Not Again Mr. Silverstein

[pbmax]

From NFL.com:

Digest of Rules Main
Fumble
The distinction between a fumble and a muff should be kept in mind in considering rules about fumbles. A fumble is the loss of player possession of the ball. A muff is the touching of a loose ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession.

A fumble may be advanced by any player on either team regardless of whether recovered before or after ball hits the ground.

A fumble that goes forward and out of bounds will return to the fumbling team at the spot of the fumble unless the ball goes out of bounds in the opponent’s end zone. In this case, it is a touchback.

On a play from scrimmage, if an offensive player fumbles anywhere on the field during fourth down, only the fumbling player is permitted to recover and/or advance the ball. If any player fumbles after the two-minute warning in a half, only the fumbling player is permitted to recover and/or advance the ball. If recovered by any other offensive player, the ball is dead at the spot of the fumble unless it is recovered behind the spot of the fumble. In that case, the ball is dead at the spot of recovery. Any defensive player may recover and/or advance any fumble at any time.

A muffed hand-to-hand snap from center is treated as a fumble.

[pbmax]

By the way, the "Dave Casper Rule" was originally the one bump within five yards of the LOS. This, along with changes to the pass blocking rules, gave birth to the modern 4 hour long NFL game and a 4,000 yard season for Scott Mitchell.

Casper fumbling the ball forward for a TD was versus the Chargers in the '78 season. This isn't the Caper Rule as it took three players to make this work. Its the "Holy Roller". Stabler threw the ball underhanded and forward when he was being sacked and then Pete Banaszak fumbled it forward after he was hit. This was when Casper got his his chance. All three admitted they all fumbled on purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNMy6FV10VM

http://raiders.fandome.com/video/87149/The-Holy-Roller/

Charger fans refer to it as "The Immaculate Deception". Jerry Markbreit made the final call that the TD was legitimate, although in the replay age its clear Banaszak and Casper were throwing the ball forward. If this happened today, there would be a Congressional investigation and Markbreit's company webpage would face a denial of service attack.

[MichiganPackerFan]

I only watched the play once, but if the ball had not been fumbled forward an additional 10 yards or so and recovered by the Bengals, didn't it look like the Packers would have stopped the play short of the 1st down? If not for the fumble, no one would even be discussing the play, would they?

Maybe I'm wrong about it. I really have no desire to go back and look for it. What do others think?

It looked to me like the RB fumbled about 5-7 yards short of the first down, and then the loose ball rolled over and got recovered. But even without the fumble--and assuming the RB goes down exactly where he fumbled, which is by no means certain (it got knocked out from behind, if I remember correctly)--the D is still giving up a 25+ yard gain in a situation where the offense is very likely to call something safe like a screen or draw. That's either terrible defense or brilliant execution on offense. Without putting myself through the agony of watching the replay, but considering who's involved, I'm betting it was the former.

On 3rd and 34 out of our own endzone, I could care less if the team gives up 24 yards. It's still 4th and 10 at that point and a punting situation at that time of the game. Possession change. Of course I'd rather have them driven back for a safety. A few years back on the nightmare 4th & 26, who would have cared if they gave up 25?

[swede]

By the way, the "Dave Casper Rule" was originally the one bump within five yards of the LOS. This, along with changes to the pass blocking rules, gave birth to the modern 4 hour long NFL game and a 4,000 yard season for Scott Mitchell.

Casper fumbling the ball forward for a TD was versus the Chargers in the '78 season. This isn't the Caper Rule as it took three players to make this work. Its the "Holy Roller". Stabler threw the ball underhanded and forward when he was being sacked and then Pete Banaszak fumbled it forward after he was hit. This was when Casper got his his chance. All three admitted they all fumbled on purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNMy6FV10VM

http://raiders.fandome.com/video/87149/The-Holy-Roller/

Charger fans refer to it as "The Immaculate Deception". Jerry Markbreit made the final call that the TD was legitimate, although in the replay age its clear Banaszak and Casper were throwing the ball forward. If this happened today, there would be a Congressional investigation and Markbreit's company webpage would face a denial of service attack.

Awesome! Someone get this guy a beer and a six-legged turducken.