Football Zebras.com

8.53 pm
Ben Austro

Penalties: Steelers 6 for 61 yards, Broncos 5 for 30 yards.

The replay booth was busy:

• Steelers challenged a 21 yard completion, which was reversed.
• Broncos challenged a 52 yard completion, which was reversed.
• A Steelers touchdown was reviewed by the replay official, and reversed to have the ball spotted at the 1.
• Broncos challenged a fumble ruling which was upheld
• Broncos challenged an incomplete pass to get a recovery on a backwards pass. Simply stated, the Broncos would not have gotten the ball even if they won the challenge, so the challenge was withdrawn.

8.39 pm
Ben Austro

Rewinding to the fourth quarter, 14:15 remaining

john mitchell asked:

Was the pass behind the line of scrimmage. If so there should have not been pass interference. Did not see a replay. Denver ball on the 2.

The foul was downfield, and #12 for the Broncos was engaged all the way to the end zone with the defender. Even though it was on the offense, the fact that the pass was behind the line doesn’t negate the interference downfield.

8.10 pm
Ben Austro

I spent more time explaining the modified sudden death rules than the actual duration of the overtime!

8.01 pm
Ben Austro

Rulemageddon!

We have our first Modified Sudden Death game … or “last licks” from elementary school days

7.45 pm
Ben Austro

Just in case, here are the modified sudden death rules.

7.40 pm
Ben Austro

Overturned and no more challenges available to the Broncos for the rest of the game.

7.36 pm
dilly

4th Qtr | 7:35 Denver challenges the McGahee fumble, but replay before the break clearly shows that the ball is out before either knee hits the ground. They will lose this one.

7.18 pm
dilly

4th Qtr | 13:56 Denver wanted a facemask penalty on PIT DE Cameron Heyward, but he grabbed Lance Ball by the front of the jersey, so it’s a good no-call.

7.07 pm
Ben Austro

Not sure where the distinction between fumbles and backward passes factors in (still looking), but here is the rule that keeps the defense from recovering the misplayed lateral:

Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1.

An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended … when an official sounds his whistle while the ball is still in play, the ball becomes dead immediately;

(i) If the ball is in player possession, the team in possession may elect to put the ball in play where it has been declared dead or to replay the down.
(ii) If the ball is a loose ball resulting from a fumble, backward pass, or illegal forward pass, the team last in possession may elect to put the ball in play at the spot where possession was lost or to replay the down.

6.56 pm
Ben Austro

3rd qtr | 4:52. Ron Winter back under the hood to review a Steelers touchdown.

6.56 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 4:52. This Isaac Redman touchdown should be overturned, and the ball placed inside the 1. Definitely not a fumble, though, for two reasons. His knee was down before the ball came out, and the ball came out because of hitting the ground, which would be down by contact.

6.50 pm
Ben Austro

Actually, let me retract that. Backwards passes and fumbles are not equivalent. This would have been ruled a loss of a yard rather than a Broncos recovery. Although, I think the rule is that once a challenge is requested, it must be granted.

6.47 pm
Ben Austro

3rd qtr | 8:07. That was clearly a backwards pass (lateral), and it was ruled an incomplete forward pass. Replay can overturn the play and rule for a Denver recovery.

John Fox should win this challenge, and he will then be entitled the the rare third challenge.

6.46 pm
dilly

3rd qtr | 8:07 Denver challenges an incomplete pass, which looks pretty clearly to be a fumble recovered by Denver. They should win their second challenge, getting the ball and an extra challenge.

6.43 pm
Ben Austro

3rd qtr | 9:57. I do believe that is a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty in all four Wild Card games.

6.42 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 9:57 And now the circle is complete. 12 men in the huddle on the Steelers, makes it at least once in each game this weekend.

6.34 pm
Ben Austro

mm commented below:

re: review, incomplete pass. The player was not going to the ground when he made the catch. He got 2 feet down before being tackled. He then lost the ball after he was down. I think they made the right call originally.

The process of the catch involves these steps: When you control the ball, get two feet down, and then be able to do something other than falling down. In this case, contact is irrelevant. The receiver has to do more than just catching the ball and using the ground as a crutch, because that is what was defined to be a professional catch.

Like it or not, that is the rule, and it was applied correctly. It does make for some odd situations where 50 people in a bar think it’s complete, but it sets an objective bar for the criteria for a completion, rather than leaving the official to judge the catch on subjectivity.

