4th quarter | :09 remaining | Lions 34-28 | Vikings ball | 1st & goal @ 1 | video

The Vikings were on the comeback express, having trailed by 21, and were one yard from overcoming the deficit against the Lions with seconds remaining.

Vikings quarterback Joe Webb fumbled the ball on the final play, and after a mad scramble, the ball was recovered by the Lions with the time expired. Game over.

However, the officials missed two fouls committed by the Lions on the play.

Facemask penalty. Coinciding with the fumbled ball was a grasp and twist of Webb’s facemask by Lions DeAndre Levy. While this should have been caught, referee John Parry, who has coverage on the quarterback, obviously was not in position to see it. (Webb’s back was to him.) However, this is a huge missed call given to the entire crew.

Illegally batting the ball. In the scramble to pick up the loose ball, Steven Tulloch swatted the ball downfield. That is an illegal bat, and should have also been penalized. Because the game was under two minutes remaining, the rule for fumbles is that the fumbler is now the only offensive player who can pick up the loose ball and run. In this case, Webb was close to potentially recovering the ball, until Tulloch deliberately pushed the ball downfield. In my opinion, there was no intent to recover the fumble, as Tulloch hit the ball with his left hand, while his right hand remained at his side. In real time (without the benefit of replay) this is a hard judgement to make; therefore, it is rarely called.

There are grumblings in the Mile High City about the last-second desperation pass by Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. The pass landed incomplete, however, the Mile High Report is throwing a virtual flag for defensive pass interference.

Video of the play is on NFL.com.

Even though time expires during the play, if there is a defensive penalty, the quarter is extended by an untimed down. In the case of a hypothetical defensive pass interference, the ball is placed at the 1-yard line for a single shot at the end zone.

All of the scrambling by Tebow does have an affect on the non-call. Because he is running, the play could potentially develop into a rush, and therefore downfield contact related to pass coverage comes off the board. That’s not to say that you get a free shot, as the Browns found out in 2009. Once the play becomes a definitive pass play, then pass interference comes back on the table.

It is unclear if the ball is in the air when the contact is happening, so we can’t evaluate that in our opinion.

However, the and the defender are locking up with each other mutually, so an official can hold his flag. The spirit of the pass interference rule is to avoid an advantage going to either team through contact. Therefore, if both players are guilty of grapling each other, neither player has gained an advantage. Very, very rarely is there a call of offsetting pass interference fouls.

The Chargers cornerback Dante Hughes does attain an advantage by pushing receiver Matthew Willis out of bounds. By doing so, the receiver immediately becomes ineligible to catch the ball unless it is first touched by another player. However, in this case, it was a by-product of their mutual combativeness that the receiver became overpowered and stepped out. Had the defender disengaged the block and then shoved the receiver, you have textbook DPI.

It is a judgement call, always one to be the subject of discontent on such a pivotal play, whether it is called or not called.

Giants at Cardinals

Victor Cruz’s catch has become its own post.

Jerome Boger’s crew had a simultaneous timeout call from the Giants’ sideline and a coach’s challenge from the Cardinals sideline. (Fox Sports put the tape of the two coaches split screen—it would take a slo-mo replay to determine who was first.) The crew granted both requests, rather than returning the Giants timeout on account of the replay. Fox Sports sideline vagabond Tony Siragusa was able to get a very unusual in-game comment from umpire Carl Paganelli that the on-field ruling was the timeout call came first.

While the split screen only showed the coaches, there were also players on the Giants defensive line calling timeout as well. It is unclear if the officials called the timeout based on a player’s or the coach’s signal.

Steelers at Texans

The Texans had two touchdowns nullified. First, a blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown (video) had an obvious penalty for illegal block in the back. Clete Blakeman had the full explanation, including the fact that the half ends on the play without the quarter being extended. Then, in the fourth quarter, an interception return for a touchdown was wiped out by a late hit on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger by Texans J.J. Watt.

Saints at Jaguars

The EverBank Field grounds crew made a glaring error when painting the lines on the field, but ultimately one that would confuse viewers, not the officiating crew.

