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Seahawks at Jets
Broncos at Buccaneers
SVP/officiating Dean Blandino looks at two plays that were reviewed in replay. The first was a Seahawks challenge of a Jets incomplete pass, looking for a potential recovery of a catch-fumble. There was not enough element of time to establish a catch to reverse the call.
Also, a touchdown run by Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston was reviewed for breaking the plane of the goal.While Winston’s knee was down, he was not contacted by the defense previous to that. (It’s possible that defensive contact came simultaneous to the knee, but it is not clear.) Without clear evidence as to when the contact came, the call stood.
Download link of the video is below:
Further explanation on 2 plays from earlier today #SNFonNBC @NFLFootballOps https://t.co/FkWfIdUNQZ
— Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) October 3, 2016
Bills at Patriots
Referee Pete Morelli accidentally left his microphone on while in a timeout during the third quarter, and broadcast a few words that were heard over the public address system.
Referee Pete Morelli left mic on. 1st ref: “Slowly turning into a good game.” Morelli: “But one big hit and some shit could happen.”
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) October 2, 2016
This might not have been noticeable in the stands (our own Cameron Filipe was at the game and didn’t notice), but the press box has a clearer sound system to hear all the details.
The fact that the use of profanity was heard could lead to discipline for Morelli. Tony Corrente was involved in a similar situation in 2012, and was fined one game check.
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Cleveland at Washington (video)
After an interception, Washington cornerback Josh Norman headed off the field and pantomimed taking an arrow out of a quiver and shooting it. This lead to referee Jeff Triplette making this announcement:
After the play is over, unsportsmanlike conduct, number 24, shooting a bow and arrow. That foul counts as one of those that leads to a disqualification. 1st and 10, Washington.
While seemingly innocent, and not directed at the opponent, it is covered in the directive of violent gestures/pantomimed weaponry that the league really does not want to have an association with. In the unsportsmanlike conduct rules, it is contained in paragraph C, which is further elaborated as follows:
Violations of (c) will be penalized if any of the acts occur anywhere on the field. These acts include, but are not limited to: throat slash; machine-gun salute; sexually-suggestive gestures; prolonged gyrations; or stomping on a team logo.
The gesture, as Triplette stated, is part of the group of fouls that result in a warning for automatic ejection on a second offense.
And we can add Triplette’s call to our list of amusing calls — but Ben Drieth has held the top spot for 30 years.
Cleveland at Washington (video)
Browns running back Duke Johnson lost the ball on a fourth quarter run. He emerges from the fumble scrum with the ball, but line judge Sarah Thomas indicated that it was Washington ball.
Thomas’s signal does come very quickly, which is fairly unusual for this type of play. What this signal indicates is that she had established possession, and there was a subsequent change of hands. It is always preferable to rule possession before it disappears in a pile of players, but typically a ball is moving and possession is not secure enough to deem possession. What ensues is the unpiling, and the first player seen in possession of the ball determines possession, despite multiple changes that may occur in the pile.
This was reviewed by replay, but there is no way to give the Browns possession, as the ball is briefly out of view in both angles shown. There was no angle to show the look that Thomas had, and there is a chance that her angle was completely unobstructed.
Cowboys at 49ers
Near the end of the game in San Francisco, the Cowboys were in victory formation to the kneel the clock out. On the first snap, quarterback Dak Prescott took the snap and waited for pressure for the 49ers defense before going giving himself up. Immediately following the play, referee Terry McAulay appeared to briefly talk to Prescott. While there is nothing in the rules requiring the quarterback to immediately give themselves up, it is generally accepted that neither team will go one hundred percent and the quarterback should go relatively straight to the ground. McAulay was likely reminding Prescott of this, and on the following two snaps the Cowboys quarterback did take the snap and go straight to a knee.
Titans at Texans
Although it is not technically an inadvertent whistle, a pre-snap whistle shut down a potential blocked punt by the Texans.
Back judge Steve Patrick is one of the officials responsible for counting the defensive players. He counted 12 on defense, but one of the players was exiting the field and was successful in doing so. So why did this play get shut down?
There are two different fouls for defensive-12-men. If a player is getting off the field and does not make it to the sideline, it is a live-ball foul. If the 12 are in formation, and the snap is imminent, it is a snap-killing foul. The 12 in formation cannot be called if a player is making an attempt to leave the field. What seems to have happened is Patrick started counting when the defense momentarily set in formation, but the snap was not imminent, and probably counted from right to left. When counting the leftmost player as the 12th player, then the conclusion that they were in formation the entire time misses the fact that a player exited from the right side.
