Indy/SD
 

Ouch...IW on a big play...

I don't know about that one, Tanner.

When the IW went, where were the SD players? Could you say for certain that NO SD players stopped playing because of the IW, and that the IND player still broke tackles and made it as far as he would have.

In fact, the possibility exists that the IND player may have ben tackled (by SD player(s) that gave up when the IW went) before the 20, in which case the IW actually helped IND.

What do you mean JR? In the NFL even if the players stop for a very short amount of time, the NFL is so fast, the IW is a major issue here...this should never, never, never happened in the NFL...YIKES!

Great point. But I'm not sure, just hate it they had one.

What about the end of the game false start on Indy on the 4th down play ... was that the proper call?

I guarentee that call will be backed up by the league. I know they have been talking about that one.

That's a judgement call I could not argue with (even as a Colts fan). This is just semantics but it wasn't "false start" but "simulating a snap". He was just shifting but his movement was very similar to what he would do at the snap. He should have been more fluid. I think they could have have let it go but I don't have any issues with the call.

Overall...what a crazy game from an officiating standpoint. I think they did fine overall other than the killer IW. I'm not sure who did it but it was a huge mistake. They owned up to it right away and enforced it correctly though. The change on the spot was correct as well. Polian was on the local news saying he would not call the league office because he didn't think he could behave himself.

4th down false start
 

I hate this play, I would like it to be called FS (or simulating the snap) every time, but it seems that in every other exact same situation in the NFL, NCAA, most NFHS, that it is not called False start. In Varsity Fed they better darn sure that tell us they have this play in their repertoire, a little heads up would be nice as well. I have seen it called both ways mostly in Fed, but NFL seems to never call it. Consistency is all I ask for. (anyway how can vander..., I mean Vinateri miss a 29 yd chip shot like that, I understand the rushed 42 yder a little bit) Anyway the ref from Indy is done venting (they shouldn't have won anyway with the way they played, tape session will not be pretty, or the trainer's room).

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Upon further review...I realize my confusion, return got to the 7, it did not start at the 7.

The ball was intercepted in the endzone. That's where the IW occured. Therefore, a touchback and the ball on the 20.

The ball was tipped at about the 2 or 3 and then tipped about 5 more times between there and where it was intercepted about 4 yards deep in the end zone. The BJ had it as an interception and had his bag down at the spot. The left-side deep wing, S or F, decided it had to have hit the ground and blew it dead just before the intercepting player ran it out of the end zone.

As for the simulating the snap play, I agree with Madden that no player shifted that couldn't shift legally. The problem with Madden's complaint is that he never addressed the fact that just because it is legal to shift, the shift must also be legally done. Indy had three eligibles on the right end of the line. The TE shifted by standing up and back from a three-point stance to a two-point while a back just outside of him shifted sideways and another back outside of both of them shifted forward to be on the line. The group shifting together appeared to all be moving in a direction typical of the ball having been snapped. It did not fool San Diego. But since it was so abrupt, U threw the flag.

WARREN, I agree with you on the FS call.

As for the IW, wow, what a mistake. From the location of the interception, it must have been right in front of the BJ. Any of the deep wings would have been way out of line in making a call on that.

Why does anyone bag an interception, at any level?

The only thing worse than the IW was giving the wrong signal for it (gave the illegal substitution signal).

I agree with the bean bag for the spot on the interception.

I agree with all the comments regarding the false start call. Carl Madsen (U) threw the flag and had it the whole way. The player who 'shifted' was a little to exaggerated with his upper body movements for this not to be called.

Forksref--I see NCAA D1 and NFL officials toss bean bags on interceptions. It makes it tough to tell my B that there is no reason to toss his bean bag on an INT when he is always seeing those guys do it. Anybody know why they do so?

The simulating the start of the play was interesting. Coach Dungy was quoted last week as saying "that they had discussed the play previously with the league" and that all agreed it was legal. That was in a reported Q&A discussion where the Patriot's were complaining (in last week's game), that a key offside call on a 3rd down play where Indy had just "drawn them offside" using the exact same play, was a "completely legal" play.

Interesting how it went from being "completely legal" to illegal in just one week.