Each 10-yard increment (with the exception of the 50-yard line) is marked with an arrow pointing towards the nearest goal line. It is essentially for the benefit of television viewers to be able to discern which side of the field is on the screen.

However, the grounds crew placed a fourth of all the arrows pointing the wrong way. On the same yard line, the arrows on either side of the field pointed to opposite ends.

Great googily moogily!

Photo courtesy of Fox Sports Florida.

On the final play of the second quarter, the Cowboys were short on a 57-yard field goal attempt. While the Giants tried to advance the missed kick, the play was whistled dead. After the play was clearly over, Cowboys lineman Flozell Adams dealt a cheap shot to Justin Tuck (update: video). As Adams racked up four fines in the first three weeks of the season for flagrant personal fouls—including a leg whip that injured Tuck in Week 2—Adams likely faces a fine of repeat-offender magnitude and possibly suspension.

The personal foul was called on Adams, which was declined. Unfortunately the Fox Sports supposed “star” production team (another argument for another day, perhaps) was heading to commercial when announcer Joe Buck declared over unrelated video that a fight broke out. Without any visual, the network went to commercial, leaving the studio commentators on the other coast to explain what happened, with a short follow-up at the start of the third quarter.

It was explained, secondhandedly, that Bill Leavy announced the penalty on Adams was declined. While, as a technical matter, the penalty was vacated due to the end of the half, the Giants did not decline the penalty. (We reported as the Lions celebrated a comeback during an untimed down, if there had been any excessive celebration penalty, it would not be marked off because of the conclusion of the quarter.) Fox analyst Troy Aikman questioned why the Giants were even allowed to decline the penalty, even though the rules state that a team can decline any opponent’s penalty, as long as there are not offsetting penalties (ejections cannot be declined, even though the penalty that caused the ejection can be).

Since the field goal was no good, and the Giants were to assume possession on the next play if the clock did not read 0:00, the ability to extend the second quarter by a down was not available to the Giants. From the Rulebook, 4–8–2(c):

If there is a foul by the offense, there shall be no extension of the period. If the foul occurs on the last play of the half, a score by the offense is not counted. However, the period may be extended for an untimed down, upon the request of the defense, if the offensive team’s foul is for: …

(4) a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct foul committed prior to an interception of a forward pass or the recovery of a backward pass or fumble; or

(5) a foul by the kicking team prior to a player of the receiving team securing possession of the ball during a down in which there is a safety kick, a scrimmage kick, or a free kick.

Since Adams hit came in the action following the play, it is essentially unpenalized. If, hypothetically, a player goes after an opponent while the teams are heading for the locker rooms (perhaps a difference of five to ten seconds), that penalty is not part of the “continuing action” of the play. In addition to be a possible disqualification, Paragraph D of the same rule–section–article:

If there is a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct foul that (1) is not in the continuing action immediately after the end of a down and (2) occurs between the end of the second period and the beginning of the third period (or between the end of the fourth period and the beginning of an overtime period), the penalty shall be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.

We are placing this in our clip and save file for our end-of-season Competition Committee mock agenda.

In addition to the squabbling in the Browns locker room over the quarter-extending penalty, there was a confusing substitution on the second chance awarded to the Lions by penalty (video).

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered a separated shoulder after being hit on a Hail Mary pass, which, by rule, requires a player to sit out for a down. While the gamebook shows the official scorekeeper was confused (it is listed as two consecutive timeouts by the Browns, which is not allowed) the Lions were assessed a fourth timeout because of injury. This is granted without penalty, according to Rule 4, Section 5, Article 4:

(d) No yardage penalty will be assessed for the first excess team timeout.

Should a fifth timeout be required for an injury, it would result in a 5-yard penalty.

Backup quarterback Dante Culpepper entered the field for the untimed down, which the caused  Browns to call a timeout to assess the situation. This opened the door for Stafford to return, even though he had not sat out for a play, under the same rule/section/article above:

(c) The player must leave the game for the completion of one down, unless:

(i) the injury is the result of a foul by an opponent; or
(ii) either team calls a charged team timeout.

