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The week prior to a calendar changes prompts a look back at the biggest and best of the year in every imaginable category. There are no trophies, but in this case there ought to be. In the year-end Sports Illustrated, Richard Deitsch named NFL on Fox officiating analyst Mike Pereira as the best sports media person of the year.

Periera retired last year as the vice-president of officiating, in which his weekly chores included an “Official Review” segment on the NFL Network. It was the first time someone from the league office made himself available on a weekly basis to discuss the calls on the field. Even though it was filtered through the league-owned cable network, he still used the platform to engage in controversial calls and critiques of the officials.

Pereira’s retirement was partially motivated by his desire to live near his elderly parents in California, and the league office is in New York. Fox Sports seized the opportunity to hire Pereira, as they are, unlike their competition, located in Los Angeles.

The incorporation of Pereira into the broadcast is nothing short of genius. Serving as a rules-interpretation jukebox, he will pop in to a broadcast to relieve the game commentators from embarrassingly wrong analysis of the NFL rulebook. So far, he was correct on 49 of 50 replay challenges this season, or right on the league average of 98 percent. (In this case, “correct” means matching the call made on the field.)

Pereira has even made himself available during the Thanksgiving Day game and the regionally telecast Giants–Vikings game that was moved to Monday due to stadium damage.

The part that we miss, however, is the non-Fox games, obviously. It becomes painfully obvious when a former jock shows his complete lack of knowledge of the sport he once played. (Isolated example, video of Matt Millen’s complete lack of understanding of how the end-zone pylon indicates in-bounds and out-of-bounds.)

We appreciate Pereira’s analysis, but he is now hamstrung by league rules from showing game footage outside of the “broadcast window” to explain the calls beyond Fox game broadcasts or on the Internet. Even with that limitation, his analysis has been the obvious, slap-to-the-forehead answer to decades worth of bad rules interpretation from the booth.

We haven’t been reviewing the “Official Review” segments on the NFL Network this season since its debut under Carl Johnson. Johnson, the new vice-president of officiating, has not appeared on the network’s signature program NFL Total Access on a weekly basis, like his predecessor, Mike Pereira. In addition, the segment has less plays and less-controversial plays under review than last year.

We happened to catch this week’s “Official Review,” so here’s the recap:

• From the Tuesday night game against the Eagles, Vikings receiver Sidney Rice scored a touchdown that was overturned on replay. Rice did not secure the ball through the process of the catch, and the ball touched the ground, rendering it incomplete (video).
• From the Giants–Packers game, there is more of a process review, rather than analysis of a call. On the fumble by Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, it was apparent from the replay that all players who touched the ball were in bounds (video). Johnson briefly notes the need for a player to re-establish himself in the field of play, which could have been explained at greater length for an audience, rather than repeating the same points.

Johnson is improving his presentation skills slightly since his first appearance, but he appears to have enough material to cover one-third of the segment, requiring him to repeat some of the more basic points in his presentation. Hopefully by next year, the network can coach Johnson to not divulge everything up front, allowing the host to ask follow-up questions to pad out the segment.

Dec. 28, 1975
NFC Divisional Playoff: Cowboys at Vikings

Thirty-five years ago, “Hail Mary” became a football term after Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach so described the desperation pass that connected with Drew Pearson in a playoff game with the Vikings.

In the final drive, the Vikings were convinced that the touchdown should never have counted by crucial calls on two plays in the drive. In protest, a hailstorm of debris was thrown from the Metropolitan Stadium crowd, with a half-full bottle of Corby’s whiskey striking an official in the head.

A video of the original CBS television broadcast called by Gary Bender and Johnny Unitas is below.

Fourth and 16. Staubach connected with Pearson near the sideline, but landed out of bounds at the 50-yard line. Head linesman Jerry Bergman ruled that it was a completion, and that he would have landed in bounds if Vikings cornerback Nate Wright had not pushed Pearson out. The rule, which was changed in 2008, allowed the official to rule a completion in case of a “force out” prior to being able to get two feet down in bounds. Vikings coach Bud Grant disagreed with the call, but said that when Wright contacted Pearson, “the official gave Pearson the benefit of the doubt.”