It was the wrong call to shut down the snap, but the blocked punt most likely was possible because the offensive line eased up on the whistle. There is no controversy if the erroneous whistle comes without the snap, and this essentially has to be treated the same, even though it, admittedly, looks sloppy. If a flag is thrown in error, it can just be picked up; unfortunately, there is no way to erase the whistle.
Cowboys at 49ers | :12, 2nd qtr.
Line judge Tom Stephan is hit from four o’clock and takes a spill. He got up after a few moments and continued in the game without missing a play.
Cowboys at 49ers
Referee Terry McAulay is on the field for the first time of the regular season. McAulay has missed the start of the season for an undisclosed, non-injury situation.
Seahawks at Jets (video)
Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was attempting to pass, but was hit with his arm back. The ball rolled forward, and not hearing a whistle, Jets receiver Charone Peake picked up the ball and ran 40 yards into the end zone.
First, it is not an incomplete pass, as Fitzpatrick’s arm is not moving forward until after he loses control of the ball. Therefore, his forward arm motion is pushing a loose ball, and not initiating a pass.
Peake is allowed to advance the ball on a forward fumble by the offense. The only restriction on offensive fumbles is that a teammate of a fumbler cannot advance the ball when it is fourth down or on any down after the 2:00 warning.
Seahawks at Jets (video)
Outstanding call by Carl Cheffers. He rules Ryan Fitzpatrick fumbles the ball and Charone Peake takes the fumble 40-yards for a touchdown. Since there was more than two minutes left in the half and it wasn’t fourth down, this is a legal fumble advance.
Great job by Cheffers and crew to hold the whistle as only Peake and Cheffers appeared to know what the call was.
Panthers at Falcons (video)
Devin Funches breaks tackles to gain extra yards. Back judge Keith Ferguson was breaking to the dead ball spot when Funches broke tackles. Seeing that he was too close to the play and Funches was closing ground on him, Ferguson wheeled to the side to get out of the way of the play.
Lions at Bears | 1:52, 4th qtr.
Lions score a late TV to pull within three points. During the break, Corrente’s crew huddles to make sure the inevitable onside kick is covered properly and everyone is on the same page regarding the rules.
Raiders at Ravens (video)
Denico Autry recovers a Joe Flacco fumble. Ed Hochuli, Carl Paganelli and Rusty Baynes display calm and poise on this call—no frantic stop the clock signals or pointing. It is a good philosophy to save the “big” signals for a tough call that needs selling.
Seahawks at Jets (video)
Bobby Wagner sacks Ryan Fitzpatrick. As Wagner gets up off the ground, he pushes off of Fitzpatrick. At least on the amateur level we always tell the players to “roll off” the pile and to push off the ground, as pushing off of people can inflame the situation.
Panthers at Falcons (video)
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is put on notice early in the game, and is at the risk of ejection.
After a quarterback sneak in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Newton flips the ball at the Falcons defense and demonstratively gestures a first down in the face of the opponent. These actions make it difficult for the officials to maintain control of the game, as revenge is rarely served cold in the NFL. This was a clear violation of the taunting rules.
Newton also receives a warning under the 2&DQ rule, where a second taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct foul in the category is an automatic ejection. This means Newton is under the cloud of disqualification for all but the first two minutes of the game. A quarterback has not been ejected from a game since Buccaneers quarterback Trent Dilfer in 1995, although Newton was nearly (and should have been) ejected in a 2012 game.
Raiders at Ravens (video)
Jalen Richard makes several cuts on this long punt return. For the referee and umpire, this is a challenging play as they must be in proper position to make the call, yet stay out of the way. Ed Hochuli made some good decisions to get out of the way.
Also, head linesman Greg Bradley did a nice job getting to the goal line ahead of Richard.
Cleveland at Washington (video)
Kirk Cousins is hit and fumbles. It sure looked like the Browns recovered, but during replay from the endzone angle, we still see the ball moving. This is why officials are taught to not blow the whistle until the see that the ball is dead. If the wing official had blown the whistle, it would have been an inadvertent whistle and an error on the crew.
Bills at Patriots
Football Zebras writer Cameron Filipe is at this game and reports that LJ Carl Johnson left the game at halftime. R Pete Morelli made an announcement at the start of the third quarter that the crew was operating with 6 officials.
