We will update this post with some of the calls we see in today’s games. Did you see something or have a question on a rules interpretation? Use the comment section of this post or tweet us @footballzebras.
The big news today is that Bill Vinovich returns to the field as referee for the first time since 2006. You can see the remaining assignments here.
[liveblog]
Cowboys Vs Ravens….4th quarter, 24-20 Ravens. Cowboys ball 3rd and goal on the 8 yd line. Pass play….nobody open …Romo sacked and Cowboys kick a field goal. Fox replayed the play to show why Romo had to take the sack. The replay showed Dez Bryant going into the end zone where he was pushed out of bounds by the defender. The Ref was standing right there and thru his hat approx 1 yd line deep in the end zone to indicate where Bryant went out. When describing the play the commentator even stated Bryant was pushed out of bounds. My question: why was that not called “illegal contact” since Bryant was at least 9 yards down field from the line of scrimmage. Could have made a huge difference since Dallas would have had 1st and goal at the 3 or 4 yd line. Not making excuses for the Cowboys….they caused their own down-fall by repeatedly making crucial mistakes.
Was Romo in the pocket? Once the QB is flushed out of the pocket the illegal contact rule is off.
He was in the pocket sacked almost directly behind the center approx 5-7 yards deep.
I’m sure this game will be replayed this week on NFL Rewind. Hopefully, they leave that part intact. I would like to watch for an evenhanded amount of hand wrangling between both players. Except for very odd occurrences, DPI and OPI are never called as offsetting fouls, so if both are pushing, there is no call.
Did the refs blow 2 turnover calls in Miami today? Boh te plays seem to confirm fumbles but the refs overturned them anyway.
Didn’t see those calls. But, since the replay official has exclusive domain on challenges, there must have been something.
Anyone catch the phantom holding call in the Dolphins-Rams game? It was a weird scenario… It was in the middle of the multiple hands-to-the-face penalties. Steratore was announcing the penalty when Jake Long appeared to walk up to argue him point. Steratore interupted himself mid-announcement to say “Stay back!”
On the next play, he flagged Long for Holding, although there was none – even the announcers didn’t know what he was talking about. Could it have been a vendetta/revenge call?
Seahawks v Patriots: the Intentional Grounding call that ended the first half was incorrect,
I believe. The Pats QB threw the ball away to save the last few seconds, not to avoid a loss, thus no Intentional Grounding should have been called. What he did was no different than a spike play – thoughts?
I didn’t see the intentional grounding, but in order to be equivalent to a legal “spike” to stop the clock, the pass must come immediately after the snap. This happened to the Bears last season, where QB Caleb Hanie delayed when received the snap, and then threw the ball to the turf to stop the clock. Not only was there a penalty, but a 10-second runoff.
Our coverage of that call: https://www.footballzebras.com/2011/11/27/2223/
From the comments here, it seems as though I should’ve been watching Rams-Dolphins, but who would have thought that?
OK, I saw the video on the grounding call, and it is absolutely correct. There is now an entry in the post with a video clip
Pats v Hawks: Watch the video – the reason there is no receiver in that area is that Deion Branch, who is making the in cut to the middle of the field, is blatantly held by LB KJ Wright,
you can clearly see the “arm bar” across Branch’s chest as he cuts inside and thus never gets into the area.
and here’s a link to a website that discusses this . . .
http://www.csnne.com/football-new-england-patriots/patriots-talk/Questionable-calls-in-end-zone-hurt-Patr?blockID=789417&feedID=10426
I don’t see any hold there. It looked like both players ran into each other, and there could have been a moment of restriction by the Seahawks defender. However, the ball was being thrown 3 yards beyond the end line, and this contact was at the 1-yard line, some 14 yards away. So any holding would have no material affect on the play.
From the looks of it (using the grainy NFL.com video) the Seahawks linebacker seemed to step into the receiver’s route and grabbed him in the collision. Routes get interrupted like this all the time, and while still frames look like damning evidence, the video must take in the action prior to and immediately after the image.
The quarterback spiking the ball does not result in intentional grounding if once he receives the ball from center, he take one step back and spikes the ball. If the quarterback spikes the ball after attempting to run or drop back to pass, the result of the play is intentional grounding. This results in a 15-yard penalty on the offense and a loss of down. In addition, there will be a 10-second runoff of the game clock if the penalty occurs inside of one minute remaining in the game.