The Hail Mary. After an incomplete pass, Staubach heaved the ball to Pearson who was at the 4-yard line and tangling with Wright. Pearson caught the pass and walked in for the go-ahead touchdown. Wright immediately protested the call with field judge Armen Terzian, claiming offensive pass interference should have been called, and would have had the interception if he wasn’t interfered with. Coach Grant thought it was clearly a penalty:

From our side of the field, there is now question that Nate was pushed. No question. [Pearson] had nothing to lose. If they called a penalty on him, what had he lost? They would just line up and try another long pass. It was one chance in a hundred that he would get away with it, but it was the only chance he had.

Pearson claimed he was playing the ball, but admitted that he might have gotten called for a push:

It was a little bit short so I had come back a little and that gave me a chance to get away from Nate. The ball juggled around a little and I finally caught it between my elbow and my ribs. … I thought I might have gotten pass interference. It could have gone either way.

No penalty was called, and the touchdown stood.

Terzian gets pelted. The irate crowd was already throwing things onto the field, as an NFL Films slow-motion video shows an orange hitting the field during the touchdown reception. With the Vikings in possession for the final seconds of the game, Terzian, the field judge, was struck in the head by a bottle, rendering him unconscious. Bergman, the head linesman, immediately came to his aid and was holding Terzian’s head until the Vikings medical staff arrived. Terzian had to leave the game and backup official Charley Musser officiated his position for the final two plays. Terzian required 11 stitches to close the gash in his forehead.

There are two postscripts to Terzian’s career. First, he is immortalized in a 1978 NFL Films clip which Chiefs head coach Marv Levy was wearing a microphone on the sideline. After admitting in pregame that he went to the college with Terzian, he is later seen screaming one of the most memorable quotes captured by the NFL Films microphones (which I cannot find online without being doctored up by the uploader):

Hey, Armen. Hey, you over-officious jerk.

Second, Terzian moved to a replay judge in the first generation system in the mid-1980s. During a 1988 Giants–Cowboys game, the opening kickoff was muffed by the Cowboys receiver and was ruled a safety. Terzian should have overruled the call (as was the procedure in the earlier version of replay review), but he never called for a review. The points were decisive, as the Giants won 12-10. For his error, Terzian was suspended by commissioner Pete Rozelle, but Terzian opted to retire.

Terzian died in 1989 at the age of 74.

Video credit: NFL/CBS Sports. Photo  credit: Charles Curtis/Duluth News Tribune

Week 16: Vikings at Eagles

Tonight’s game in Philadelphia had to be postponed due to a coastal winter storm that is forecasted to bring blizzard conditions to the area. It is the first Tuesday game since Oct. 1, 1946, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, when the Giants played the now-defunct Boston Yanks.

Oddly, this game was originally scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m., when conditions were not bad for Philadelphia, but the game had already been moved to primetime under the flexible scheduling provision for Sunday Night Football. By 8:00, the conditions are expected to be far too dangerous for the public.

Philadelphia hosted the 1948 NFL Championship game at Shibe Park between the Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals in a heavy snowstorm. Despite the league office considering a postponement, commissioner Bert Bell allowed the game to be played (video from E-footage.com).

The decision to postpone the 2010 game is the right one from a public-safety standpoint. As incredibly awesome as the sight might have been of a heavy snowstorm, it is not worth jeopardizing the safety of the fans, game personnel and emergency services. In the end, it is just a football game.

Rule 17 of the NFL rulebook outlines the procedures that the NFL took in making a decision today:

Article 4. The NFL affirms the position that in most circumstances all regular-season and postseason games should be played to their conclusion. If, in the opinion of appropriate League authorities, it is impossible to begin or continue a game due to an emergency, or a game is deemed to be imminently threatened by any such emergency (e.g., severely inclement weather, lightning, flooding, power failure), the following procedures (Articles 5 through 11) will serve as guidelines for the Commissioner and/or his duly appointed representatives. The Commissioner has the authority to review the circumstances of each emergency and to adjust the following procedures in whatever manner he deems appropriate. If, in the Commissioner’s opinion, it is reasonable to project that the resumption of an interrupted game would not change its ultimate result or adversely affect any other inter-team competitive issue, he is empowered to terminate the game.

