Show, WGR 550/Buffalo (
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Solid game for the stripes through three quarters.
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Couldn’t agree more. Seem to be the only team that’s playing today.
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About the Texans challenging the forward pass ruling in the 3rd quarter contending that it was a fumble. I don’t remember which team, if any, actually went after the ball but I do remember seeing a referee blowing his whistle and waving his arms as if to signal that the play was over. IF the play had been overturned would the whislte-blowing referee’s action been an issue? Should the Texans had been able to challenge once his whistle had been blown? The correct call was made but what if was later ruled a fumble? Would the Bengals have any recourse if they brought to the attention of the referees that, “Hey, the whistle was blown therefore we did not go after the ball”? Thank you in advance.
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The rule was changed in 2009 that, if there is a clear and immediate recovery, the whistle can be disregarded for the recovery. The recovery must be seen by replay — there cannot be a scrum for the ball. This was worked in to the rulebook after Ed Hochuli’s terribly unfortunate inadvertent whistle on an incomplete pass that should have been a fumble recovery.
No matter if the whistle actually blew or not, an incomplete pass that is reversed to a fumble can only give the recovering team the ball at the point of recovery. There cannot be any runback allowed.
The Texans did recover the ball immediately, so if Dalton was ruled to have an empty hand while passing in replay (i.e., fumble), the Texans would have been awarded possession at the point of recovery.
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What of the block in the back on Peko during one of the texans screen plays . The amount of times that Geno Atkins got held too,sure hope he got his wallet back after the muggings he took.
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