ILLEGAL FORWARD PASS

[Mark Padgett]

Can a basketball ref who has never done football put his two cents in? OK, I will.

There is a difference between the term "to" the ground and "toward" the ground. If you addressed this on a basketball board, we would probably tell you that if the pass did not hit the ground before it hit anything else, then the pass did not go immediately "to" the ground. In this case, I would rule the pass went to the lineman's foot, and then a deflection went to the ground, not a pass.

The principle of advantage/disadvantage and rewarding skills is a strong one in basketball. Again - without knowing how this is applied in football (that's called a disclaimer ), I would have to make the penalty call in order to reward the onrushing guard for his skill and to penalize the QB for his lack of it.

BTW - you guys have a fun board.