Tag: football

Wait…What Just Happened…Take Two

Today we’re going to do a take two and go back to a call we broke down last week, the intentional grounding call against the 49ers that resulted in a safety for the Rams.

Here’s a refresher:

Intentional grounding happens when the quarterback is being pressured and chooses to get rid of the football (“throw it away”) rather than hold the football while being sacked. He would choose to do that because if he holds onto the football when he is sacked the ball will be spotted wherever the sack occurred, which is usually well behind the line of scrimmage and results in a lot of lost yardage for the offense.

However, if the quarterback throws the ball away “without a realistic chance of completion” (a judgement call by the refs), he gets called for intentional grounding, which is a loss of down plus a ten yard penalty.

Now, here’s an important part of that rule I completely left out (sorry, guys!):

Along with being thrown away without a realistic chance of completion, the ball also has to fall short of the line of scrimmage for intentional grounding to be called.

Lots of people, including former head of officiating Mike Pereira, have questioned the call made during the Niners/Rams game, because it looks like the ball falls beyond the line of scrimmage when it lands out of bounds. Here’s Pereira’s take:

“The intentional grounding rule states that when the quarterback is out of the pocket, it is not intentional grounding if he throws a forward pass that lands at or beyond the line of scrimmage, including when the ball lands out of bounds over the sideline.

This ball was snapped from the 17-yard line and Kaepenick’s pass landed out of bounds somewhere near the 20. This should not have been a safety.”

The game day officiating crew, led by Carl Cheffers, defended the call:

“It was an intentional grounding…The quarterback rolled out of the pocket and he needs one of two things: He either needs a receiver in the area or he needs to throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage. The official on that side of the field came to me and reported that neither of those things took place. So we have intentional grounding. And because he threw the ball from the end zone, by rule, that penalty is enforced and the result of the enforcement is a safety, by rule.”

So, who’s right? You be the judge! Take a look at the play (which is shown at the 1:25 minute mark):

Likely, Mike Pereira made the right call. It (briefly) looks like the ball crosses the line of scrimmage out of bounds in this replay.

But, and here’s a glitch in the NFL’s rule system, the play could not be reviewed or challenged because penalties are not allowed to be reviewed by the replay official or challenged by a head coach. Remember what happened to Jim Schwartz on Thanksgiving? That would have been Jim Harbaugh’s fate had he thrown the challenge flag here.

So, even though all scoring plays are automatically reviewed, the safety play cannot be reviewed because it’s a score that is the result of a penalty. It’s a bad loophole in the instant reply system, and it’d be worth looking at and changing in the off-season.

How about games from this past weekend? Any questionable plays or calls come to mind?

What To Know : Week 14

Here we go, ladies! Week 14 has arrived:

GAME OF THE WEEK: Houston at New England on Monday night, an AFC battle. This could potentially be a preview of the AFC Championship game. Vegas is taking the Pats, and so are most other predictors, but I think it’ll be a close one.

PLAYER TO WATCH: RYAN GRANT!!! In reality, this is irrelevant to most of you, and, honestly, it could be irrelevant to the Packers, too. But former running back Ryan Grant, cut from the team prior to this season, is coming back to the Pack!!! The Packers signed him on Wednesday after losing yet another running back (James Starks) to injury and let me tell you…I can’t wait to see Grant get on the field ASAP. He’s slated to play on Sunday against the Lions and will surely be anxious to have a great comeback game at home.

We’re so glad you’re back, Ryan!!!

In other news: Big Ben is also scheduled to start for the Steelers after missing three weeks with the dangerous rib injury. He gets to come back against the ailing Chargers, which, honestly, is a gift-wrapped win for the taking. (Sorry, San Diego.)

STORYLINE TO KNOW: Speaking of San Diego, the yearly Norv-Turner-is-out rumors are circulating on cue again. And, once again, the owner is denying them. You can’t help but feel bad for Turner, who has been put through this circus so many times it’s not even considered breaking news anymore. It’s just normal. But I’d be surprised if the firing doesn’t pan out this time; all signs point to a Turner-less San Diego next season.

RECIPES TO MAKE:

bacon cornbread

cinnamon cream cheese coffee cake

cranberry salsa

peanut butter fudge

snickers brownie bites

Game Play Thursday : You Decide!

Just so we’re clear: I’m copping out of this week’s Game Play Thursday post because I didn’t make time to write it. That’s what’s happening here.

But in other news, the entire house is decked out for Christmas and I’m pulling ahead in this year’s race to watch as many cheesy Christmas movies as possible between now and December 25th.

SO, instead of actually writing a Game Play Thursday post, I’m letting you write it: What do you want to see explained on these days? What should we cover over the next few weeks of Game Play Thursday? Defensive schemes? Penalties? Passing routes? What would be most helpful for you?

Let your thoughts loose in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!

What To Know : After Week 13

Let me tell you about one of the crueler decisions ever made by television executives.

On Sunday, while most of the country was watching Adrian Peterson have one of the best game of his life and the Packers, my Packers!, shut the Vikes out in the second half to get the win, Eastern New York was subjected to the Jets/Cardinals game, easily the most mind-boggling display of offensive football I’ve ever witnessed. And it wasn’t just me. Both announcers did all they could to keep from laughing out loud. And then…Thom Brennaman couldn’t hold it in any longer. And he quotes: “I got to tell you, this has been as ugly and inept an offensive football game as I’ve ever seen.”

Amen, Thom. Amen.