Johnson was hit on a scramble out of bounds in the second quarter.
Johnson was seen warming up on the Patriots sideline midway through the third quarter and returned to the game after a possession change.
We also received a report from @bzref who showed this image of the gap in the sideline. FJ Doug Rosenbaum is tasked with monitoring the entire sideline, and HL Steve Stelljes has the line of scrimmage without support. Crews make these determiniations as to how they will cover a vacancy in each position, depending on their strengths and prior position experience. For instance, rather than leave the LJ position vacant, some crews will have the BJ move to fill the vacancy, either directly or by a 2-person move.
Image: @bzref
Lions at Bears
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a forward pass from beyond the line of scrimmage. The foul is assessed from the spot of the pass and is a loss of down.
Bills at Patriots (video)
During pregame warmups, Bills and Patriots players started mixing things up. The scuffle apparently occurred when Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was in the Bills warmup zone. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss points out, it is a pregame tradition for the quarterback to run the length of the field during warmups.
If this is, in fact, the root cause of the scuffle, this is because it violates the NFL established warmup “map” to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place. It is also a silly response from the Bills, and it looks like there is enough guilt to go around to both sides.
No penalties were assessed, but the officials may do so if they deem the actions flagrant enough. (Officials assume jurisdiction 100 minutes prior to kickoff.) If the pregame fighting got particularly violent, the officials can eject players from the game. Because it is hard to spot an aggressor in this situation, the replay equipment can be (and has been used in the past) to mete out penalties in warmups.
Colts vs. Jaguars (video)
On a touchdown run, Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles punted the ball in the stands. This is an offense that will draw a $ 6,076 fine, but it is not a foul. It is not an unsportsmanlike act, as it is not much more than a post-touchdown spike, which is legal. If Bortles did this directly in front of an opponent, it would draw a taunting foul, just the same as a touchdown spike at an opponent’s feet. (Such a taunting foul would also be halfway to an ejection under the new unsportsmanlike conduct rules.)
A player who hands a ball to a specific person in the stands is not fined, because it doesn’t cause a scramble in the stands for the ball.
Incidentally, it is a foul for delay of game if Bortles’ kick happens in the field of play (i.e., not out-of-bounds) on any other play that is not a touchdown.
Colts vs. Jaguars
Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson was hit in the helmet by Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, drawing a flag. Robinson then spun the ball in front of the Colts players. While spinning the ball is not a foul by itself, it is taunting when it is directed at an opponent. One foul is a live-ball foul, the other is a dead-ball foul, but they combine to be assessed as live-ball fouls. This means the 6-yard reception is wiped out, but the Jaguars repeat the down. If both fouls are dead-ball fouls, the down counts.
Although there seems to be a mismatch in infractions, as one is clearly a player-safety issue, there really is no way to account for all combinations of various fouls, only if to offset for some perceived incongruity.
Today’s officials
Substitutions
- U 124 Carl Paganelli* to Hochuli’s crew (OAK-BAL)
- LJ 90 Mike Spanier* to Coleman’s crew (NO-SD)
- FJ 95 James Coleman* to Triplette’s crew (CLE-WAS)
- SJ 89 Jon Lucivansky* to McAulay’s crew (DAL-SF)
*Swing officials that are moved between crews each week.
Browns @ Washington: Can you explain the unsportsmanlike conduct call on Norman for “shooting a bow and arrow”? Thanks!
The Clevend Brown’s Washington Reskins game. A pass interference call was made against Joe Haden of the Browns, there was no such interference made! I’m not a Browns fan; this call resulted IN a later touchdown. BULL!!!
Is it me or does it seem a number of 2nd year officials are switched out of games? Two today that I know of
@ anne marie
Good job referring the Washington team as Washington!
Great to see women watching football. And, yes it is true – Women can be funny.
Let’s see you justify the Duke Johnson fumble and fumble recovery in the Cleveland game? It’s quite obvious this is a blown call and something needs to be done about it. Officiating is getting worse week after week!
It appears there are several controversial calls in the Redskins/Browns game?!?
General comment/question: How come some NFL officiating crews never call holding even with WWE take downs and then with other crews there are phantom calls? Maybe breathing too hard? The league really needs to get some consistency among the officiating crews in calling holding!
