September 28
Dusting this one off from the archives -- A friend and I were discussing The Play, Cal v. Stanford 1982. Before we could discuss if the fifth lateral was a lateral, we realized we couldn't agree on one point: is a backward pass measured in relation to the players or to the field? In other words, if you're running forward and throw the ball to your side, your momentum will cause the ball to end up closer to the goal line than it was when you threw it. Is that a forward or backward pass? -- Andrew
The rule is different in college and the NFL. In the NFL, "it is a forward pass if the ball initially moves forward after leaving the passer's hand." (Rule 2-21-2 (a)) All other passes are backwards passes. In the NCAA, "a forward pass is determined by the point where the ball initially touches the ground, a player, an official, or anything beyond the spot of the pass." (NCAA Rule 2-19-2). All other passes are backwards passes. In the Stanford - Cal game, there were a number of passes on "the Play" that were questionable at best. The same can be said for last year's NCAA National Championship Game. But it is all over now.
September 27
In the 2nd half of Sunday's game against Seattle, the Seahawks were twice called for delay of game. I always thought that the opposing team was given the opportunity to accept or decline penalties and sure enough, one of the Fox TV announcers mentioned after the first infraction that the officials asked Coach Coughlin and he accepted. However my question regards the 2nd penalty. With less than a minute left in the game and the Seahawks facing a 4th and 1, they lined up as if to run the play, and then let the play clock expire. They did not call time out, and the referee threw the flag and announced the delay of game penalty.
What I want to know is this: did the officials ask the Giants if they accepted the penalty? If the Giants declined the penalty, wouldn't they have been awarded the ball on downs? – Gary W.
The offended team has the opportunity to accept or decline any penalty. The officials asked Coughlin both times if he wanted to accept the yardage walk-off and both times he accepted. Personally, I have never been able to understand that as it is exactly what the kicking team wants, maximum time run-off and more area to drop the kick into. Dick Vermeil may have been the only coach that I know of smart enough to routinely decline that penalty. Obviously, the Giants do not fall into that category. As the infraction occurs before the ball is put into play, the down does not count. As a result, whether the yardage is accepted or declined, the next play is still 4th down for the offense.
September 26
Are there any rules that specify if a snap has to be to a quarterback? If not, can a snap be diagonal to a running back? – Wayne
A snap may go to any player who is not on the line of scrimmage. During the season, there are numerous instances where the snap goes directly to a running back and there are even formations where it can possibly be snapped to multiple players. There is no requirement that the receiver of the snap be a QB.
September 24
Was there ever a rule in NFL or Ncaa Football which prohibited an offensive player from "leaping" or jumping over a defensive player in order to advance the ball? If so, when was the rule changed? — Linda
A number of years ago there was a rule against "hurdling," a term that was defined as jumping with both feet forward over a defensive player that was in contact with the ground only with both feet (basically meaning that he was standing). I believe that this rule was changed in the NFL sometime in the mid-90's although I can not find the exact reference. "Hurdling is still illegal in college and high school.
September 21
My question is one of clock management. If the clock is running, and the offense is called for a false start, does the clock continue to run? What about if the clock is stopped? Thanks. -- Rudy
Typically, the clock resumes the status that it had prior to the foul being called and penalty assessed. However, the Note to Rule 4-3-1 states that in the last two minutes of the first half and the last 5 minutes of the second half, the clock shall start on the snap after any foul by either team whether or not the penalty is accepted. As a result, the offensive team can not commit repeated fouls that will enable the clock to run out without a play being run.
September 20
If you are running up the sideline and you leave your feet from inbounds and to try and score you stretch the ball past the goal line out of bounds before your feet, body or ball touch the ground, is it a touchdown if you are outside the pylon? – J.R.
Each year the league puts out "Approved Rulings" (ARs) that are not on the same level as rules but indicate how a rule is to be interpreted. This year there were a number of ARs added as a result of situations that occurred last year that were not clearly defined in the rules. The situation that you sight is just such a situation. Officials have now been told that if both feet of the runner are clearly off the ground when the ball breaks the plane of the goal line, the ball must be inside the pylons. If either foot is on or in close proximity (undefined) to the ground when the ball breaks the goal line plane, the goal line is to be considered an infinite plane and the ball can be outside of the pylons. Given that interpretation, which is somewhat different than the interpretation in effect last year (and which we discussed last year as I remember), in the situation that you describe, the ball would have to be inside the pylon. If it is not, the ball would be returned to the spot where it crossed the sideline prior to the player landing out of bounds. If the player lands completely in bounds, say completely in the end zone, then it would be a touchdown. This interpretation appears to change with some regularity and I would not be surprised to see further clarification in the future.
