You have to love Ed Hochuli. He has the balls to make a call that "unfortunately" some R's would not in such a huge situation. ANY time the QB gets hit in the head in the NFL it is a foul, it is very obvious in the rule book. They protect the QB more than the NF, or NCAA. Great call by a great official.

I totally agree. Whether or not you like the protecting of the QB that the NFL has taken to the extreme, that was the right call by the rules. It would definitely have been a foul on a 1st down play in the 2nd quarter of a game in September...it should be a foul on 4th down in a playoff game.

Jet fan here - and no complaints about the call. Rather, I guestion the player for making such a bone-headed play.

What a call!
 

Ed was right-on when he threw that flag. It shows that our chosen profession shows no favoritim one way or another.

It frosts mu gonads when an announcer says: "You would have expected a call like that at home"

GO SAINTS

Also in the Jets/Chargers game - Madden and Michaels were speculating that SD didn't take the touchback when the Jets were flagged for an illegal touch and downed the ball at the SD 2 yard line. They stated that the only reason that they'd make the Jets punt again is because they must have felt they could block the kick.

He also had the gonads to flag a coach for unsportsmanlike conduct. I think he is a GREAT official. The crew called a great game!

I agree, good calls. But what bothers me is something I'm seeing more and more and that is referees turning on the microphone to explain why they DIDN'T throw a flag....

"The quarterback was out of the pocket, therefore, there is no intentional grounding." Or "The pass was not catchable, therefore, there is no pass interference."

I think the microphone is a great tool, especially for explaining potentially confusing situations, but I'll be @#!$# if I'm going to turn on the mike to defend why I didn't throw a flag!!!

I think the best Michaels explaination was that, if the replay showed that K1 was out of bounds, SD would get a touchback because, without the illegal touching, the ball would have gone into the end zone.

So if I throw a perfect pass, and my reciever gets held on his route to the end zone, do I get a touchdown? Hmmm - I want Al Michaels reffing my games!

This is good because it keeps the crowd from creating a riot. This is just one of the ways to educate those unaware of the rules. Normally a fan will expect the flag and then they get real rowdy, but after explaining that the QB was out of the pocket things quiet down and all is back to normal.

This doesn't bother me when they do it to explain why they are waiving off a flag that was thrown. But I agree that it's not appropriate when there was no flag thrown at all. I see Jason's point, but just don't think it's the referee's job to run crowd control.

Mike,

I think the wing official called the UNC, not Hochuli.

I have to disagree. I believe it is the league's job to educate the public, whether it be before or after the game. During the game, there are announcers who can do this. But the game doesn't stop so a coach can explain why he called that play, or for the quarterback to explain how he misread the coverage. Imagine the following speech by the referee after each play.....

"On the previous play, the defensive end didn't hit the quarterback in the head so I didn't have a personal foul. The umpire saw #64 hold the nose guard but it wasn't at the point of attack and didn't affect the play, so we don't have a foul. The HL had seven men on the line of scrimmage so he doesn't have an illegal formation. The LJ saw the defense jump across the line of scrimmage but he wasn't unabated to the quarterback, no offensive player moved, and the defensive player got back before the ball was snapped, so there is no foul. The SJ saw contact between the receiver and the cornerback but it was within 5 yards so there is no foul. The FJ counted 11 players before the snap so there is no foul. And finally, the backjudge was watching the 40 second clock and the ball was snapped prior to the clock running out, so it is a legal play. By rule, since there were no fouls, it will now be second down."

</i>Steve, you are getting a little carried away here. One reason they do so much of "the QB was out of the pocket" is cuz the "sides and backs" throw a flag when they see illegal contact outside of 5 yards on a receiver, but that is NOT A FOUL if the QB is out of the pocket. The mic helps especially the coaches know why a foul may not have occured when a flag was thrown. It is great knowledge for fans, observing officials, announcers, players, and coaches, and no matter what you say, keeping the fans at the game understanding why a flag was picked up, or not thrown, is a benifit to all. Do you want to work a game where the fans are totally going nuts, which insinuates the players and coaches as well, when you can use the microphone to help the crowd understand. IMO, the NFL R's use the mic to explain things better, and in better detail than NCAA officials, and it is a good thing that I think will filter down to NCAA. You have to explain that stuff to the coach anyway, so using the mic eliminates taking more time to go over to the sideline, plus then everyone knows you got it right.

Maybe educating the fans was a poor example on my part but some of the situations I speak of are generally something the Ref would have to tell the coach anyway who is going crazy and yes coaches do interefere with the flow of the game, so giving a simple explanation will get the game back on track. Just like calling out the number of the player who fouled. Without a mic, you now you have to relay the info to the wing official who then tells the coach. "#64 held" With the mic, and using common sense on what to say, the game will go smoother. The mic is there for tool and calling the fouls out isn't the only use. Why use a mic if your not in favor of the game being smooth.

I didn't see the game. I heard about the call during the halftime of the 2nd wild-card game and saw where Coach Schottenheimer (SP??) was standing in a video they showed. I guess he was upset about what he thought was a roughing the punter call. Typical coach response, too.

Something like: "I asked my punter and HE said he was roughed so I stand by my decision to be where I was and I'd do it again."