Totally agree with No Holds Barred comment about the Duke Johnson fumble. He did fumble, but then stood up almost immediately holding the ball high. The officials were still looking at the pile and ruled it was a recovery by Washington.
The NFL brass is really making a huge mistake on two issues.
First, the penalties for celebration. Why do you need to flag Josh Norman for the bow and arrow or Antonio Brown for his dance. Let the guys have some fun!
Second, the calls for unnecessary roughness are getting reactionary. Saw Calvin Pryor hit Doug Baldwin today as the ball arrived. Great catch by Baldwin on a big, but clean hit, by Pryor. Why they threw the flag I can’t tell you? How Pryor could have defended the pay without a hit… I can’t tell you. The NFL might need new brass.
Allow me to respond. I was able to watch my beloved Browns today. The dregs of the NFL crewed this match up. Triplette and his band of ass clowns. A lower rung game assigned to be worked by the lowest rung of officials. Of course, this crew features the woman official, who has absolutely no business in the league. Let’s start with her myriad of mistakes.
Let me ask you experienced officials. When is the last time you saw offensive offside, by the wide out very close to the sideline, called? If you said never, you would be correct. This inexperienced, incompetent official actually threw on this. Are you kidding me? This was early in the game. This is a “talk to†after the play. And yes, even at this level, you should be helping the player lineup legally. Give him a foot. “You’re on the line†or “You’re off the line.†To hit the player with a flag is ludicrous, but with 6 years high school experience, then quit for a year, then got sucked up by Gerald Austin Conference USA in the race to get the first woman hired in the NFL, what do you expect? Yea, she’s NFL ready. What a joke. Incorrect call on the off sides by the offense. Screwed the Redskins. A halfway competent official doesn’t ever make this call. A good official will help the player line up legally. Communicate. Assure him if I set you, you are legal. A very polite, professional exchange is all it takes to communicate effectively with the player. A halfway decent official NEVER makes the call this clown did. Help the player. Talk to him. Never flag this. Then, this clown official doesn’t stop with this one ridiculous offense offside, she throws 2 DOFs this game. Not the “moving†DOF, but “lined up in the NZ†DOF. If the defender gets a jump? Clearly, throw a flag. What is the philosophy on this call? If we have early movement? Flag it. Any defender crowding the Neutral Zone who gets an early start – even if it is ever so slight – we want a call for DOF. Even if the defender is technically not in the NZ a call for DOF will be supported if defender moves slightly early. This is too big of an advantage and a call is supported. However, lining up in the NZ is a talk to, early. Clearly, this was not done by the clown official on the LOS. She also threw on a phantom hold, allegedly committed by a Redskin. Nope. Not there. Even the commentators (who I do not respect when officiating is concerned) had to say that is was a great block – it was – and what the heck was the official looking at? The answer? She thought she saw something; she thinks she has to throw flags to demonstrate she is doing her job – when the exact opposite is what is needed. She needs to learn that it is more important to know when NOT to throw a flag. As inexperienced as she is, she hasn’t learned this basic facet of officiating. Yet here she is, in the NFL. And don’t hold your breath, there is another woman in the developmental program who prior to the 2016 college season, worked 3, count them – 3 – college football games. And she will be working the NFL next season. Wait and see.
Now, how did the Browns get screwed? Fumble recovered by the Browns. The recovering official needs to see this and rule. See it and sell it. Obviously, these clowns did not see what was there to be seen. Clear recovery by a Brown defender. Terrible piece of officiating. Then, we had a DPI called against a Redskin receiver, for about a 50 yard penalty. There was no DPI whatsoever. The Brown defender had good position, was turned towards the ball, and there was slight contact. No material restriction whatsoever. No DPI should have been thrown by the deep wing. However, if the clown female was looking where she needed to be looking, she would have seen the big hold on her receiver, which needed to be called. Huge restriction as the receiver tried to break deep. The Redskins get a huge advantage in the form of a 50 yard penalty, rather than what should have been called. DH, 5 yards, AFD. The Browns also got screwed on an IC FST by Chief Clown Triplette. Let’s talk NFL philosophy on this one: • If the Quarterback is in a shotgun formation, any quick and abrupt movement from him that draws a reaction from the defense is a FST; • If the Quarterback is in a shotgun formation, he will be given “certain allowances†and not be penalized with regard to his movement that are not given to other backs; i.e. the shifting of his feet. On this play, the Browns QB made no quick abrupt movement. Clearly, for this to be called, we need a reaction by the defense. None occurred. Incorrect call. Browns screwed.
