As reported by Sean Leahy of the USA Today, the vice president of officiating, Carl Johnson, said, “If we have the potential to time our games with more precision, then we will pursue all avenues, including experimenting with alternate methods to accomplish that goal.”

Walt Coleman will be tonight’s referee.

Update: During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the play clock became inoperative. From what we can tell, the 25-second clock is not operated by the PTS system.

The most violent collision from the 2009 season didn’t even involve the umpire, but a back judge covering a kickoff return. Rich Reels was bruised up quite a bit and had to sit a week out when he was caught off balance and hit by an upfield blocker. In addition to Reels’ injury, there were reports of concussions and other injuries. The league even considered giving the umpire a helmet.

The umpire position will be opposite the referee in the offensive backfield.

The umpire will now be located in the offensive backfield, rather than the center of the defensive backfield. The umpire will operate on the side opposite the referee, who is generally positioned on the side of the quarterback’s throwing arm. However, after the two minute warning in either half, the umpire will return to the defensive backfield.

There are no changes indicated in the 2010 NFL rule book under the umpire’s duties as a result of this change. (Oddly, the position of the umpire is not and never was discussed in the rule book, despite other officials’ positions being indicated.) However, there is a private manual for officials that express finer details of officiating mechanics which was overhauled.

The umpire will have to quickly set in position after maintaining the ball spot at the line of scrimmage. Once an offense comes to the line, the umpire must retreat to the offensive backfield (while avoiding the players moving from the huddle to the line of scrimmage) rather than a few yards behind the ball. Usually, the offense has to wait about a second for the umpire to be set, but it will likely take longer with the new positioning.

It will be interesting to see some of the bugs worked out in the preseason, and we will update you on any refinements as we are aware of them.

The original image used in the illustration is credited to Pats1 at en.wikipedia.

• R Ron Winter (14)
• U Butch Hannah (40)
• HL John McGrath (5)
• LJ Darryll Lewis (130)
• SJ Steve Zimmer (33)
• BJ Rick Patterson (15)
• FJ Perry Paganelli (46)

In the replay booth are the replay assistant Ken Baker and video operator Jim Grant.

The officiating supervisors for the game are Ed Coukart and new vice-president of officiating Carl Johnson.

Please leave your comments on the calls of the game in this article, and we will address them during the week.

With an unbelievable amount of candor, referee Bill Leavy admitted that he made game-changing mistakes when he officiated Super Bowl XL in February 2006—mistakes that helped propel the Steelers over the Seahawks.

It was immediately branded as one of the worst called Super Bowls in history. The Seattle Times ran a list of six questionable calls that illustrates the frustration on the Seahawks sideline, beyond the frustration with the team’s own performance (see the list below).

Leavy’s comments came during the preseason rounds by the officials to brief players in training camp of new rule changes. Leavy apologized for, in his estimation, two late-stretch calls that helped the Steelers put the game away:

It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better … I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough … When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It’s something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it’s difficult.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren addressed a crowd in Seattle after the loss saying he “didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.” The NFL reviewed his comments, but did not fine him. However, the conspiracy machine was churning so hard, that NFL spokeman Greg Aiello released this statement two days after the game:

The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials.

That, essentially, still rings true. Leavy and his crew failed on a few calls, but it is a part of the game. There were no misapplications of the rules or crew mechanics, so all the calls in question were judgment calls. Good teams are able to overcome bad calls just as much as adverse weather conditions. For instance, a questionable holding penalty can be blamed on the referee, but an interception thrown three plays later also has to balance out the conversation.

The Seattle Times “6 Key Plays”

• Offensive pass interference nullifies touchdown
• Dropped pass could have been ruled catch & fumble
• Replay review upheld Steelers touchdown
• Touchdown reception denied for contact with pylon
• Questionable holding call nullifies first-and-goal
• Illegal block called when it appears there was no contact

Bob Lawing (Credit: T.R. Lawing Realty)

Bob Lawing, a back judge in the NFL for 12 seasons, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer, as reported by the Charlotte Observer. He was 58.

Lawing (who wore #17) was listed on the 2009 roster of officials (which was finalized in May 2009) but did not officiate because of his illness. He also took leave in 2007 for similar reasons. His last game was Ravens–Titans AFC Divisional Playoff game after the 2008 season. In the final, game-winning drive, an apparent delay-of-game penalty was not assessed on the Ravens, which was Lawing’s responsibility. His head referee, Terry McAuley backed up the non-call: Because Lawing had to watch the play clock hit zero, then see if the ball is snapped,  there is an understood, built-in, fraction-of-a-section delay if such a penalty is called.

Lawing served as an ACC basketball referee, a property manager, and a Realtor and was involved in various civic organizations. He officiated six NFL playoff games.

We think that the overtime format, more than 50 years removed from its first use with no modification, has worked just fine. However, if we were on the Competition Committee—and we had to make a modification to overtime—we would have considered the following proposals before “modified sudden death.”

1. Move the kickoff to the 35. The simplest solution to reverse the field-position advantage gained when kickoffs were moved back to the 30 yard line is to move the overtime kickoffs to the 35.