Article 5. The League employees vested with the authority to define emergencies under these procedures are the Commissioner, designated representatives from his League office staff, and the game Referee. In those instances where neither the Commissioner nor his designated representative is in attendance at a game, the Referee will have sole authority; provided, however, that if a Referee delays the beginning of or interrupts a game for a significant period of time due to an emergency, he must make every effort to contact the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designated representative for consultation. In all cases of significant delay, the League authorities will consult with the management of the participating clubs and will attempt to obtain appropriate information from outside sources, if applicable (e.g., weather bureau, police).

Article 6. If, because of an emergency, a regular-season or postseason game is not started at its scheduled time and cannot be played at any later time that same day, the game nevertheless must be played on a subsequent date to be determined by the Commissioner.

By now you are well aware of the blizzard in Minnesota that caused the roof to collapse on the Metrodome. Other than the fact that Fox Sports cameras caught some incredible footage of the collapse that we can gratuitously embed here, we have nothing more to report on with regards to the officiating.

The Giants–Vikings game has been rescheduled to Monday at 7:20 p.m. (EST) and will now be played at Ford Field in Detroit. Jeff Triplette’s crew will be officiating.

Updated 11/29 for new feature, below

If you see a call that is a turkey, let us know in the comments section of this post. Referee assignments are after the jump.

Update: Starting this week, we will update the open forum with any calls we read about that aren’t worthy of (or if we don’t have time for) a full, standalone post. If we miss one, send us a link in the comments. Some of these may expand to full posts later in the week, as well.

• Steelers at Bills. Steelers linebacker James Harrison believes that he shouldn’t have been flagged for roughing the passer (for helmet-to-helmet contact) in the third quarter (via Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
• Jaguars at Giants. Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio questioned the offensive pass interference call against Kassim Osgood in the fourth quarter (via Vito Stellino, The Florida Times-Union). Also in that game, there was no penalty called on Jaguars defensive back Tyron Brackenridge for contact after a fair catch on Darius Reynaud. While Giants coach Tom Coughlin didn’t question the call, the game supervisor, former veteran referee Johnny Grier, phoned the league office in Manhattan about the non-call according to Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.
• Eagles at Bears. A question was raised in a discussion board about a player who does not try to advance an onside kick. When a player “gives himself up” he does not have to be touched down by an opponent to have the play declared dead. This happens more often on kicks (because it prevents the clock from running), but the same applies when a quarterback takes a knee to run out the clock.

read more »

The NFL is experimenting with a new clock operation system in the first preseason game in the new Meadowlands Stadium. During tonight’s Giants–Jets game (Jets are the designated home team), the new Precision Time System devices will be worn by four officials on their belts to start and stop the clock.

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.

Week 14: Eagles at Giants

We have three calls for analysis—all three called correctly—from the Eagles–Giants game that will likely end up on this week’s “Official Review.” View the highlights of the game in addition to our analysis:

McNabb incomplete or fumble?

On a second-and-10 from the Eagles 42, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is hit with the ball going forward. The ball was nearly caught out of the air by the Giants and rolled dead (1:24 into highlight reel). Confusion reigned, as the ball was spotted 10 yards back following the play. Here is what each official ruled on the play:

• 

  Credit: NFL/NBC Sports

  Referee John Parry considered it a forward fumble by (A) tossing a beanbag marker to show the spot of the fumble.

• After the ball hit the ground and as it rolled to a stop, umpire Dan Ferrell assumed a “hovering” position (B) anticipating a recovery and a possible pileup on the loose ball.
• The line judge, Ron Marinucci, covering a possible interception, ruled it incomplete (C). However, since McNabb’s hand was empty as it was coming forward, it should not have been ruled incomplete. But, once an incomplete pass is called, the play is dead at that point—although if there was an immediate recovery by the Giants after the incomplete call, it would have been Giants possession at the dead-ball spot.
• The replay official could not call for a review because no player picked up the loose ball as the play was killed.

In this case, two rules come into play, with the applicable rule/section/article:

7–4–2. If a loose ball comes to rest anywhere in field and no player attempts to recover, official covering the play should pause momentarily before signaling dead ball (official’s time out).

8–7–6. If a fumble by either team occurs after the two-minute warning … (b) The player who fumbled is the only player of his team who is permitted to recover and advance the ball. (c) If the recovery or catch is by a teammate of the player who fumbled, the ball is dead, and the spot of the next snap is the spot of the fumble.

With no one recovering the ball, loosely this translated to an Eagles recovery, as they retain possession. Therefore, they were given the ball at the spot of the fumble, 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Fumble recovery at 2 seconds?

