2 Questions about the Monday night game...

[mikesears]

Originally Posted by AlabamaBlue

1st situation, I can't remember who had the ball, but A had a tight end to the left and a wideout to the left who was covering up the tight end. It was a running play, but the wing flagged it at the snap. The R's explanation was it was an illegal formation because an eligible receiver was covered up at the snap. They had 7 on the line and it wasn't a pass, any idea why this was flagged?

Under NFL rules, eligibles by number MUST be lined up in eligible positions and ineligibles by number MUST be lined up in ineligible positions. They can only swap eligibility status by reporting in to the Referee.

2nd situation I'm curious about is the Keyshawn Johnson catch that was ruled incomplete in the endzone. The deep wing wasn't in the best position to rule on in/out of bounds, and the replay showed that Johnson's elbow first landed in bounds. The Panthers tried to review, but the R said it wasn't reviewable. Why not? Also, was the deep wing in the correct position (about 5 yards past the goal line and 2 -3 yards OOB, the catch happened right in front of him but he had no angle on the OOB line.)? The wing official was running up the line behind the play, but the deep wing signaled incomplete immediately without even looking to the wing.

I don't know if the elbow landing inbounds is considered a completed pass under NFL rules. I would love to hear the NFL address this play.

NFL replay rules do not allow a force out to be challenged. If I had been Carolina's coach, I wouldn't have been challenging the force out. I'd have been challenging that the receiver made contact inbounds. Andrew may be correct in that they didn't feel the receiver actually caught the ball.

Mechanically, the deep wing was fine with his mechanics of signaling incomplete. I've been told that if it is incomplete, you don't need to wait for the other official. Come in and wave it off.