6.24 pm
Ben Austro

First half summary. Penalties: Steelers 1 for 9 yards, Broncos 4 for 20 yards. Two challenges resulted in two reversals. The Steelers had a Broncos 21-yard completion ruled incomplete, and the Broncos were able to erase a 52-yard completions by the Steelers.

6.17 pm
Ben Austro

Doesn’t count as a penalty, as Wallace was an open-field runner. Odd distinction in the rule, but correct.

6.09 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 5:53 Denver FS Quinton Carter should have been flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Mike Wallace on a 3rd down catch. We’ve seen much less contact get flagged, including the Harrison roughing the passer call earlier.

5.38 pm
Ben Austro

I was spending the commercial in DVR mode, but the replay after the commercial confirms…

5.35 pm
dilly

The first replay back from break showed it pretty clearly. Play correctly overturned

5.34 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 13:21 Denver challeges a long Mike Wallace catch. Initial replays before the break do not show a good angle of the ball.

5.34 pm
Ben Austro

Broncos are challenging the completion. As are we.

5.29 pm
dilly

On the TD, I originally thought Eddie Royal did not get both feet down before his backside touched out of bounds, but his right knee did. Replay official confirmed the TD.

5.29 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | 13:24 Short delay to confirm the touchdown, but no formal review was necessary.

5.27 pm
Ben Austro

Touchdown Broncos, but I would expect a review after seeing the live shot only.

5.25 pm
Ben Austro

… and obviously I am wrong. I was looking at the fumble aspect, but, yes that is an incomplete pass.

5.22 pm
Ben Austro

First challenge of Sunday. Steelers are going to lose a challenge.

5.22 pm
dilly

Pittsburgh challenging that play, but will likely lose it.

5.21 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 14:44 Eric Decker was correctly called down by contact, as the ball came out simultaneous to his hitting the ground.

5.15 pm
Ben Austro

1st qtr | 0:27 A lot of contact on the pass, but no pass interference foul. Most of the contact was incidental and players getting their feet tangled. Ben Roethlisberger tries to plead his case with head linesman  Julian Mapp

5.15 pm
dilly

1st Qtr | 0:27 The contact on Antonio Brown was all within five yards before the pass, and he was tripped incidentally by another defender. It was close, but seems like the correct non-call.

4.45 pm
Ben Austro

Ron Winter is the referee. Two officials are substituting from Ed Hochuli’s crew, including second-year official Ronald Torbert at side judge. This is the first year of postseason eligibility for Torbert, and it is quite a statement that he’s in as a sub. Torbert cannot qualify for a conference championship until his fifth year, so this tells that he scored very well that the officiating department decided to put him in this game without his regular crew.

4.20 pm
Ben Austro

Penalties: Falcons 3 for 15 yards (plus one that was declined by the Giants),  Giants 7 for 73  (+2 declined). One penalty resulted in the only two points the Falcons scored. No challenges or reviews made for an easy game check for the replay official. However, there was a key non-review on a first down spot near the end of the second quarter. In a game of a lot of tight ball-spotting calls, the one that jumps out is the missed spot.

4.00 pm
dilly

That Williams tackle  reminded me a lot of the Nick Fairley tackle of Pierre Thomas that was not flagged yesterday. Both were shortly after the whistle, but Fairley’s tackle was much more forceful. Video of the hit: http://bit.ly/xYh0o1

3.58 pm
Ben Austro

4th qtr | 2:33 There doesn’t seem to be much more that Giants linebacker Jacquian Williams could have done on the play to avoid the 15-yard roughness penalty and keep the player from achieving the first down.

3.30 pm
dilly

4th Qtr | 10:47 Back to a good spot on the Jacobs run, whose knee was down before he rolled forward to the sticks.

3.17 pm
Ben Austro

Easy call on the illegal block in the back when the blocker is shoved into a somersault.

3.15 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 4:21 Possibly another bad spot, as Roddy White was down at the 21, but the officials spotted him just outside the 20, just inches shy of the first down. Then, the Falcons went for it and were stuffed. Had they been spotted a full yard short, they may have kicked the FG instead.

3.14 pm
Ben Austro

Huge penalty on the Falcons for 12 men in the huddle. One yard short on the 3rd-and-15, and loss on downs on 4th. Giants then turn it around for seven points.

3.09 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 5:10 We’ve now seen illegal substitution (12 men in the huddle) penalties in each of this weekend’s games. These are playoff teams, remember.

3.04 pm
Ben Austro

3rd qtr | 5:14 No grounding penalty on Ryan: well outside the tackle box, and pass made it beyond the line of scrimmage.

