SD@DEN - Earned their Money!

[bisonlj]

Did anyone see the end of the Chargers-Broncos game? Those officials earned their pay in the last 3 minutes alone! It was a clinic in strange plays and tough calls.

With 3:10 left, Denver (down 28-27) had the ball 4th and 4 at their own 38. Plummer's pass was picked off at the 46 and returned to the Denver 23. SD ran a few plays and ended up with a 3rd and goal at the 1 with 1:17 remaining. Their choice was to run a play that did not score a touchdown and let the clock run to 30 seconds and kick a field goal or score a touchdown to extend the lead to 8 but give Denver the ball back with over 1 minute to go. They ended up scoring a TD but then things got interesting on the extra point.

The kick was good but Ian Gold was flagged for unnecessary roughness. While they were discussing the penalty, Darrent Williams started arguing something with another official and eventually said something that cost him a 15 yard USC flag. Now SD is kicking off from the Denver 40!! The assumption was they would kick the ball clear out of the back of the end zone but they had a different plan.

They kicked a high pooch kick that came down around the goal line. The Denver KR was deep in his end zone so he had to run up to catch the ball. He dove just inside the goal line, caught the ball on the goal line, and landed at the 2 where he was touched down. The announcer suggested he should have let the ball bounce into the end zone (stupid idea because you have no idea which way it would bounce and the kicking team was on top of it pretty quickly). The Broncos would have to go 98 yards in 1:10 with no timeouts. It seemed impossible but almost happened!

The first play appeared to be a screen pass but it fell incomplete. The referee threw a flag so I thought it may be a holding call in the end zone for a safety. It was actually illegal touching on the OL. They initially signalled the penalty accepted, half the distance to the goal line, but then the referee (Bill Carollo) announced the penalty would be declined (right call but it looked bad). Denver then had a short pass and incomplete pass to end up with 4th and 6 from the 6 with 55 seconds left. Plummer completed a 28 yard pass to Jevon Walker who was tackled immediately in bounds. The Broncos rushed up to the line and Plummer spiked the ball to stop the clock with 34 seconds left.

After the play you suddenly see a SD DL (Olshansky) slapping the helmet of one of the OL. The flag immediately came out and the player was ejected. I wondered what precipiated such a stupid action. On the replay you see both teams relax due to the obvious spike situation. The center hesitated but then delivered a low block to Olshanky (legal but completely unnecessary). He just reacted. It was a huge call because it now put Denver near midfield with 34 seconds left.

Plummer completed a 14 yard pass where the receiver was tackled in bounds. The Broncos were going to hustle to spike the ball again when Drayton Florence (the player who made the tackle) decided to swat the ball away after it was placed on the ground by the receiver. The umpire immediately flagged him for delay of game which not only stopped the clock until the snap but also gave the Broncos an additional 5 yards!

They are now on the SD 32 with 24 seconds left and a very real chance to pull off an unbelieveable comeback. Plummer dropped back to pass but was hit from behind by Shaun Phillips and fumbled. The ball bounded backward toward the sideline where everyone scrambled for the ball. Just when it looked like the ball would roll out of bounds at about midfield with 10 seconds left, Stephen Alexander (DEN) jumped on the ball to retain possession. But since he didn't let it roll out of bounds or get out of bounds, the clock continued to run!

The officials hustled to get a new ball to the middle and mark the ball ready for play as Denver scrambled to get liined up. There was a snap, there was movement, the clock said 0:00, and the ball used on the previous play was still sitting on the field near the sideline!! The officials huddled together and quickly discussed what happened. Bill Carollo stepped back as fan anxiously waited his words of wisdom. He very confidently said "The game is over."

What an incredible and unbelievable ending. Those several plays would be great for any clinic!!

[tjones1]

Saw the end of the game and all the plays you described. They certinaly did earn their money in the last 3 minutes. Talk about some silly penalties by SD. Like you said, clinic material in the last 3 minutes.

[bisonlj]

If you didn't see it, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXvmYVNX2Xg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0g1GfVbzv8

[The Roamin' Umpire]

One other thing that struck me in this video was this: Credit Madden for recognizing L.T.'s restrained celebration: "Do you think a few professional players might learn from Ladainian Tomlinson's celebration there?"

[Mike L]

Put me in the minority, but I thought they actually had a lot of problems.

First the Olshansky thing. "Legal but completely unnecessary". That to me usually generates an unnecessary roughness call. The ball was already spiked, the offense knew it was to be a spike (especially the center), the linemen delays and then dives at Olshansky's knees. Sorry, but I'm flagging that in a second. Olshansky still sits for his reaction, but I don't think you should allow free shots at players knees that are "completely unnecessary" (and it was).
Then we have the problem of where the ball was spotted on the kickoff. Catch made with knees down in the endzone, but the ball is probably at about the 1. The slide continues to the 4 where he is touched. And the ball gets spotted on the 2?
Making an assumption, especially close to the endzone, that the penalty will be accepted rather than take the incomplete and the down?
Letting a snap go off with 2 balls on the field?
Going nose to nose with a player after a penalty call and then hitting them again with a USC?

I guess the way this may be used in a clinic in my opinion might be a little different that the way you think.

[MJT]

What I noticed was the U chucked his flag about 50 feet in the air when he threw the UR flag. I thought maybe cuz it was a UR he put a little extra under it, but he did the same thing for the delay for swatting the ball. He threw that flag with everything he got, putting his whole body into it.

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Put me in the minority, but I thought they actually had a lot of problems.

First the Olshansky thing. "Legal but completely unnecessary". That to me usually generates an unnecessary roughness call. The ball was already spiked, the offense knew it was to be a spike (especially the center), the linemen delays and then dives at Olshansky's knees. Sorry, but I'm flagging that in a second. Olshansky still sits for his reaction, but I don't think you should allow free shots at players knees that are "completely unnecessary" (and it was).
Then we have the problem of where the ball was spotted on the kickoff. Catch made with knees down in the endzone, but the ball is probably at about the 1. The slide continues to the 4 where he is touched. And the ball gets spotted on the 2?
Making an assumption, especially close to the endzone, that the penalty will be accepted rather than take the incomplete and the down?
Letting a snap go off with 2 balls on the field?
Going nose to nose with a player after a penalty call and then hitting them again with a USC?

I guess the way this may be used in a clinic in my opinion might be a little different that the way you think.

Did the center even make contact? If not, then what foul are you calling? As far as the 2 balls on the field, that looked bad, but what can you do when both the game clock and play clock are both running.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

Did the center even make contact? If not, then what foul are you calling? As far as the 2 balls on the field, that looked bad, but what can you do when both the game clock and play clock are both running.

Yes. Helmet and/or shoulder pad to the right knee. The dive did not begin until after the ball hit the ground.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

Did the center even make contact? If not, then what foul are you calling? As far as the 2 balls on the field, that looked bad, but what can you do when both the game clock and play clock are both running.

May have been a case of the official seeing the retailiation but not the instigator.

[RoyGardner]

From bisonlj:

"After the play you suddenly see a SD DL (Olshansky) slapping the helmet of one of the OL. The flag immediately came out and the player was ejected. I wondered what precipiated such a stupid action. On the replay you see both teams relax due to the obvious spike situation. The center hesitated but then delivered a low block to Olshanky (legal but completely unnecessary). He just reacted. It was a huge call because it now put Denver near midfield with 34 seconds left."

Block by Nalen was both late, illegal, and determined by the NFL to be a flagrant attempt to injure. NFL network just announced that Nalen has been fined $25,000. for the play. Olshansky, who was both flagged and ejected was only fined $10,000. The official's missed the original foul, and then caught the retaliation.