I mean…it took SIX DRIVES for either team to complete a pass in the second half. It really should have been called a mutual loss at half time and switched to the Packers game. And honestly, I take no pleasure in saying all of this; I know that these are hard working men who don’t deserve to be collectively flogged by fans and general spectators worldwide for a bad game. I know I wouldn’t want my faults aired on live television for all the world to see. But this was a really, really bad game. A really bad game. Arizona finished 0-15 on third downs. I’m not even sure how that’s possible.

So let’s just move on. In other news:

  • Sanchez did get benched in the third quarter for 3rd stringer Greg McElroy (Tim Tebow was deactivated with fractured ribs), who aided in scoring the only points of the game for the Jets.
  • Greg’s mom was headed upstairs to take a nap right before he was put in for Sanchez. That’s how bad this game was. 
  • And now we’re officially done talking about it.
  • The Seahawks giveth, and the Seahawks taketh away. They beat the Bears in OT to give the Packers the lead in the NFC North playoff race, which was really the least they could do after the replacement ref debacle loss back in September that skewed the Packers divisional standing.
  • Andrew Luck. Oh my land, Andrew Luck. He drove the Colts down the field, behind a terrible offensive line, in the final minute to score against the Lions and win the game on 4th and 10 in the final seconds. He was incredible, the definition of “clutch.”
  • So much for the sure bet of Ravens over a Roethlisberger-less Steelers. Charlie Batch led the Steelers to a well-earned 23-20 win.
  • As we talked about yesterday, the Niners and Rams almost tied in OT AGAIN! But luckily Greg the Leg hit a game winning FG with 30 second left on the overtime clock.
  • Giants at Redskins was a Monday night thriller, with RG3 leading the Skins to a 17-16 victory. The Giants had a hand in beating themselves, however, with a copious number of penalties and bad decisions.

And there she is: Week 13. Any other thoughts to add? Please do!

Important Words Well Said

You’ve likely heard about the tragedy in Kansas City over the weekend, but you might have missed these important words well said afterward.

Linebacker Jovan Belcher took the life of his girlfriend and then his own life in a horrific murder-suicide. I think it’s usually best in unthinkable situations such as these to stay away from generic responses, especially as an outsider looking in. All I can say is that I feel sincerely sorry for everyone involved and I’ll be praying for them in the days and months that follow.

But yesterday an insider shared more than just a pat answer in response to what happened. Brady Quinn, oft-chastised backup-turned-starting quarterback for the Chiefs, shared this in his post-game press conference:

“When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth? We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us. Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis.”

I’m grateful for Quinn’s maturity and perspective, and for his strength to speak up, and speak up so eloquently, when it would have been easier to stay silent. Let’s take his advice and try to connect with each other today in meaningful, tangible ways, looking for opportunities to build each other up. It’s far more important than anything else we have to do.

Wait…What Just Happened : Intentional Grounding

That the first Niners-Rams meeting ended in a tie was a surprise – the first tie in the NFL since 2008. But that the second meeting almost ended in a tie too…well, that’s just nearly unbelievable.

But that’s what happened!

And that’s why we love the NFL. Best reality TV on TV.

Thankfully, Greg the Leg won the game for the Rams with thirty seconds left in overtime and prevented general mayhem from erupting in the NFC West.

The Niners helped the Rams score two points on their way to the eventual overtime victory. Let’s define a few things and then get into what happened.

The Rams earned their first two points of the game off of a safety scored due to a penalty for intentional grounding in the end zone. That’s a lot of verbiage. So one step at a time:

A safety is when an offensive player who has possession of the football is tackled in his own end zone. When this happens, the defense is awarded two points.

Intentional grounding happens when the quarterback is being pressured and chooses to get rid of the football (“throw it away”) rather than hold the football while being sacked. He would choose to do that because if he holds onto the football when he is sacked the ball will be spotted wherever the sack occurred, which is usually well behind the line of scrimmage and results in a lot of lost yardage for the offense. (For example, if the offense was originally lined up on the 30 yard line on 1st and 10 and the QB was sacked with the ball at the 20 yard line, the next down and distance would be 2nd and 20. It’s second down and the offense lost 10 yards on the previous play, so they now have 20 total yards to go to get a first down.) But if he throws it away in the vicinity of a receiver and it’s a catchable ball, it’s an incomplete pass and the ball goes back to the original line of scrimmage. (For example, if the offense was originally at the 30 yard line and the QB throws it away while under pressure, the next down and distance would be 2nd and 10 because it’s second down and the ball will be spotted at the original line of scrimmage, so the offense still has 10 yards to go to get a first down.)

However, if the quarterback throws the ball away “without a realistic chance of completion“ (a judgement call by the refs), he gets called for intentional grounding, which is a loss of down plus a ten yard penalty. (So, using our 1st and 10, 30 yard line example from above, the next play would be 2nd and 20: loss of down (from first down to second down) and a ten yard penalty (from 1st and 10 to 2nd and 20). If intentional grounding occurs in the end zone, it’s an automatic safety for the defense, a 2 point score. 

That’s what happened to San Francisco yesterday.

Niners QB Colin Kaepernick was pressured in the end zone. He was being chased by multiple Rams defensive players and decided to throw the ball away instead of getting sacked in the end zone for a safety. However, in throwing it away to no one, he was called for intentional grounding, which also results in a safety.

And thus the Rams were awarded their first two points in the 13-13 tie that led to an overtime win. Tough break for a rookie QB.

Make sense?