On a kickoff return, the Giants fumbled with a recovery by Moise Fokou of the Eagles as the first half expired, but with the aid of the television replay, approximately two seconds remained in the second quarter (no video available).  So why were the Eagles denied the possibility of a field goal to end the half?

• The replay official cannot intervene in a solely clock-based call or for a fumble recovery in the field of play.
• A fumble recovery does not immediately kill the clock. There has to be evidence of a recovery or a significant pileup of players to blow the play dead. By examining the replay, we are able to get the snapshot, but an official would be irresponsible to immediately blow the whistle. What if the ball were to somehow squirt out after the official called it dead?
• When the play is ruled dead, the line judge (primarily) is responsible for seeing that the clock is stopped in a reasonable manner. This could cause a delay, and, as is often noted, may go in the favor of the home team on occasion. (We cannot back that assertion up with anything statistical, but prove us wrong if you can point us to evidence.) This delay also is seen when the play clock runs to zero: there is usually a “beat” before officials throw a flag, because their eyes can’t observe both at the same time.

Manning’s fumble not down by contact

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, while scrambling for a 15-yard gain, went into a forward dive and lost the ball as he contacted the turf (video is at 2:50). This was ruled a fumble, as Manning was not contacted as he dove forward. The ground cannot cause a fumble when a player goes down by contact (which can be as little as a defensive player’s finger).

The replay review could have made a compelling case for the fact that Manning had his jersey grabbed, which caused him to go down. Counting the number of steps is not entirely relevant; if a player stumbles ten steps down the field after contact, it is still down by contact.

But, “could” is not good enough, as Parry was looking for “indisputable visual evidence,” and so the play, correctly, stands. But in an alternate universe, this play has two different outcomes:

• I think, had the play been called down by contact by virtue of the jersey tug, that there would not have been indisputable visual evidence to dispute that call.
• Had Manning slid feet first, he would have taken advantage of a dead-ball ruling, which would have not resulted in a fumble had he dropped the ball upon hitting the ground:

7–4–1. An official shall declare dead ball and the down ended: … (c) whenever a runner declares himself down by sliding feet first on the ground. The ball is dead at the spot of the ball at the instant the runner so touches the ground.

Also notable

Trent Cole was ejected with five seconds remaining in the game for throwing a punch. While there were offsetting personal fouls, a disqualification is never withdrawn because of offsetting penalties.

The calls under “Official Review” by league vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira (video, part 1 and part 2):

• The oft-talked-about play of the week (video), where a down-by-contact ruling for the Redskins was overruled as a fumble and recovery for the Saints in overtime. Pereira points out that the ball is moving and being separated from the receiver, and therefore is a fumble. (A ball can move, as long as it remains in a hand or arm, as described in elegant prose to us.)
• Regarding the Flozell Adams hit on Justin Tuck (Cowboys–Giants) after the expiration of the first half, we have something for our offseason clip-and-save file:

It really doesn’t seems right that that play shouldn’t result in a 15-yard penalty on the opening kick of the third quarter, and I think that is something we’ll have to take a look at [in the offseason]. … It will be interesting to see how the Competition Committee addresses it. … I already promised [Giants head coach] Tom Coughlin on the Monday after the game that I would present it to the committee, and I’m sure it will be one of the things they look at early.

• An incomplete pass by the Buccaneers against the Panthers was reviewed and overturned by referee Don Carey and replay official Lloyd McPeters. Periera did not see indisputable visual evidence, andacknowledged that replay officials are graded on their performance for playoff assignments.
• In the same game, a rush by Maurice Jones-Drew of the Panthers was reviewed to see if it was a touchdown. It was ruled short by the line judge, and replay did not have indisputable visual evidence to overturn.

Pereira did not come near addressing any plays from the 49ers–Seahawks game, which the Niners organization alleges “several paragraphs” worth of disputed calls.

Flozell Adams in a 2007 file photo. (Credit: texas_mustang, Flickr)

The league’s schedule of fines says that a flagrant personal foul carries a “suspension or fine, severity to be determined by degree of violation; the fine may be $10,000 or higher for first offense.” This text is stretching across the first- and second-offense columns on the chart of fines. Seems like the league went with the severe fine and multiplied it by the offense.