Indy/SD

[Bob M.]

REPLY: We all saw the BJ drop a bag when he ruled that Indy had intercepted the pass in the endzone. Though there is no rule-based reason to do that for either Fed or NCAA, there is a remote chance that this spot will be significant for enforcement in the NFL. Here is verbatim what an NFL friend related to me:

"Dropping bean bag (on interception): A Chop blocks, INT, bean bag, B fumbles,A gets it back. We can use the bean bag to enforce the CHB as it is considered "A's previous spot." Only time I have EVER seen that is on a test."

[Mike51]

What about the statement from the ref on the 3rd down play in which the colts were given a first down after measurement. He stated "the ball will be placed just shy of the 6 yard line". What is "just shy"? 1 inch, 2 inches, etc? I did not agree with this review.

[TXMike]

Originally Posted by Mike51

What about the statement from the ref on the 3rd down play in which the colts were given a first down after measurement. He stated "the ball will be placed just shy of the 6 yard line". What is "just shy"? 1 inch, 2 inches, etc? I did not agree with this review.

This is the kind of lunacy the instant reply review process has brought us. The reviewers can "see" that the runner was stopped short of the 6 yard line but are unable to precisely tell from that view how short he was. I do not understand how anyone can think the camera, unless it is looking straight down a line (i.e. goal line, line to gain, etc) can give you a precise view. There is way too much potential for perspective distortion, especially when using telephoto lenses.

[Reffing Rev.]

The False start may have not been a false start, but I imagine 2/3 of the crews in the country at every level talked about last week's LSU false start and said duh and here the U talked himself into a bad call.

My question is this, in what mechanic is the U observing the shifts of the end and backs? Doesn't he have a snap, a center and a couple of guards to be watching.

In the NFL shifts are very popular, there was nothing illegal about this shift that was any different than 2/3 of the other shifts on Sunday. The argument someone made earlier about them all shifting the same direction makes the swinging gate shift illegal. I will come out and say bad call.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

My question is this, in what mechanic is the U observing the shifts of the end and backs? Doesn't he have a snap, a center and a couple of guards to be watching.

I think the wing official had the call not the U (could be wrong).

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

In the NFL shifts are very popular, there was nothing illegal about this shift that was any different than 2/3 of the other shifts on Sunday. The argument someone made earlier about them all shifting the same direction makes the swinging gate shift illegal. I will come out and say bad call.

The difference is his movement was jerky similar to the action at a snap rather than fluid like is usually done on a shift. There's a fine line but I think he got the call right after watching the replay.

[FredFan7]

Mike Pereira explains it here:

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d8043262f

[JugglingReferee]

Play: The LTG is obvious - such as the inside of the 5 yard stripe. The covering official rules that FP was past the LTG. Upon replay, it is clear that the progress was short of the LTG (because it was short of the 5 yard stripe) but it is not known how much short of the stripe progress was.

Ruling: A 1D will not be awarded. It will be the next down, with the best estimate as determine by the Referee.

When the R voices this, should be not use "just shy of the 5 yard stripe"?

[Suudy]

Thanks for the video post. I didn't know the NFL had these available to watch other than on the NFL network. This is great if you miss a show.

I find a couple of things interesting about his explanation of the official with the IW.

Pereira says that the official needs to learn to take his whistle out of this mouth. You'd think an experienced official (and you think one would have to be quite experienced to make it to the NFL) would already do that. After my first IW I never put my whistle back in my mouth and left it hanging. Many others switch to finger whistles just to prevent this. And I don't think there is any way an NFL official made it all the way through the ranks without an IW.

He also said that the official, being his first year out of NCAA, got excited about the play and confused the NCAA with the NFL rule (i.e. down by contact). This explanation seemed to try and mitigate the IW. I think it much more realisitic that the official thought the pass incomplete, and this explanation by Pereira saves face. I'm probably reading into it too much, but that's my gut feeling.

[mikesears]

Originally Posted by Suudy

He also said that the official, being his first year out of NCAA, got excited about the play and confused the NCAA with the NFL rule (i.e. down by contact). This explanation seemed to try and mitigate the IW. I think it much more realisitic that the official thought the pass incomplete, and this explanation by Pereira saves face. I'm probably reading into it too much, but that's my gut feeling.

If it was a first year offcial, it was the side judge who whistled. The FJ is from my hometown and has been working NFL for at least 4-5 years (and possibly longer).

We all know how horrible we feel when it happens to one of us. I can only imagine how he feels.

[dvasques]

After hearing Pereira explaining what happened I think he's telling the truth
As I can hear, there is no doubt on the whistling. It's not like he blew it wrong once and then blew it again to confirm the IW.
Sounded to me like he blew the whistle sure of what he was doing but, unfortunately, he was wrong.
He go mixed up with the different rules

[RMR]

Originally Posted by mikesears

If it was a first year offcial, it was the side judge who whistled. The FJ is from my hometown and has been working NFL for at least 4-5 years (and possibly longer).

We all know how horrible we feel when it happens to one of us. I can only imagine how he feels.

Yeah, the S is in the League in his first season from CUSA.

So you must be from Illinois.

I got to do some work with Doug in a camp over the summer. He's a great guy and I learned a hell of a lot from him and from Tony.

The whole crew was there and the thing that I found really interesting was just the whole air of confidence that every one of them exuded.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by Suudy

Pereira says that the official needs to learn to take his whistle out of this mouth. You'd think an experienced official (and you think one would have to be quite experienced to make it to the NFL) would already do that. After my first IW I never put my whistle back in my mouth and left it hanging. Many others switch to finger whistles just to prevent this. And I don't think there is any way an NFL official made it all the way through the ranks without an IW.

Human.

Beings.

Make.

Mistakes.

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

Human.

Beings.

Make.

Mistakes.

I'm not suggesting that even experience officials don't make mistakes. Experienced officials have had IW's before I'm sure. That isn't what I was driving at.

And I'm also not suggesting the official in question is a poor official. In fact, I'm quite certain he is an excellent official, given that he as progressed to the NFL level.

The point of my post was that I think Pereira wasn't giving a completely honest report. Pereira said "you'll see him officiating now without the whistle in his mouth." He even went into a detail explanation about going through the motion of grabbing the whistle.

How many experienced officials officiate with the whistle in their mouths? In my experience--none. And I don't think the guy here is any different. THAT was my point.