Of course, the Browns will blame the officiating, rather than accept that they allowed a quarterback with a separated shoulder throw a last-chance, game-winning touchdown.

The headline is but a part of the story, as Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal reports: “Browns’ defensive captain takes blame for loss.” After a the Browns had a commanding 21-point lead in the first quarter, the Lions were able to take the lead, literally beyond the 60th minute of regulation.

The Browns captain is veteran linebacker David Bowens, and, as the headline suggested, he took responsibility for the loss on behalf of the entire defense:

It’s my fault. If you want to blame somebody, blame me. I have to take ownership as a captain and as the defense’s signal-caller. The offense did a great job today, they scored enough points for us to win. Totally on us. Totally on us.

The rest of the team, apparently, was out to blame the officiating for the loss.

The Lions were given a second chance at the end of the game when a Hail Mary pass was flagged for defensive pass interference. With no time remaining on the clock, the quarter was extended by one untimed down by rule, with the Lions getting the ball on the 1-yard line. The Lions scored the game-winning touchdown, snapping the ball with 0:00 showing on the clock (video of penalty and touchdown).

Pass interference penalty

Frequently with these up-for-grabs, desperation passes, penalties are not called, even though there is a fair amount of contact. The reason is that players that are playing the ball (either to catch or deflect it) are allowed reasonable incidental contact. In this play, cornerback Hank Poteat blocks a Lions receiver from playing the ball and pushes him out of bounds. Impeding the ability to play the ball is most certainly a penalty, both for the offense and the defense. Brodney Pool, whose interception was nullified by penalty, claimed ignorance of the rules:

It’s very tough, man, to have the game decided on the referee. I don’t think it’s fair to the players or the guys who went out there and fought. At the end of the game to make a call like that, it hurts.

I thought by rules once a quarterback is out of pocket, everything is live and if you have a receiver running on the end line I thought you could push him out so he can’t come back in and catch the ball. I think guys do that a lot. For the game to be decided like that, it’s not fair to this team, the coaches, the players who went out there.

If I were on the Browns’ coaching staff, I would be concerned that a fifth-year safety does not understand the rules of pass interference. It is also quite disingenuous to say it is not fair to be penalized for an obvious foul just because it happens on the last play of the game. Two officials threw flags on the play (back judge Gregory Steed and side judge Michael Banks), so it fair to say there was a consensus of the crew. Also, the Browns had one more goal-line stand to prevent the loss, which was not decided by the referees; the Browns failed to prevent the score.

Pool also accepted responsibility for allowing a 75-yard touchdown get by him earlier in the game. These types of plays, not the officials, decide games.

Poteat, a 10-year veteran himself, was quoted by Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram of Elyria, Ohio:

My understanding is, once the quarterback’s out of the pocket you can force the receiver out of bounds, and that’s what I was trying to do. That’s what I was always coached to do.

However, once the ball is released, that “free contact” ability is off the board. Poteat knows this, which is why he chose his words carefully.

No excessive celebration penalty

Some of the Browns players also took umbrage that the Lions were not penalized 15 yards for an excessive celebration following the final touchdown. At that point the game was tied, pending the extra-point conversion.

Offensive lineman Eric Steinbach, in addition to criticizing the pass interference, though the referees were further to blame:

To top it off, after they score they have a coach on the opposing side run across the field to go celebrate. If you’re going to call a shitty game, keep it consistent.

There is a mistaken belief, expressed in Ridenour’s column, that the extra-point attempt would be moved back 15 yards because of such a penalty.

The fact that there may have been an excessive celebration is irrelevant in this particular situation. Essentially, the Lions, by virtue of the end of a half, could not be penalized. Well, they could be penalized, but it would not result in enforcement.

An excessive celebration or taunting foul following a touchdown is enforced on the ensuing kickoff. In this case, there is none, so any penalty would essentially be disregarded. Had there been a delay in spotting the ball, the Lions could have been penalized five yards for delay of game, which would have been enforced on the extra-point try.

Obviously, there is safety in blaming the officials when a team blows a commanding lead.

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.