By the way, another new AR addressed the controversial situation that occurred last year in a play-off game when a player controlled a pass while in the air, landed on the ground and then knocked the ball free with his knee while attempting to get up. Last year that was considered a single action and the pass was incomplete. This year, it is considered to be two separate actions and it would be a catch followed by a fumble unless the player was touched while he was down.
September 15
On a punt, when the receiver touches the ball, but never has it in his possession, I believe this is considered a "muff". If the other team recovers this muff, isn't it true that they cannot advance the muff? In the movie Invincible, Vince Papale picks up a "muff" and takes it in for a TD. Was this legal when he played? And is it legal now? — Jeff S.
Having not seen the movie, I am not sure of the details of the play you mention but a member of the kicking team may recover but can not advance a muff of a kick (Rule 9-1-6). If the muffed kick is recovered in the end zone, it is a TD for the kicking team. If it is recovered in the field of play, it is 1st and 10 for the kickers at the spot of the recovery. This has been the rule for a long time (at least 20 years) but I can not guarantee that it was the rule when Papale player, which I believe was in the late 1970's. However, it should be remembered that Hollywood often stretches the truth a bit (or more) when trying to dramatize a story. By the way, in checking the official statistics of Papale, I see that he was credited with two fumble recoveries. So the play that you mention may have been ruled a fumble and that is why he was allowed to advance the ball.
September 12
The so-called interference call against Tim Carter was the worst example of officiating in the history of the NFL. That single call probably cost the Giants the game. What is the process used by the NFL to fire obviously incompetent officials? Is there a screening process to prevent obvious bias against certain teams/cities from infecting the league?— Ken
I find it very difficult to answer a letter like yours in a calm professional manner but I will give it a try.
First of all, the call against Carter was far from the “worst example of officiating in the history of the NFL” and it may actually turn out to be a correct call once someone (i.e., the league) has a chance to look at the play from the same angle as the covering official.
In any event, the views shown on the screen by NBC (or the pronouncements by the announcers) did not show enough to see whether it was a good call or one where the official reacted to the Colts CB falling down and felt that the contact, however slight, was the cause of his fall.
It should be remembered that the offense has an obligation to avoid the defense and can not “gain separation” by any contact. The rule does not describe how forceful or slight the contact need be so it is all a judgment call. Obviously, the covering official felt that a flag was warranted.
As for the call “costing the Giants the game,” I find it hard to believe that when you commit nine other silly but back breaking fouls, lose a fumble, throw an interception, miss a relatively short field goal, drop three interceptions, can’t mount a pass rush, and can’t cover your mother over the middle of the field on third down and long, that it was this call that cost the Giants the game. It is easy to blame the officials just as it was easy to blame your teachers when they gave you a hard test in school. The Giants have to look in the mirror this morning for their loss, not at the officials.
As for the process used by the league to grade officials, if you have been following this column, I described it a number of times last year but I will do it again. Every official is graded on every call (and every non-call) in every game by the officiating supervisors in the leage office. The grades are accumulated over the season and the best officials are selected for the play-offs.
Every official on Walt Anderson’s crew last year was selected for a play-off so his crew graded out in the top half of the 17 officiating crews. The grades are based on positioning, judgment, knowledge of the rules (and the intent of the rules) and a number of other factors.
The NFL officials are scrutinized more than probably any other workers in the world and they perform well week after a week. All of the officials in the NFL have extensive experience on the college level and are pretty darn good at what they do even if they might blow a call every now and then. Typically, a team sees an officiating crew only once or twice during a season so there are no opportunities for “obvious bias” or anything else on the part of officials.
You might find it interesting that around the league, most cities feel that the New York teams get a break because the league office is in New York. Each year a small number of officials (typically 7-10) leave the league due to retirement, medical reasons, or poor performance. Very few are let go for the latter reason. Do officials occasionally make a mistake? Certainly! They are human beings just like the players that drop the passes, overthrow the open receivers, and commit the false starts. But there are no “obviously incompetent” officials in the NFL.
All things having been said, the Giants lost a football game that, if they had played better, they probably should have won. But it is not the end of the world nor does it warrant your obvious anger. A much more important thing happened 5 years ago (9/11) not that far from Giants Stadium. In the overall scheme of things, that event will be remembered long after last night’s game is forgotten.
And so it should be. Whatever the results of a review of any of the calls (or non-calls) last night, many of which could have been called against the Giants and were not, it should be remembered that it is only a football game, not some earth shattering event. It is now time to look forward to the rest of the season and hopefully enjoy some Giants victories.
September 11
If the offense has the ball and runs a play of 19 yards and a spot foul of holding is called 19 yards down the field, is the offense awarded the first down after the 10 yard penalty is enforced from the spot of the foul? In this case, it was 3rd down and ten. After moving the ball back 10 yards, the offense still needed a yard to reach the original first down marker. — Steve M.