2. Replace the coin toss in overtime. Rather than let an arbitrary coin flip “decide overtime,” as is often (incorrectly) argued (roughly a 60/40 advantage goes to the coin-toss winner), use an on-field element to determine the first possession in overtime. By giving possession to the team last in the lead, a team couldn’t score a last-second tying field goal in regulation and then have the first possession in overtime (essentially preventing two consecutive possessions at the end of the game to the trailing team).

3. Start overtime from the fourth quarter dead-ball spot. A slightly more radical proposal would do away with the coin toss and kickoff to start overtime, and have the teams merely switch sides of the field as if the beginning of regulation was the same as the beginning of the second or fourth quarters. The only way overtime could have a kickoff would be if the final play of regulation is the game-tying score. The downside is a tie game at the two-minute warning gives no urgency, as the offense could grind out a ten-minute drive through the first eight minutes of overtime. (There would also be no kickoff starting the third overtime period, either, but that has never happened in an NFL game.)

4. Best kickoff return. This is the most radical suggestion, but only slightly better than the proposal voted by the owners. Essentially conduct two kickoffs to start overtime, with the team attaining the best field position keeping the ball. Of course, back-to-back runbacks to the house would turn overtime into a home-run derby.

The Competition Committee moved on changing the dynamic of postseason overtime on a nonexistent platform: field position after a kickoff gives a short field for an easy put-the-game-away field goal.

In postseason play, this situation has happened only three times. Yes, only three times has a team advanced the ball in overtime from kickoff to field goal in a playoff game, most recently in the 2009 NFC Championship game where the Saints advanced over the Vikings.

The Vikings, not one to sour on their lost destiny, voted against the modified sudden-death proposal. The Bills, Bengals and Ravens were the only others to reject the proposal

Unintended consequences of the new rule (that we see) are:

• Overtime can end on an unspectacular loss on downs, or worse, a measurement.
• There is less risk in tying the game at the conclusion of regulation, rather than boldly going for the lead.
• A team scoring the opening-possession field goal can follow up with an onside kick, ending the game if they recover (OK, that would be kinda cool, I suppose).
• The inequity supposedly created by the kickoff return offering field-goal prime field position is not remedied if both teams score field goals on their first possessions. This is because the next possession is sudden death, and it begins with the oh-so-dreaded kickoff.
• Defensive errors, magnified in overtime, can be softened when a second chance is awarded after surrendering a field goal.
• Somehow, a single drive in overtime ending in a field goal is unacceptable, but a game-winning field goal that breaks a tie at the expiration of the fourth quarter is just fine without a retaliatory possession by the losing team.

We will be adding to this list as a stream of consciousness. Add your suggestions in the comments.

Yes, that headline is screaming. And for good reason. The NFL now can’t simply resolve a tie game much like Major League Baseball (if necessary, play till 5 a.m. to resolve .006  percentage points in the standings), the NHL (after five minutes, go to a shootout that resembles pregame warmups), and NCAA football (a sudden-life format that was called “last licks” in my elementary school days).

The NFL owners approved a “modified sudden death” system, in that a field goal on the first possession of overtime extends the overtime period for a retaliatory possession by the other team. If the score is then equalized, then the next score wins the game. Therefore, the “catch-up” team must score at least a tying field goal on the second possession to stay alive. A touchdown at any time ends the game.

Oddly, this is only implemented for the postseason. The league stance is that there are already separate rules for regular season and the postseason. (This difference is merely that one overtime is permitted in the regular season and an additional timeout is given in postseason.) This may be to avoid an odd, but plausible, circumstance where an overtime session only lasts two possessions because of two conservative, ball-controlling offenses.

Competition Committee members Bill Polian and Rich McKay (Colts and Falcons presidents) explained that there were fundamental inequities to the team losing the coin toss in overtime. We will dissect them in another post. You can watch the news conference here.

Scott Green will serve as the crew chief in Sunday’s Super Bowl. It is his third Super Bowl, having officiated in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII as a back judge. After his last Super Bowl assignment in 2004, he was promoted to the head referee position.

The Super Bowl is officiated by an “all-star” crew, based upon detailed examination of every call (and non-call) made and written tests. However, if the highest rated official at any position has (1) served in last year’s Super Bowl, (2) has not officiated a playoff game, or (3) has less than five years of NFL seniority, then the next highest rated official is appointed.

This year’s crew includes the following (and the head of the crew each worked with during the regular season):

• U — Undrey Wash (Carl Cheffers)
• HL — John McGrath (Tony Corrente)
• LJ — Jeff Seeman (Gene Steratore)
• FJ — Rob Vernatchi (Pete Morelli)
• SJ — Greg Meyer (Don Carey)
• BJ — Greg Steed (Terry McAuley)
• Replay Assistant — Jim Lapetina (Morelli)
• Video Operator — Jim Pearson (Morelli)

While Green has officiated two other Super Bowls, no other on-field official has prior Super Bowl experience. Also of note, Seeman is the son of former referee and director of officiating Jerry Seeman, who was the crew chief in Super Bowls XXIII and XXV (1998 and 1990 seasons).