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Originally Posted by grantsrc
Playing devil's advocate here, could you say that the ball carrier's forward progress had been stopped when the defensive player wrapped up the guard?
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I think so, given 4-2-2a
Rule 4 Ball in Play, Dead Ball and Out of Bounds
SECTION 2 DEAD BALL AND END OF THE DOWN
ART. 2 The ball becomes dead and the down is ended:
a. When a runner is held so his forward progress is stopped. (edited to remove nonessential words)
It appears #97 had a pretty good idea the guard had the ball. They might have practiced for the play, telling him to tackle the guard if he turned his back. He initially did his job, then fell for the fake going away from him. Since the guard was not trying to pull away from him, it is hard to say how securely he was holding him, but I would not argue with an official who ruled his progress was stopped.
Would I have called it? Maybe. It depends on what else was happening. There might have been things said or observed that the film does not show.