NFL Final Play Ruled correct

[pbmax]

Unfortunately, as PFT pointed out, you are not allowed to "incidentally" touch the QB's head either. So if it wasn't one, it was the other. Horrible explanation.

That's not what Pereira says about "incidental" grabbing: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/81383907.html

Here's what Pereira said:

Well, I think you have to look at the rule. We made this adjustment in the rule two years ago and we basically followed college, interestingly enough, and said that we were going to get rid of the incidental grab of the facemask so the grab of the mask that didn't include a pull, a twist or a turn. And that really led us to staying away from the type of grab of the mask that doesn't create the possibility of injury. And that's what you're looking at here.

This is the really the one that fell into that category of being in the incidental grab. Because he takes him down but there's no real pull, no twist. When you look at the others we called earlier in the game...

Agreed that his explanation sucks insofar as it doesn't apply at all to what Adams did to Rodgers. As somebody else suggested, Pereira should have just admitted they blew it and moved on. To my mind it's entirely understandable that the referee is going to be watching the ball to determine fumble vs. tuck and then recovery, and not watching the QBs facemask.

Well, this is where the NFL has put itself. While incidental grabbing of the facemask would be legal (though I don't believe applicable in this case) then how does he get around this rule about hitting the QB in the head:

There's another issue with the play that Pereira doesn't address. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 13(3) plainly states that defenders may not "use hands, arms, or other parts of the body to hit the passer in the head, neck, or face."

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/14/pereira-defends-facemask-non-call/

[hoosier]

Unfortunately, as PFT pointed out, you are not allowed to "incidentally" touch the QB's head either. So if it wasn't one, it was the other. Horrible explanation.

That's not what Pereira says about "incidental" grabbing: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/81383907.html

Here's what Pereira said:

Well, I think you have to look at the rule. We made this adjustment in the rule two years ago and we basically followed college, interestingly enough, and said that we were going to get rid of the incidental grab of the facemask so the grab of the mask that didn't include a pull, a twist or a turn. And that really led us to staying away from the type of grab of the mask that doesn't create the possibility of injury. And that's what you're looking at here.

This is the really the one that fell into that category of being in the incidental grab. Because he takes him down but there's no real pull, no twist. When you look at the others we called earlier in the game...

Agreed that his explanation sucks insofar as it doesn't apply at all to what Adams did to Rodgers. As somebody else suggested, Pereira should have just admitted they blew it and moved on. To my mind it's entirely understandable that the referee is going to be watching the ball to determine fumble vs. tuck and then recovery, and not watching the QBs facemask.

Well, this is where the NFL has put itself. While incidental grabbing of the facemask would be legal (though I don't believe applicable in this case) then how does he get around this rule about hitting the QB in the head:

There's another issue with the play that Pereira doesn't address. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 13(3) plainly states that defenders may not "use hands, arms, or other parts of the body to hit the passer in the head, neck, or face."

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...mask-non-call/

I think the official explanation would be that he didn't hit the QB in the face because the QBs facemask got in the way.

[pbmax]

Unfortunately, as PFT pointed out, you are not allowed to "incidentally" touch the QB's head either. So if it wasn't one, it was the other. Horrible explanation.

That's not what Pereira says about "incidental" grabbing: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/81383907.html

Here's what Pereira said:

Well, I think you have to look at the rule. We made this adjustment in the rule two years ago and we basically followed college, interestingly enough, and said that we were going to get rid of the incidental grab of the facemask so the grab of the mask that didn't include a pull, a twist or a turn. And that really led us to staying away from the type of grab of the mask that doesn't create the possibility of injury. And that's what you're looking at here.

This is the really the one that fell into that category of being in the incidental grab. Because he takes him down but there's no real pull, no twist. When you look at the others we called earlier in the game...

Agreed that his explanation sucks insofar as it doesn't apply at all to what Adams did to Rodgers. As somebody else suggested, Pereira should have just admitted they blew it and moved on. To my mind it's entirely understandable that the referee is going to be watching the ball to determine fumble vs. tuck and then recovery, and not watching the QBs facemask.

Well, this is where the NFL has put itself. While incidental grabbing of the facemask would be legal (though I don't believe applicable in this case) then how does he get around this rule about hitting the QB in the head:

There's another issue with the play that Pereira doesn't address. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 13(3) plainly states that defenders may not "use hands, arms, or other parts of the body to hit the passer in the head, neck, or face."

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...mask-non-call/

I think the official explanation would be that he didn't hit the QB in the face because the QBs facemask got in the way.

This might be the first step in bring back the head slap. Only now it would be the face slap.

[digitaldean]

Nice to see Mike Perreira, head of NFL officiating, in full CYA mode right now.

Look, main reason we lost is because we handed 17 points to AZ to start the game and the defense couldn't cover or tackle to save their lives.

The refs definitely blew the helmet to helmet on A-Rod, while Warner gets BARELY touched and the laundry is flying everywhere from the zebras.

For a billion dollar/yr. industry, the NFL has a clusterf.... for officiating.

[Guiness]

I don't know about a clusterF for officiating. It's a fast game, and they get most of it right. I tend to side with the opinion that the ref was distracted by the bouncing ball. I'm also of the opinion that they should admit that if he'd seen it, he would've called it. The NFL should have said "he didn't see it, suck it up"

In the picture pbmax posted, Adam's arm was pretty close to fully extended up when he was grabbing the facemask. That's not incidental, he was using it to get a grip.

