Zebra Blog

Week 10: Seahawks at Cardinals

Seahawks coach Jim Mora is petitioning the league on 17 plays in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals, as reported by Danny O’Neil of The Seattle Times. While it is routine that coaches submit questionable calls to the league office, Mora said it was “probably three times as many as I have in any game.”

Mora would not elaborate on all of the plays, but apparently some disputed pass interference calls are part of the mix. Mora did note, however, that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was gasping for air after a forearm was planted on his neck after being sacked. There was no roughness penalty called on the play.

Darnell Dockett, the player administering the offending forearm, was quick to respond on his Twitter feed, which we have detwitterfied for your reading enjoyment:

Dear Coach Mora: It’s football. Shit happens, and if you ever played the game you’d understand. Really, I would [not] try to hurt Matt. He’s a good guy.

Dockett was too fast to toss the four-letter word in there, but did not realize that he forgot the critical word not (which is followed by “*wouldnt” in his next tweet). We will know by Friday if the league feels that a fine happens, too.

Update, 11/21/09: Dockett was fined $7,500 for the hit.

Couple of stories of the NFL handing out fines for conduct:

• Backtracking to Week 9, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was fined $20,000 for arguing a call with referee Ed Hochuli. Cutler was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Much like Chad Ochocinco’s $1 facetious bribe the same day, this is the standard first-offense fine for “verbal or other non-physical offense against [an] official.”
• Also in the Bears–Cardinals game, the Bears defensive lineman Tommie Harris, who was ejected on the third play of the game for what Hochuli described as “slugging” another player, was fined $7,500 (video at 0:19).  Because the Bears played a Thursday night game, the fines were not announced until after their Week 10 game.
• Finally, in a case of swift justice, Titans owner Bud Adams was fined $250,000 for obscene gestures launched from his luxury box towards the Bills sideline—or $125,000 for each finger. The incident happened at the end of Sunday’s game, with the fine being announced Monday morning. There was little dispute in the matter, as his double-barrelled salute was uploaded to YouTube.

Week 1: Bears vs. Packers

The Packers clearly had a successful 2-point conversion late in the game. One replay was aired prior to the kickoff that showed it was close but, undeniably, was a complete pass.

As soon as the replay cleared the screen, whistles were heard to initiate a booth review of the play. This hearkens back to comments by Mike Pereira, head of officials, on his assessment of the Cardinals’ final play in Super Bowl XLIII:

You learn and … next time it happens, at this point of the game, this big of a play, let’s go ahead and [call for a replay review].

Pereira said that the replay guidelines would be revised to reflect this. I am calling it the “critical juncture review,” or the replay to satisfy the conspiracy theorists.

The replay official was Ken Baker and the referee was Ron Winter.

Week 1: 49ers at Cardinals

It seems the Arizona Cardinals cannot finish a game without a controversial call on the last play of the game. In the first outing following the controversial game-ending fumble in Super Bowl XLIII, the Cardinals found themselves, again, in a last-second desperation call.

With eight seconds left in the 49ers–Cardinals game (video highlight at 2:10), the Cardinals needed 54 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Kurt Warner was sacked with three seconds; the ball was fumbled and rolled out of bounds as time expired.

An interesting development arose, as the players (most visibly kicker Joe Nedney) entered onto the field with three seconds left with a live, loose ball. The play, according to the gamebook, did not end until the ball went out of bounds. Therefore, there were more than 11 players on the field.

49ers bench enters the field during a live ball with 2 seconds remaining. Credit: NFL/Fox Sports

Nedney, although near the ball, did not interfere with the play. Because the fumble was after the two-minute warning, only Warner (the fumbler) could legally recover for the Cardinals. So there was clearly no way the Cardinals had a chance to recover. But, by the letter of the rules, it is an illegal substitution, which would have been a 5-yard penalty and an untimed down for the Cardinals. A replay review could have been initiated, as the number of personnel is a reviewable call. It could not be challenged since there was less than two minutes.

Flashback: Browns at Chiefs, Week 1, 2002

This may appear to be overreaching, as players believed the play to be over and did not interfere with the play. But, that did not factor in an unsportsmanlike conduct call in the 2002 Browns–Chiefs opening day game. When Chiefs quarterback Trent Green was swarmed under with the clock showing 0:00, it appeared that the game was over. Dwayne Rudd of the Browns removed his helmet in celebration, not realizing that Green lateraled the ball to lineman John Tait, who was tackled at the 25-yard line.

Although Rudd thought the play was over, and did not have any affect on the play, he was nonetheless flagged for removing his helmet, which extended the quarter by an untimed down for the Chiefs’ game-winning field goal.

Today’s game was officiated by Don Carey’s crew (his first as referee); Lloyd McPeters was the replay official.

Preseason Week 4: Cardinals at Broncos

No video to show, but the Associated Press reported that Cardinals offensive lineman Elton Brown bumped referee Mike Carey near the end of the first half of the final preseason game. He was ejected for the contact.

According to the story and his coach, the bump was inadvertant, however the ruling is not debatable. The league office should report any sanctions against Brown this week.

Update, Wed. 9/9/09: In an unrelated move, Brown was released by the Cardinals today.

The NFL announced, through Adam Schefter’s blog, that Steelers’ receiver Santonio Holmes was fined $10,000 for his end-zone celebration by using the ball as a prop. The celebration came on the game-winning touchdown of Super Bowl XLIII.

Vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira acknowledged on the NFL Network after the Super Bowl that the celebration should have been flagged, causing the Steelers to kick off from its 15 yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Pereira clearly pointed to the fact that field judge Greg Gautreaux watched the celebration at length until he had to set for the point-after-touchdown try.

Had the celebration been flagged, yes, it could’ve changed the complexion of the final Cardinals drive. Schefter says that the Cardinals could have used those 15 yards, and that future replays should show the fact that, in his estimation, the officials blew the call. Pretty assertive on a page with nfl.com in the URL.

However, this fails in two areas. First, the official watched the play for any unsportsmanlike conduct following the touchdown. He did have to shift his focus to the extra-point try, as the 40-second clock was already ticking. Gautreaux did exactly what he is supposed to do. Second, games are won on the field, not by the officials. Remember, the Steelers recovered from the safety-by-penalty and the Cardinals go-ahead touchdown by mounting their own game-winning drive. That is what the record should show.

Mike Pereira, the NFL vice president of officiating, conducted his last “Official Review” segment (video) of the season on the NFL Network today. Periera is retiring at the conclusion of next season.

Pereira did acknowledge the controversy about not having Kurt Warner’s fumble on the last play reviewed:

Looking back at it now after the fact, you know, it was close enough, although it wouldn’t have changed anything whatsoever. … Had [replay official Bob McGrath] stopped it, it would’ve stayed a fumble. But, again, looking at it, at that big of a play at the end of the game, I would’ve sent it down and given [head referee Terry] McAuley a chance to look at it. …

You learn and … next time it happens, at this point of the game, this big of a play, let’s go ahead and [call for a replay review].

Pereira stated that McAuley had a chance to see the play after the game and concurred that the ruling would stand. The ruling on the play was that, although Warner had the ball in his hand while it was moving forward, he did not have control of it. I don’t think that will be enough to satisfy conspiracy theorists.

However, it appears the replay guidelines will be amended to state controversial calls at pivotal points in the game will get a review.

Also in the segment, Pereira backed up the assessment we had on James Harrison’s interception return. He also said that Santonio Holmes’ celebration on the game-winning touchdown should have been penalized, but since it happened so long after the play, the officials’ attention was to set up for the point-after attempt.

Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh vs. Cardinals

Video from NFL.com

Officials don’t win or lose games. The Cardinals had a three-point lead with 2:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. So, rather the defense is mostly responsible for the outcome, rather than the denial of a last-second desperation play.

Kurt Warner’s last ditch effort did, however, deserve more than a cursory look at three angles. It is hard to believe that the evidence is conclusive enough to confirm whether or not Warner fumbled the ball. The New York Times’ Fifth Down blog has sequential photos of the play, suggesting this could be the Tuck Rule II.

In this case, the on-field officiating crew had done everything correct. The replay official, Bob McGrath — not the denizen of Sesame Street, I hope — was the sole decider on whether a last-minute play gets a review by Terry McAuley, the head referee.

The league’s vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, backed up McGrath’s assessment to NBC:

We confirmed it was a fumble. The replay assistant in the replay booth saw it was clearly a fumble. The ball got knocked loose and was rolling in his hand before it started forward. He has to have total control.

Well, yeah, but sometimes you have to think that the magnitude of the call requires another look-see. And especially since there already was a fumble-to-incomplete reversal on the first drive of the third quarter.

This is an odd situation in the world of refereedom. If any one official makes an incorrect call, and it is not corrected, the bad call is pinned on all seven officials. However, the decision of the replay official has no on-field intervention.

Further frustrating the Cardinals sideline was the fact that they were a perfect 2-for-2 on red-flag challenges, being awarded the rare third challenge for being correct on the first two. However, that challenge disappears from the ledger once the two-minute warning is called in the fourth quarter.

Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers vs. Cardinals

Video from NFL.com

James Harison’s goal-line-to-goal-line run fortunately, and correctly, survived the replay review, but would not have been entirely disasterous if overturned.

Even though time expired during the play, an Arizona facemask call would have given the Steelers another shot at the end zone. Being a personal foul, as I understand it, would have been enforced from the end of the run, which would have been a three-blades-of-grass-distance penalty. And, since the Steelers became the offense the instant the ball was intercepted, they would have been able to extend the quarter by one untimed down by rule. (I believe the Steelers, if they were so inclined, could have opted to kick off as the play stood, if they did not decline the penalty.)

Fortunately, the play stood, and the 100-yard, record-setting rumble overtook Lynn Swann’s acrobatic catch in Super Bowl X as the greatest Steeler catch in Super Bowl history. For almost two quarters, at least.

One final note on the replay: NBC had 52 cameras covering the game and at the disposal of replay review. In a regular-season game, the network will have fixed camera locations at the 20s and the 50-yard line. NBC mixed in two goal-line-plane cameras to the live coverage, which came in handy for two of the reviews. This also gave us the awkward angle for the live shot on the interception return, since the same camera followed the play from coast to coast. But once we saw the replay from the camera 100 yards away, it was clear this was a score. The remaining 255 games played during the NFL season do not have these superb angles, leading to the dreaded “inconclusive evidence” ruling.

Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers vs. Cardinals

Video from NFL.com

The team safety awarded to the Cardinals — by virtue of the holding penalty enforced in the end zone — was the sixth safety in Super Bowl history. But, it was the first due to penalty.