Dallas vs. Seattle

[cmathews]

Romo, was the holder because he started the season as the backup qb, which as was pointed out above is usually the holder.....even more unusual than having the starting qb be the holder (1 team this year...the broncos while plummer was starting) is changing the holder in the middle of the year, thus romo as the holder......if this play had occured on 3rd down, they would have had the opportunity to try it again as there was no legal kick attempted

[stevesmith]

Why is no one questioning the review of the spot near the 1 yard line? Has anyone ever seen a review of a quarterback sneak that is within inches of reaching the line to gain? The camera angles just aren't that perfect to make those determinations. In this case, I think they probably got the call right, but I do have a problem with the use of replay in that situation.

[mcrowder]

My problem on the review at that 1 1/2 is a) I don't think there was an angle that gave "indisputable evidence" that he didn't achieve the line to gain and b) Even without "indisputable evidence", I think (best guess from the replays we did see) they missed it by at least 2 feet. At WORST, Witten made it a few inches short of the 1.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

My problem on the review at that 1 1/2 is a) I don't think there was an angle that gave "indisputable evidence" that he didn't achieve the line to gain and b) Even without "indisputable evidence", I think (best guess from the replays we did see) they missed it by at least 2 feet. At WORST, Witten made it a few inches short of the 1.

They determined Witten's progress by the fact that he was parrallel to the sideline, with his left shoulder making the deepest penetration, which was only the 1-yd line (at best) and the ball stayed outside his right shoulder/hip the entire time it was in his possession.

I'm TE-sized (6'5"/265lbs) and it's at least 24" (2/3 of a yd) from shoulder-to-shoulder and I'm not wearing shoulder pads. I knew from the live action view of the play that the official gave Witten way too much progress. I was screaming for a replay immediately.

[mcrowder]

Honestly, I thought the initial ruling was too far forward as well. But I disagree with your assessment. Before he was turned around, his right side was further forward than his left. While it's possible he did not reach the LTG, I think he was AWFULLY close to it before he got turned. The viewpoint from the sideline was the clearest, and that's the one you describe. But the viewpoint from about the goalpost appeared to have him closer before he rolled sideways.

[Texas Aggie]

The initial ruling was that Whitten got about a half or so yard ahead of the line to gain, and that was probably too much. However, the ruling that placed the ball a half yard behind the line to gain after the replay was equally incorrect. He go ABOUT to the line to gain (give/take 6 inches), and the ball should have been put there for measurement.

The other problem was that they didn't really take a look and possibly measure Romo's advance either and he *might* have gotten very close to the first down spot. Had the replay taken the time they took on the previous play, it would have been very interesting.

That's the problem with replay. Under its best use, its still very inconsistent.