Then, a poor announcement of the UNS against Norman for “shooting an arrow†and I quote: “This is one of those fouls that count as one of those that lead to disqualification.†WTF??? Sure, a second UNS gets you ejected, but what’s up with this poor explanation? Just shows the guy is a moron and his speech simply mimics his officiating. Inept. HE sounded so confused, and probably was. I will not comment on the missed FMM by the woman; or the missed block in back on a Redskin’s punt at the POA.
This crew was unable to get in and out of an enforcement. Clearly, they are not well versed in the rule book. When I worked, we were told when you threw a flag, you report to the R what you had, and what the enforcement is. No delay. You better know it, or don’t throw it. Not this crew. Almost every single penalty the Chief Clown had to conference with the other clowns to figure out what to do. On a simple ineligible man downfield call, they took 46 seconds (I counted) to get the enforcement to announcement. They looked like a bunch of pee wee football officials, yet here they are.
Overall, another poorly officiated game in the NFL. Skin, kin or woman, and you’re in. Until the NFL hires full time officials, we will continue to hear criticisms of the generally poor job of officiating football that we see every week.
@scabby
You ought to be ashamed. You used the R word to describe the team from DC. You hate women and want to limit their ability to work. And, if that were not enough, you disparage minority officials with your nasty skin, kin or women comment.
Diversity makes us all better.
Pete Morelli = Elmer Fudd. He is a buffoon like Elmer Fudd… He talks like Elmer, faced the wrong way to the camera, missed the brawl before the game and cussed on the air.
What an idiot official he has become.
C’mon will johnson (aka amateurref13 from refereestats.proboards.com). Those types of comments are not in the spirit of this site. I agree that Morelli is not as good as he was a few years ago, but taking out personal attacks is unnecessary and wrong.
Wade what is referee stats????
and where is your comment on scabby’s post? idiot
Come on Ben, admit it, Sarah blew the call. There is plenty of video evidence to show Johnson immediately regained possession of the ball without a Redskins player being involved. Officials are human and they made bad calls. This one was really bad!
Wade sounds like Sarah Thomas husband. She sucks as an official and only got hire because that dumbass Goodell wanted to please the stupid feminists. She is a horrible official. I’m sure that little boy Kate fagan would cry if Sarah got fired.
A note to all.
You are not allowed to criticize Ms Thomas. She is a very important trailblazer for the NFL.
Diversity makes us smarter, and it makes us better and it makes the whole game better. If you disagree, you hate women and you are a horrible human being.
How’s that unsportsmanlike on Odell? How did they miss the late hit on him? I’m an eagles fan but that was poor officiating. Goodell has this league out of control with too many stupid rules. Taking the emotion out of the game……..
Refs seem too interested in the woofing and not enough in the late hits that get things started.
Exactly Rich Grady
He didn’t even bump the official. The defender was there too. Just another mini skirmish. A waste of a flag.
REDSKINS REDSKINS REDSKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How’s diversity working in Europe? Hmmmmmm.
@ bob f
Aren’t you a hateful, knuckle-dragger! You hate native Americans and anyone who dare live in one of the colonial European countries that was not born there.
Some day, you will be assigned for re-education!
@No Holds Barred
Do you have a link to any video showing the clear recovery by Johnson? I haven’t been able to find one.
Sarah Thomas did a good job on the fumble recovery. Yes she didn’t see the entire play, but she saw enough from her angle to establish possession. In the worst case scenario, this is a learning experience for her.
jessy????
Sarah did a good job?? But she did not see the play and established possession… for the wrong team! Perhaps, you are being sarcastic. If so, well played! If, you are Jessy short for Jessica, and trying to protect your homegirl… her performance is unacceptable.
Learning experience??? The NFL is not the place to learn how to officiate. You do high school and then college to learn. The NFL is for the best.
If you took all the officials working the power 5 games, Sarah would place in the bottom 5% at best. She is a subpar official and in way over her head. By the way, same can be said for quite a few of the new officials who have used skin or kin to qualify.
Unfortunately, it would seem the NFL is not committed to hiring the best officials.
By the way, I am not an official, I am not trying to get in the NFL and have no personal axe to grind. I just hate the direction that Goodell is bringing the NFL in ever since the Ray Rice incident. He is slave to the PC police.