[SnakeLH2006]

Who cares? This isn't like 4th and 28? Or is it? I threw 2 bottles of Bud over my neighbor's house that day.

I merely shrugged and turned the game off in this debacle. We weren't the better team and WILL be better next year under ARod who might be an MVP shortly.

We lost and didn't deserve to win this game. That much is true. Get over it.

[Gunakor]

Who cares? This isn't like 4th and 28? Or is it? I threw 2 bottles of Bud over my neighbor's house that day.

I merely shrugged and turned the game off in this debacle. We weren't the better team and WILL be better next year under ARod who might be an MVP shortly.

We lost and didn't deserve to win this game. That much is true. Get over it.

Our defense gave up 45 points, therefore we didn't deserve to win. But wait... How many points did the Cardinals defense give up?

Arizona didn't deserve to win this game either, but they did. That's why it's hard to just get over it. Neither team deserved to win that game. Or both deserved to win it. Either way you look at it, the winner was ultimately decided by a missed call on the game winning play. That's tough to get past, especially with the season on the line.

[Guiness]

Who cares? This isn't like 4th and 28? Or is it? I threw 2 bottles of Bud over my neighbor's house that day.

I merely shrugged and turned the game off in this debacle. We weren't the better team and WILL be better next year under ARod who might be an MVP shortly.

We lost and didn't deserve to win this game. That much is true. Get over it.

Our defense gave up 45 points, therefore we didn't deserve to win. But wait... How many points did the Cardinals defense give up?

Arizona didn't deserve to win this game either, but they did. That's why it's hard to just get over it. Neither team deserved to win that game. Or both deserved to win it. Either way you look at it, the winner was ultimately decided by a missed call on the game winning play. That's tough to get past, especially with the season on the line.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it was decided by a missed call.

If the ref makes the call, the Pack still has to either march down the field and score, or punt and stop Arizona. The first is much more likely than the second, of course.

[MichiganPackerFan]

Who cares? This isn't like 4th and 28? Or is it? I threw 2 bottles of Bud over my neighbor's house that day.

I merely shrugged and turned the game off in this debacle. We weren't the better team and WILL be better next year under ARod who might be an MVP shortly.

We lost and didn't deserve to win this game. That much is true. Get over it.

You should have thrown the rest of the bottles too and then bought better beer.

[Gunakor]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it was decided by a missed call.

If the ref makes the call, the Pack still has to either march down the field and score, or punt and stop Arizona. The first is much more likely than the second, of course.

It was the last play of the game. What may or may not have happened after that play is irrelevant to the point I was making. That missed call was the deciding factor in that game. Had the call been made it certainly would not have been the deciding factor as another play would have been run afterwards.

But because it was missed, and the end result was a game winning TD the other way, I'd say that was the deciding factor. Not the turnovers or the lack of defense, because at the end of 60 minutes of football our blunders were no worse than theirs. Yeah, I know, it should have never gotten to that point. We should have played better, if only we'd have gotten a TD instead of a FG at halftime, yada, yada, yada. And they should have blown us out, but there we were. Tied 45-45 and heading into overtime. Nothing had been decided yet. Nothing was decided until that last play of the game.

The Cardinals deserved to lose that game just as much as we did. We deserved to win just as much as the Cardinals did. And on the last play a missed call decided who got to play another week. It's gonna take a few weeks to get past that and get excited about next season. There's no game on Sunday.

[bobblehead]

I would buy this arguement if I had seen ONE case in the last 2 years of "incidental" contact. Quite the opposite I saw Harris get called for a facemask this year where his hand was LAYING on the mask, not even gripping it.

I also saw a fumble in the open field just this week that was near identical to the GJ endzone "no catch". Now if catching the ball, taking a step and losing it on the way down is a fumble, how is it not a possession long enough to get 7?

I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but I'm starting to believe the officials have it in for us every time we hit the biggest stages.

[mraynrand]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it was decided by a missed call.

If the ref makes the call, the Pack still has to either march down the field and score, or punt and stop Arizona. The first is much more likely than the second, of course.

It was the last play of the game. What may or may not have happened after that play is irrelevant to the point I was making. That missed call was the deciding factor in that game. Had the call been made it certainly would not have been the deciding factor as another play would have been run afterwards.

But because it was missed, and the end result was a game winning TD the other way, I'd say that was the deciding factor. Not the turnovers or the lack of defense, because at the end of 60 minutes of football our blunders were no worse than theirs. Yeah, I know, it should have never gotten to that point. We should have played better, if only we'd have gotten a TD instead of a FG at halftime, yada, yada, yada. And they should have blown us out, but there we were. Tied 45-45 and heading into overtime. Nothing had been decided yet. Nothing was decided until that last play of the game.

The Cardinals deserved to lose that game just as much as we did. We deserved to win just as much as the Cardinals did. And on the last play a missed call decided who got to play another week. It's gonna take a few weeks to get past that and get excited about next season. There's no game on Sunday.

FUCK YEAH! WE WAS ROBBED! GREAT POST.

NOTHING IS WRITTEN!!!!