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Mon Jan 16, 2006, 01:24pm
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I'm not an official, just a puzzled fan. Over the past few years I've noticed the expression "crossing the plane of the goal line" to indicate that moment at which a touchdown occurs. I've been following NCAA football since the 1950s and NFL since the 1960s, but unless I'm having a serious memory lapse I do not recall that expression being as prominent in earlier decades as recently.
I have the perhaps misguide impression that I missed the moment of a rule change. Is this correct? Did the expression "crossing the plane of the goal line" become more prominent because of some relatively recent change (in both the NFL and NCAA)? 
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 04:12am
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Basically there were two options on this play that the Referee could have made.
1) The plane does not extend across the world on a looseball situation. Had the ball crossed inside the pylon before going out of bounds it would have been a touchback and Patriots ball. 2) The ball never crossed inside the pylon and would be ruled Broncos ball at the spot where the ball crossed the goaline. The original ruling was the 2nd, there was not conclusive evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 09:16am
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This was one of those situations that even a 7-man crew cannot adequately cover. In "reverse mechanics," not many of us can run 70 yards with the professionals and be on the goal line for the call. The replays, also, did not have a definitive angle to determine whether the ball went out of bounds before or after it crossed the goal line. As mentioned in other threads, had the ruling been that the ball crossed the goal line first, it would have been NE ball at the 20. There was a somewhat similar situation in the Chicago/Carolina game, but a penalty negated the touchback.
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 12:52pm
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As for "crossing the plane of the goal line," I think announcers like to pretend they know something about the rules, and if they use a 'fancy' word like "plane" they will fool people into thinking they (the announcers) know what they are talking about.
Also, it's a bit more complicated than "...the goal line is like a universal line that encircles the world," which I'm not going to get into now. WIth the Den/NE situation...they needed a camera right above the pylon. If indeed the ball went "inside" the pylon before going out of bounds, it is a TB, NE's ball at their 20. The ruling was Den's ball at the 1, and there was nothing even close to conclusive that would have overturned the ruling on the field. As someone else mentioned, it is almost impossible for an official to be down there right on the GL (even then it is a very, very tough call), and you could see the line judge arrive at the goal line well after the play in question.
__________________
If the play is designed to fool someone, make sure you aren't the fool.
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 04:24pm
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 09:15pm
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All Triplette had to do was abandon the QB (his primary responsibility) early, recognize the play, and beat All Pro safety Champ Bailey in a dead sprint to the goal line. What's so hard about that?
While we're at it, the L should be able to go from a stand still at one goal line pylon and run past Bailey so he can be in position to rule on the opposite pylon. That way, both men would be in perfect position to rule on the fumble/OB spot.
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Tue Jan 17, 2006, 11:01pm
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Actually, Triplett did seem to have the near perfect angle on the play. The tight end coming up the field had to run around him and so he was trailing the play and saw the line of the ball going directly away from him. He could tell from this line whether the ball went to the left or right of the pylon.
I had a similar situation in a scrimmage kick last year (Fed - 5-man crew)...the ball bounced on about the 3 yard line and bounced high and out of bounds. As the R back about 40 yards, the ball was going directly away from me on the sideline to my left and I could see that it stayed to the left of the pylon, but the BJ coming over on the goal line and the LJ rushing down the sideline couldn't tell. We used a perfect mechanic and marked the ball on about the 1. K's coach came unglued when he saw that it was my spot from behind the kicker that determined it was not a touchback.
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Sun Jan 22, 2006, 12:06am
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Sun Jan 22, 2006, 12:20am
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I had the same type of play with an INT being run back to the goal line. I was the Referee. I broke for the goal line ASAP but kind of blocked out by other players as I tried to get to the goal line. The player laid out at about the three yard line. I came straight down the goal line toward the pylon. The ball id hit the inside of the pylon. I looked at the HL who was trailing the play before I made a call and we acutaly came together at the goal line and he maked him out of bounds at the one. From my angle it looked like a TD. But I went with the HL. After getting a copy of the game films and watching it in super slow motion, the players knee was down before the ball broke the goal line. So, it seems we got the call right either way!
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