great fakes
 

Had an interesting game last night. Two 5-1 teams square off. Playoffs implications. Team A were excellent at faking handoffs. Our crew reviewed the "slow on the whistle" in pregame and reviewed again at halftime. One real drawback was the Offensive linemen were blocking to the whistle and the ball may be dead prior. What makes it look bad to fans is the defensive line and linebackers have a better view and slow down / stop while a OL smacks him. As the back judge , I started coming up fast and talked to the players. I believe our league will be seeing more and more of fantastic fakes in our future. Lots of pressure on the linesman and line judge to avoid the IW.

btw - Team B won in double overtime. Great game. Great players.

It is the player's responsibility to know the play is dead irregardless of the whistle being blown. And I learned a very long time ago that you do not need to blow a whistle if you do not see leather. And that applies if the play is right in front of you which is not uncommon. If you have to throw a flag because of a late hit and the whistle is not blown, so be it.

Peace

I have finally found something on which I could agree with JR.:D:D