3.03 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 5:14 Ryan did two things that Manning didn’t earlier: he got out of the pocket, and he threw it past the line of scrimmage. No intentional grounding there.

2.57 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 7:51 Owens contacted Nicks plenty before the pass, but it was within five yards, and there was no holding. Nor was there any altering the movement of the receiver once the ball was in the air. I think that’s a good no-call.

2.42 pm
Ben Austro

First half summary

Penalties: Falcons 1 for 5 yards, Giants 3 for 28. Falcons also declined 1 penalty. Falcons get a safety on a Giants intentional grounding penalty. No challenges or replays in the first half, although, there was one that was missed by the replay official.

Of all the tight calls on spots, this one will be the one that is remembered, not the six of them that were right. And if you are playing the Joe Buck drinking game, and you had “It depends on the spot,” then you are flat on your ass right now.

2.38 pm
dilly

2.38 pm
Ben Austro

Bad call there. NFL analyst Mike Pereira is discussing on Fox right now (and he tweeted that right after you posted).

2.24 pm
dilly

2nd qtr | 1:23 The 2nd down completion to Nicks looked like it may have been spotted a bit short of forward progress. A rare miss that may have cost the Giants the ball. Plus there was no measurement, which was also odd.

2.23 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | :29 Head-first slide by Falcons’ Matt Ryan goes to the spot of the ball at the end of the slide. If it was feet first, then it would go to the the spot at the beginning of the slide.

2.16 pm
Ben Austro

Also, field judge Laird Hayes had at least three sideline calls on punts which are not easy.

2.08 pm
Ben Austro

Video of the 4th-and-inches play for the Falcons: http://bit.ly/xMX2s0

2.03 pm
dilly

And all three spots looked spot on.

2.02 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | 3:31 Head linesman Phil McKinnely and line judge Tom Symonette have had some hard spotting calls on three short yardage situations.

1.50 pm
Ben Austro

Clear intentional grounding, but good communication with Cheffers’ crew to make sure all criteria met. Spot foul in end zone is a safety

1.49 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 13:44 Three close calls in a row, and all appear to be correct. The ball was correctly spotted just short of a first down on 3rd & 4th down for the Falcons. Then Eli Manning threw the ball away while in the end zone, but did not get it back to the line of scrimmage, nor was there a receiver in the area, resulting in a safety.

1.17 pm
dilly

1st Qtr | 10:57 Eli Manning’s knee was down just before the ball was ripped out. Good call in real time by the crew.

11.15 pm
Ben Austro

Stats for the game. Penalties: Lions 7 for 62 yards, Saints 3 for 18, both with 1 declined penalty, 1 pair of offsetting penalties. No coach’s challenges. One replay review overturned a Saints touchdown and upheld a Lions touchdown.

10.52 pm
Ben Austro

Video of the touchdown: www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d825cd89c/Stafford-dives-it-in

The ball even crosses the plane before the pylon is contacted.

10.23 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 1:08 It looks like Stafford’s knee goes down at the exact same time that the ball hits the pylon. Seems like the call on the field, and after the review, is correct.

10.11 pm
Ben Austro

Al Michaels should know the rule that you can recover after a whistle. (from a Sunday Night game in 2009 when the rule came into effect)

10.04 pm
dilly

3rd Qtr | 8:44 Generous spot on the Colston catch on 3rd & 11. Looks like it may have been a half yard short, but no challenge by the Lions.

9.50 pm
Ben Austro

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth said the officials cannot give the ball to the Lions, because  they recovered after the whistle. Wrong!

9.36 pm
Ben Austro

Now the Lions get one in their favor on the “process of the catch.” See the story we ran at that time.

9.31 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 0:16 Saints WR Marques Colston lost the catch after he went to the ground. As the rules currently stands, this is incomplete, though this interpretation has come under some scrutiny in the past couple of years, most notably due to a non-catch by Calvin Johnson in Week 1 of the 2010 season vs. the Bears.

9.18 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 4:23 Nick Fairley’s tackle of Pierre Thomas could have been flagged for unnecessary roughness, as it was just after the whistle, but was not. Fairley executed a side suplex that would make Arn Anderson proud.

9.15 pm
dilly

Lastly, it appears the Lions recovered on the 36, but the ball was spotted around the 37-38 yard line.

9.15 pm
Ben Austro

The recovery after the whistle is allowed after a high-profile play in ’08 when referee Ed Hochuli ruled a fumble an incomplete pass. Under the rules at the time, he could not reverse to a fumble recovery. The rule was changed in that  offseason.

