This is a very misleading screen capture. It looks like Tate's right arm is 1.5 times as long as his left because it's actually Jennings' right arm/hand that is around the ball. Watch the replay from the side (it's being played over and over - flip to ESPN or any sports channel). Tate's right hand NEVER touches the ball before Jennings has possession to his chest. Tate's right hand lands on Jennings' left forearm as Jennings catches the ball with both hands and brings it in.
Goodell can't change it. And its stupid, but he'd be undermining his own leverage. In the NBA or MLB where they play 5 and 10 times as many games, they will go back and replay a game in which their refs/umps screw something up. In this case, you have exactly what the real officials were hoping would happen. One of the league's most iconic franchises gets royally screwed in the ass on national TV, and Goodell has no choice but to stand by the ruling, he'll point to some arbitrary interpretation of the rulebook to cover the scab's asses and public opinion will now increase even more in favor of the real officials, even though everyone will keep watching.
Just realized Charles Woodson was on the wrong end of the tuck rule and this, football gods must not be big fans.
I was never arguing for the right arm. The left hand/arm has a hold of the ball the same time Jennings has both hands/arms around and is kept that way all the way to the ground. One-handed catches do happen afterall.
Bottom line, the refs screwed this one up, and the NFL already admitted it when they acknowledged that the PI should have been called and the game should have been over. That's the effective end of it all as far as I am concerned - everything that came after is irrelevant. Get the real refs in there Goodell! On another note, in the Dallas game on Sunday, there was a play I thought was weird. The play near the Dallas endzone where Romo was sacked and lost the ball, but the official had ruled him down by contact. The ball had squirted free and a TB player picked it up and ran into the endzone. Had the play been properly called a fumble to begin with, it would have been a TD for TB. However, because the player had been called down by contact, my understanding of the the rules has always been that the play was dead from that moment, and it is not open for review. Meaning, whether it turned out to be a real fumble or not, it doesn't matter. Especially since the ball would have been live, and TB should have scored. But Schiano challenged, and they gave the ball to TB, completely ignoring the fact that TB should have scored, which is, as I always understood it, the whole reason why such a play can't be overturned. Did they change this rule recently or something?
Yes, they did. They changed it to where the other team could get possession, but what happened after gaining possession became irrelevant. I think that was a rule change before last year.
I saw that play, and my understanding of the rules is that they recently changed it so that they can award possession to the recovering team in that scenario, but since there was a whistle that blew right when the ball was being scooped up, the play was blown dead and therefore that is why the touchdown could not be awarded.
Paul Ryan, Packer fan, explains it: <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hwoqXBcBsr0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I hope they aren't because it was a rule, instituted in 1999. I don't think it was Hoculi that ruled on the play though. The rule is absolutely stupid though. However, a lot of people argue that the rule as written SHOULDN'T apply to that play. Here is the rule: Here is the play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiD9cF48AE0 What many would argue is that in fact he had tucked the ball back when he lost possession and it should have been a fumble.
There will always be contrarians about this type of stuff because it's cool to be "that guy" and argue against the majority. I've seen this replay 50 times or so. It's a horrible call.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...t-result-final-tate-should-have-been-flagged/ So they blew it, twice.
I am saying it now; if they don't get the real refs back immediately, we're heading towards an extremely ugly scene in a stadium within a week or two. Fans are going to start coming to games already angry at the officiating and are going to go overboard at first opportunity.
What is the defender to do when the QB is scrambling away from the defender?? That’s what happened last night. The defender lunged at a scrambling QB. Watt’s penalty occurred while the QB was stationary in the pocket. The call last night was horrible.
70,000 voice mails were left for the NFL front office last night after Clay Mathews left the number to the public. Hahaha
[rquoter]HITTING PASSER’S KNEE (5) A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee. It is not a foul if the defender is blocked (or fouled) into the passer and has no opportunity to avoid him; Note 1: A defender cannot initiate a roll or lunge and forcibly hit the passer in the knee area or below, even if he is being contacted by another player.[/rquoter] http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/rulebook/pdfs/15_Rule12_Player_Conduct.pdf Edit: Wrong call, see #8 in my link or on the next page.