The offensive team will be awarded a first down if the ball is beyond the line to gain after the play, including all live ball fouls occurring during the play, are completed. As a result, if a team is 3rd and 10 and they run 19 yards from scrimmage but there is a holding penalty on the offense called at the end of the run (or further downfield than the end of the run), the ball will be moved back 10 yards and, in this case, the next play will be 3rd and 1 as the down does not count. In the NFL, the same situation would exist if a "continuing action" foul were called even if the whistle had blown. The only time that the offense could receive a first down is if the entire play were over and then a "dead ball" foul against the offense occurs.
We asked the official to offer his assessments of the Giants' penalties in week one, against the Colts. Here's what he had to say.
On the Tim Carter "Pass Interference" Call:
The best I could tell from the angles provided was that when he put out his elbow, the defender went by and fell down and the official thought that he fell because he was pushed. I certainly did not see it that way but it is a judgment call and that is what he called.
On the Shaun O'Hara "Illegal Snap" Call:
The rule book says that the snap must be a single, smooth motion. Again from what I could see, it looked like he "double-clutched" a bit and that is what drew the flag.
On the other penalties in general:
As far as I could see, all of the other flags were warranted including the one on Shockey where he made a motion towards the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.
September 7
If a defensive player grabs the opposing teams face mask it is penalty, however when the player possessing the ball grabs an oppossing player's face mask while stiff arming, a penalty is never called. Why is this so? — Roger K.
The rule regarding grasping the face mask, Rule 12-2-5, states that "No player shall grasp the face mask of an opponent." As a result, it is equally applicable to the offense and the defense. In many instances, what may appear to be grasping the face mask when a runner is straight-arming a possible tackler is really the runner putting his hand on the face mask of the defensive player but not grasping, twisting or turning it. I have seen numerous instances where the penalty has been called against the offense although you are correct, it is much less frequent than when it is called against the defense. The other possible interpretation is that the officials may feel that such an act was inadvertent and thus, a penalty should not be called. Remember, the NFL is all about offense and there may be a tacit understanding that such a call should not be made unless it is blatant. But given the potential safety implications of the action, it should probably be called more often. [Note - There is no 5 yard face mask against the offense. It is either 15 yards for a personal foul or a "no-call."]
September 6
Answer to Last Week's Question:
In the NFL, a muffed hand to hand snap to the QB is treated as a fumble by the QB. (Rule 8-4-1 (note)) As a result, only Manning could recover the fumble. The result of the play is the defense gets the ball at the spot of the fumble. If the snap had been in the shotgun formation, it would have been considered a backwards pass and any Giants player could have fallen on the ball in the end zone for a TD or if the defense fell on the ball, it would be a touchback. In the NCAA rules, either situation would be considered a backwards pass and recoverable by any player.
This is the last hypothetical question of the off season. From now on, we'll look at real situations that occur in real games. Enjoy the season and remember that the officials are doing a pretty damn good job week in and week out.
September 2
Last Week's Questions:
a) Jay Feely attempts an onside kick from the Giants 30 yard line by driving the ball into the ground where it rebounds high up into the air. An Eagles player standing at the Giants 43 yard line signals for a fair catch but gets blasted by David Tyree before the ball arrives. The untouched ball then bounces to the 50-yard line where Curtis Deloatch falls on it. Is there a foul and if so, what is it and where will it be assessed? To which team will the ball belong?
b) On another Feely onside kick attempt, the Giants have 9 players to his right and only David Tyree to his left. The Eagles sent most of their hands team to the right opposite the Giants players. Feely suddenly turns and kicks the ball to his left where Tyree falls on it after it has gone 10 yards. Is this a legal play and if not, why not?
Answers:
a) Once the ball has hit the ground following the kick, a fair catch is not permitted by rule. As a result, unless the hit by Tyree on the Eagles player is ruled flagrant by the officials, it is a legal play and the ball remains in play. Therefore, the recovery by DeLoatch at the 50 yard line is legal and it will be Giants ball, 1st and 10 at the 50 yard line.
b) In a new rule this year, the kicking team must have at least 4 players on either side of the kicker when the kick is made. This will eliminate the overload situations that have occurred in the past and was instituted to lessen injuries. As a result, this situation would result in a 5 yard, illegal procedure penalty at the previous spot and a rekick by the Giants.
This Week's Question:
On 4th down and goal to go, Manning muffs the snap (never handles it cleanly) and it hits the ground where Jacobs accidentally kicks it into the end zone. The ball is fallen on in the end zone by Shockey. What is the result of the play?
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