9.13 pm
Ben Austro

Tony Corrente was right on with the fumble call, but one of the linesman blew his whistle for incomplete. Since the ball is loose, you can play through the whistle and make an immediate recovery, but you cannot advance the ball.

9.10 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 5:39 Definitely a fumble by Brees. However, several whistles were blowing before the ball was recovered, so the play should have been called dead at the whistle, if I’m not mistaken.

8.58 pm
Ben Austro

I re-checked that. Corrente said “the spot of the ball is correct.” It looked like they moved from the 12 to the 13, but they did in fact have it on the 13, because that’s where the sticks were.

8.54 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 13:54 There was some confusion as to the spot at the beginning of the DET drive after the illegal block in the back penalty on the kickoff. The crew had a brief conference and correctly re-spotted the ball on the 13 yard line.

8.45 pm
Ben Austro

Quiet first quarter and moving along quickly. 1 penalty for 12 men in the huddle on the Lions. NBC didn’t even give Tony Corrente any face time.

8.08 pm
Ben Austro

Welcome to the Game 2 live blog. Tony Corrente and his crew will be officiating today. Corrente took several weeks off during the season for cancer treatments and was still able to qualify for a postseason assignment. Great to see him make the cut!

7.45 pm
Ben Austro

A quiet second half, officiating-wise. Bengals were penalized 3 times for 25 yards, Texans 5 for 87. One Texans penalty declined. No second half challenges.

7.13 pm
Ben Austro

4th qtr | 7:38 Not heard on TV: Bengals declined the penalty for delay of game prior to the punt. Still, they wound up being pinned inside the 10 yard line after the punt.

7.10 pm
Ben Austro

Also by rolling forward and sticking the ball out, Gresham completed the process of the catch by making a football move. That could have been close, but certainly a catch.

7.05 pm
dilly

4th Qtr | 13:30 Decisive call on a catch by the Bengals’ Jermaine Gresham. He clearly had control and was down before the defender jarred it loose. No conference required.

6.24 pm
Ben Austro

First half statistics

Bengals 2 penalties for 20 yards, Texans 3 for 72. Two challenges by the Bengals, both upheld, and the Bengals are without challenges throughout the rest of the game. No challenges by the Texans bench and no replay reviews initiated by the replay booth.

6.15 pm
Ben Austro

Was that challenge because Lewis thought the receiver did not have control of the ball? The ball can move around while still maintaining control. Bad challenge

5.56 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | 2:00 Want to know why Blakeman’s crew is in the playoffs? They have been able to communicate and call a tight game through now. Good call to pick up the flag, as Texans lineman Mike Brisiel was pushed into the pile.

5.55 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 2:00 Good job picking up the flag on a late hit, as #65 Mike Brisiel of HOU was pushed into the pile by a defender.

5.48 pm
Ben Austro

Blakeman announces the challenge as “down by contact.” Looks like CIN will be w/o challenges for the rest of the game

5.48 pm
dilly

I would even argue that Daniels had the ball and was down before the defender got his own hands around it. Play should be upheld.

5.46 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | 4:33 Looks like simultaneous possession, which goes to the receiver.

5.38 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 7:57 A.J. Green and Brice McCain had their arms tangled. Interference could have been called on either or both of them, so a good no-call.

5.33 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 9:02 Donald Lee was down by contact before the ball came out. The ground can’t cause a fumble.

5.31 pm
Ben Austro

Blakeman rules that the runner is short; Bengals challenge fails

5.31 pm
dilly

2nd Qtr | 10:02 Replay shows that Benson’s elbow hit short of the 30. Call correctly upheld.

5.30 pm
Ben Austro

Clearly short

5.29 pm
Ben Austro

2nd qtr | 10:02 CIN challenges the spot in relation to a first down

5.13 pm
dilly

1st Quarter | 2:31 remaining | 7-7. Bernard Scott of the Bengals converted a 2nd and 1 for a first down. He seemed short, possibly, but the replay did not get a good shot of where the ball was when forward progress was stopped.

5.11 pm
Ben Austro

Back to the personal foul, that was flagged (correctly) as a blow to head/neck area, not helmet-to-helmet

5.02 pm
dilly

1st Quarter | 6:31 remaining | Cin 7-0. Personal Foul for hitting a defenseless receiver to the head and neck on Reggie Nelson of Cincinnati. Looked like a good call live, and replay showed it clearly, good call.

4.54 pm
Ben Austro

Second penalty of the game is a big one: 53 yards. Easy call for back judge Terrence Miles.