This week's officiating tape to the media has senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron covering a lot of the usual subjects. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was hit as he slid to the turf, which kills the play by rule. Since he slid so late, he doesn't get protection from being
Author: Ben Austro
Ben Austro is the editor and founder of Football Zebras and the author of So You Think You Know Football?: The Armchair Ref's Guide to the Official Rules (on sale now)
Cleveland’s rage against the replay machine is justified
Week 4: Browns at Raiders With the futility of the Browns franchise still strong despite a fleeting moment of jubilation last week. The euphoria quickly dispersed after a long week, and it all culminated on two calls that could have sealed a second victory for the Browns. Near the end of regulation,
Video: Is this a loose ball or an incomplete forward pass?
Can someone please let us know what the hell is going on?
Commentary by Ben Austro The transition was expected to be bumpy. Before owners convened in Orlando in March, there wasn't even a proposal on the table for one of the game's monumental shifts toward player safety. The Competition Committee called an audible, and what became this year's "use of the helmet"
Corrente roughly describes roughing the passer call. It was rough
Week 2: Vikings at Packers Late in the fourth quarter Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews was hit with a roughing the passer penalty to extend a drive for the second consecutive week. Unlike last week, there does not seem to be much in this. Matthews contacted Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins as
Falcons safety Damontae Kazee ejected for helmet hit on Cam Newton
Falcons safety Damontae Kazee was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a sliding Cam Newton. The Panthers quarterback was flat on the turf as a retaliatory strike from wide receiver Torrey Smith, and trainers were frantically trying to keep players away from Newton before they could tend to him. Referee Bill
Replay review came too late, and finger-pointing is off the mark
The replay timing rule change that’s not in the rulebook
In the process of updating the rulebook, there are the major rule changes approved by the owners and additional language updates to other parts of the rules related to those changes. Occasionally, there are other wording changes that clear up an ambiguity or use different language that better describes the
Progression of hits with the helmet in one word: plastics
Schedule of fines for the 2018 season
The list of the amounts for players' fines has been established for the 2018 season. Typically, fines are subject to an automatic 5% increase from the previous season, which is a provision of the collective bargaining agreement between the players union and the league. In 2017, the league and the union