Illegal Forward Pass Ruling in SD-PIT Game

[bmf1314]

Questions on this topic:

1) Lets say LT threw an IFP and it was caught. And the play goes on. Since it was an IFP and the ball was caught the defense can either accept or decline the penalty? Correct?

2) If the IFP was dropped then you cannot accept or decline the penalty. The ball is dead. Correct?

3) How does an NFL official getting paid six figures for a half year of work not know the rules? Plus he has like 5 other helpers and a replay official. Pretty bad. Correct?

[aschramm]

Originally Posted by bmf1314

Questions on this topic:



3) How does an NFL official getting paid six figures for a half year of work not know the rules? Plus he has like 5 other helpers and a replay official. Pretty bad. Correct?

Why do people feel like coming to officiating message boards to bash officials? Correct?

[Warrenkicker]

The issue on the play was that there were two attempted backward passes on the last play. The first was an illegal pass as it went forward. The second was a backward pass that also hit the ground. The officials were confused as to which pass was illegal (forward). They incorrectly determined that the illegal pass hit the ground and thus was incomplete. Within minutes they determined that they got the two passes confused and Pittsburgh should have been awarded the TD.

Green takes the hit for not remembering what all happened during the replay. He saw over and over again what happened on the play but was then talked into changing his mind. He would have saved himself just by going over and taking another look.

[shave-tail]

Originally Posted by Warrenkicker

He would have saved himself just by going over and taking another look.

By rule, after the official leaves the review booth he can't return to review the same play. This was discribed by head of officials on ESPN.

[Warrenkicker]

Originally Posted by shave-tail

By rule, after the official leaves the review booth he can't return to review the same play. This was discribed by head of officials on ESPN.

I don't doubt that you are correct. However the review official could have buzzed down to recheck the facts as I would assume it is their first responsibility to get the ruling right. R wouldn't have to have gone in the booth to confirm which pass was which. I do see now that they are looking at changing some things to try to avoid this problem again.

I find it funny how often rules are changed to try to avoid repeating special situations that could have been covered earlier if odd situations had been thought about earlier.

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by bmf1314

Questions on this topic:


3) How does an NFL official getting paid six figures for a half year of work not know the rules? Plus he has like 5 other helpers and a replay official. Pretty bad. Correct?

The ammount of money he gets paid doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he is a human. Humans make mistakes. You'd think that being a millionaire would put a stop to the false starts and other bone headed fouls the players make, but that don't seem to stop the Dallas Cowboys from averaging about 5 false starts per game.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by bmf1314

3) How does an NFL official getting paid six figures for a half year of work not know the rules? Plus he has like 5 other helpers and a replay official. Pretty bad. Correct?

'cause we have humans and not robots calling games.

The guy from San Diego notwithstanding, everybody has kicked a call at some point. Some are bigger than others.

[aschramm]

Originally Posted by overandback

'cause we have humans and not robots calling games.

The guy from san diego notwithstanding, everybody has kicked a call at some point. Some are bigger than others.

lol.....

[JugglingReferee]

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[b10mtrk]

Originally Posted by bmf1314

Questions on this topic:

1) Lets say LT threw an IFP and it was caught. And the play goes on. Since it was an IFP and the ball was caught the defense can either accept or decline the penalty? Correct?

2) If the IFP was dropped then you cannot accept or decline the penalty. The ball is dead. Correct?

3) How does an NFL official getting paid six figures for a half year of work not know the rules? Plus he has like 5 other helpers and a replay official. Pretty bad. Correct?

1) Completed pass, legal or illegal, the ball remains alive. The offended team has the right to accept or decline the penalty for the IFP. The options are decline the penalty and accept the results of the play, Or accept the penalty and re-play the down (I am unsure if the NFL code defines and IFP as a loss of down penalty). Decline = Result of the play - TD Pittsburgh. Accept the penalty (two potential results) 1) if IFP is loss of down - game over - score 11 to 10; if not LOD SD get an untimed down.

2) If the IFP was incomplete, flag, whistle, down over, enforce penalty based on D's acceptance/declination. Action after the incomplete pass was action with a dead ball.

3) I'll agree with the basic statement - this mistake is unacceptable for the NFL. That said, I'll bet every official (irrespective of NF, NCAA, NFL) has at some point, due to unusual circumstances and unanticipated events become twisted and choked on a basic call by over thinking and not stepping back and reciting the applicable football fundamentals.