illegal bat

A batted ball and a judgement call decide fortunes in Lions-Seahawks game

News

by Ben Austro - October 6, 2015October 6, 2015 29

Week 4: Lions at Seahawks (video)So it is a Monday night, an early season game at Seattle's CenturyLink field. Lions driving for the north end zone. And that's when the Ghost of the Fail Mary had reared itself.Calvin Johnson -- not a stranger to the quirks of the rules --

Sometimes a safety is just a safety

by David Root - January 15, 2014 1

AFC Divisional Playoff: Colts at Patriots When the snap sails over the punterâ€™s head and out the back of the end zone, all of us have the same first reaction:Â safety.Â However this season we saw many instances of bizarre rulings, rare rule applications, and rule misapplications, so now more than

Steelers block FG, scoop ball, lateral, bobble, knock out of bounds. Packers ball?!

by Ben Austro - December 22, 2013December 23, 2013 20

Week 16: Steelers at Packers (video) Post updated with pool report below. The Steelers blocked a game-tying field goal.Â During the loose ball play, the Steelers are flagged for an illegal bat.Â Carl Cheffersâ€™ crew enforces the penalty from the previous spot, giving the Packers a first and goal.Â There then followed

Punt blocks, bats, hoppers: Untangling unusual enforcement on 49ers blocked kick

by Ben Austro - December 9, 2013November 16, 2014 8

Week 14: Seahawks at 49ers (video) If you rack your brain over this scenario, you can be bouncing across the rulebook for the correct ruling and still not get it right. We are about to get into the deep recesses of refdom here, so stay with us. And, if youâ€™re not

Roundtable Week 8: illegal bats in football, Brees’s consecutive false starts

by Ben Austro - November 3, 2013November 3, 2013 0

Football Zebras Roundtable Because of a couple of scheduling conflicts, our Roundtable was delayed. So before we dive into Week 9 action, we are going to take a look at a couple of calls from Week 8 with former NFL officiating supervisors Larry Upson and Jim Daopoulos. We have also quoted their

Dolphins illegal bat puts Patriots on-deck

Calls
Week 8

by Ben Austro - October 28, 2013 13

Week 8: Dolphins at Patriots (video) The Dolphins notified the league that a yet-uncalled new rule probably should have been called in Week 6. In Week 7, the Patriots were penalized by that rule, which the league office made a point of emphasis to the officials. In Week 8, the Patriots