Football Zebras.com

Usually we will give a complete rundown of the “Official Review” segment from the NFL officiating department, but we wanted to advance the news out of that segment to its own post first.

A tip-off to a rare midseason rule change was dropped as vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira (video) was dissecting the fumble recovery in the Eagles–Giants game, which appeared to give the ball to the Eagles with two seconds. Being a nonreviewable play, the half had expired, and the time was not added to the clock.

Pereira said that the league ownership—which currently has a quorum attending an unrelated labor seminar in Dallas—might pass an interim rule change to allow the time on the clock to be reviewable. Because all networks record a camera (usually the live play camera) with a superimposed image of the stadium clock (as opposed to a graphical representation in the “information bar” usually seen on the screen), this combined image could be used for making adjustments to the clock. Quoting Pereira:

We may look at actually making this a rule for the playoffs, that the clock could become reviewable in certain situations. Obviously, there are some situations where it can’t, but [it could for]:

• loose ball going out of bounds,
• runner going out of bounds,
• ball hitting out of bounds,
• a pass hitting out of bounds,
• a field goal hitting the net,

where you have a definitive picture as to when the ball should be dead, and you have the clock superimposed. We may be able to get that this year for the playoffs.

Under the criteria outlined by Pereira—there may be additional criteria that was not mentioned— the play from Sunday night would still not be reviewable. We crack our rulebook to Rule 15, Section 9, which lists under “nonreviewable plays include, but are not limited to … status of the clock, … recovery of loose ball in the field of play.” So, by striking “status of the clock” under the proposed rule change, we are still looking at a fumble recovery not being reviewable unless the sideline or end zone is under review.

And, obviously, the status of the clock by itself is not currently reviewable, but if some other element of the play is under review, replay can adjust the clock to be compliant with any overturned call.

As we found out with the 2,100-inch high-definition screen in the new Cowboys Stadium that blocks punts—yes, I just broke out the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the diagonal measure—any rule changes that occur midseason expire at the end of the season and are automatically placed on the Competition Committee agenda to discuss permanent inclusion.

Week 11: Redskins at Cowboys

In the closing seconds of the second quarter of the Redskins–Cowboys game, Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell was driven out of bounds for a 5-yard loss as he threw a forward pass. Replay official Bob McGrath called for a review, and referee Alberto Riverón reversed the call on the field to incomplete pass.

The play, however, was not reviewable. The league office informed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of this.

It’s not abundantly clear in the rulebook, as we have two seemingly contradictory statements:

The Replay System will cover the following play situations only:

(a) Plays governed by Sideline, Goal Line, End Zone, and End Line: …

3. Runner/receiver in or out of bounds.

(b) Passing plays:

1. Pass ruled complete/incomplete/intercepted in the field of play.

Since the call on the field was out of bounds, any subsequent action by Campbell is disregarded, even if it actually happened in bounds. This is because the play is ruled dead at that point.

There are exceptions to the “ball is dead” edict, as in the case of a clear recovery of a fumble or interception when an incomplete pass is overturned on replay. In these cases, there is no new action after the dead ball other than the recovery. What Riverón’s ruling on the play did was establish two new actions after a dead ball, namely, that a pass was subsequently thrown and the pass was incomplete.

If we were to take a different scenario for the same play, and say that there was an on-field ruling of incomplete pass, this could be reviewed to see if Campbell stepped out prior to releasing the pass.

Further complicating the ruling was that the Redskins were assessed a delay of game penalty prior to the replay review being called. (This is legal, because the replay official can review the last play until a legal snap has occurred.) In an Emmit Brown-like paradox of the universe, it was determined that the delay of game could not have occurred because of the reversal, and the gamebook does not even reflect the fact that it was called.

One comment made by Jones, a former Competition Committee member, argued that the media were in contact with the league’s Park Avenue offices during the game. He suggests, in a very NHL-esque fashion, that “We’ve got to get going where there’s communication between [the league office in] New York and the games.” Unfortunately, the average official is correct only 98% of the time. There is only 60 seconds to review the play, and the officials who have been hired to officiate a game must do their job without outside help. Yes, there are extraordinary circumstances, such as lightning or fan interference that warrant consultation with the executive level. But other than those once-in-a-career moments, the referee’s decision, even if incorrect, is final.

We have reported on two instances where Jeff Triplette’s crew had difficulty in getting basic information correct on replay reversals. First, in Week 5, Triplette and his crew spotted the ball 4½ yards behind where it was supposed to be. Then, last week, an overturned call should have created a dead-ball situation,  and 24 seconds should have been added back on to the clock.

We noted that this is a failure of Triplette and his replay official, Bob Boylston, to convey down, distance, yard line, and time remaining on all replay reversals. In addition, the rulebook says that the remaining six officials have the responsibility to correct errors before a play is run. A mistake by one is a mistake by all.

Their field-booth communication has improved, however, it brings a third and fourth indictment against Triplette. The crew was officiating the Packers–Cowboys game on Sunday.

First, Triplette was willing to grant a coach’s challenge by the Cowboys regarding the recovery of a fumble. Rule 15, Section 9 covers all of the reviewable plays, but specifically says:

Note: Non-reviewable plays include but are not limited to … recovery of loose ball in the field of play.

Since it was not a scoring play, Triplette should have known to waive off the challenge. Instead, he went to the replay equipment where he was told it was not a challengable play.

Second, Triplette was about to grant a challenge to the Packers, who had already exhausted both challenges earlier in the game. Each official has a card that tracks pertinent information, such as the score, time outs and challenges. This is the basic bookkeeping required to run an efficient game. However, Triplette was under the hood again when he was informed that the Packers did not have a challenge to use.

In addition, he forgot Rule 15, Section 9 also says:

Penalty: For initiating a challenge when all of a team’s time outs have been exhausted or when all of its available challenges have been used: Loss of 15 yards.

So, while the correct calls were made this week (other than the penalty enforcement), it is hard to believe that a crew of seven has to rely on the booth for basic information on when a challenge can be issued.