The Challenge That Wasn't

[mission]

Agree. Especially the way things were going today.

Oh well. It was one of those days were everyone laid an egg.

Yeah, I'm almost at peace with it. Hope it serves as a wake up.

[denverYooper]

mm failed on that very important play.

The weird thing was that he had gone for the 59 yard FG and went for it on 4th and 8. He was aggressive at times, but not when it would have helped.

[gbgary]

did mm address this? he's got to admit he blew it.

[smuggler]

I saw it live, and it was definitely a touchback. I was confused why it took Moose and Kevin Harlan so long to figure it out. As for MM, that's a challenge we'd usually make at home, with the benefit of multiviews.

It might have made a difference, but getting whipped a bit and losing one is worth more in the long run that one more meaningless W.

[mraynrand]

I did a screen capture that shows the toe being just off the white line, while the ball is just still touching the tip of the receiver's fingers. If the official on the field sees this in this detail, he could call it a touchback. However, with any less rigor, it's very easy to convince yourself that the ball didn't come 'completely free' (that is, the receiver still has 'control') before he stepped out. I was screaming for Stubby to throw the challenge flag right away (a very similar thing happened in a Vikings/Packers game in '96, except that in that case IIRC the ball was punched out of Robert Brook's hand and through the back of the endzone by a defender).

Anyway, I think there was a pretty good chance the officials would have stuck with the ruling on the field. But I wanted Stubby to throw the flag.

[smuggler]

Your screen capture was after he'd bobbled it and was trying to corrall it back in. I can understand why they missed it, but there was no doubt.

[Joemailman]

did mm address this? he's got to admit he blew it.

MM said he thought the guy had stepped out of bounds so he didn't challenge. If coaches threw the challenge flag every time one of their players wanted them to, there would be a lot more unsuccessful challenges. It may well be that he didn't get word from upstairs to challenge until it was too late.

[smuggler]

I forgot that all he has to do is touch it for an instant while he's got a foot out of bounds to have it be down. Maybe it was a good thing we didn't challenge, I have to see it again...

[mmmdk]

Stubby had the red flag buried too deep in his ass pocket - watch the film - he simply didn't dig deep enough and time ran out.

[swede]

Stubby had the red flag buried too deep in his ass pocket - watch the film - he simply didn't dig deep enough and time ran out.

If he'd dug deeper and pulled harder do you think stubby throws green and gold boxers or briefs onto the field?

I'm thinking boxers.

[George Cumby]

If he'd dug deeper and pulled harder do you think stubby throws green and gold boxers or briefs onto the field?

I'm thinking boxers.

He's a forward-thinking guy: Boxer-briefs.

[swede]

He's a forward-thinking guy: Boxer-briefs.

Good call.

[mmmdk]

If he'd dug deeper and pulled harder do you think stubby throws green and gold boxers or briefs onto the field?

I'm thinking boxers.

Yup, spot on!

[denverYooper]

In the presser, M3 said he wished he had thrown it in hindsight and took responsibility for not throwing. Said it looked like Pope's foot was out initially and he didn't chance it at the time b/c he thought they might need the timeouts and he felt they'd need all of them. He felt like they'd be looking at "a 2 minute situation".

[Guiness]

He's a forward-thinking guy: Boxer-briefs.

Nah, hate those things. Not loose enough where you want them to be, and tight and constricting around the legs, too. The worst of both worlds!