[John Fox react to Officials overturn 2nd half kickoff from Bills TD to touchback]

12 minutes ago, familykwi said:

As an official (local high school, not NFL), I've been bothered about what was actually ruled on the end zone play.  I've been going through the 2019 NFL rulebook to sort out what should have been ruled.

 

If a fair catch signal was given, the kick would have ended in a touchback, but no signal shows on film and the referee action makes it clear none was given.

 

Now the rule book:

Rule 6, Section 1, Article 5a:
It is a touchback, if a free kick:  touches the ground in the end zone before being touched by the receiving team.

* This did not occur as the ball was caught in flight.

 

It is a touchback, if a free kick:  is downed in the end zone by the receiving team.
* This required further research to determine what constitutes downing the ball.  Unfortunately, the word "downed" is not defined in the rule book.  I then went to a player giving himself up.

 

Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1d:

An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended:  when a runner declares himself down by:

1. falling to the ground, or kneeling, and clearly making no immediate effort to advance.
2. sliding. When a runner slides, the ball is dead the instant he touches the ground with anything other than his hands or his feet. 

Neither of these things happen either.  The burden of knowing this rule is on the player and this is where the problem occurs.  At this point, the referee is correct in letting the play continue.

 

Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1

An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended:  when a forward pass (legal or illegal) is incomplete.

THIS is what the kick returner did and this is what should have been ruled as the action of the play.  As such, no touchdown should have been awarded.

 

What should have been the outcome of the incomplete pass you ask?

Since the forward pass was not thrown to an eligible receiver

Rule 11, Section 5, Article 1(exception 2b)

If a player of the team which intercepts, catches, or recovers the ball commits a live-ball foul in the end zone, it is a safety.

 

A SAFETY WOULD HAVE BEEN THE CORRECT RULING.  My observation is that no one on the crew considered the toss forward a forward pass.  That wasn't the player's intention obviously, but there are a lot of actions the players don't intend to do, but rulings must be made.  The referee was initially ruling this correctly by not awarding the fair catch, but confused the issue by ruling a touchdown.  

 

For those wondering who the black shirts were, it was noted during the broadcast that they were the backup officials.  If an official goes down and needs to leave the field, they come in.  I cannot say for sure they've never been consulted to assist with an on field ruling before, but I've never seen it as an official, or as a fan.  Ruling that the player gave himself up may have been "common sense," but is not supported by the rule book.

 

FTR, I submit this for clarity, not as a belief that the Bills were conspired against.  it was a weird play and I hadn't considered the forward pass element myself until seeing someone mention it on twitter after the game.  I beg responders to consider this informational, nothing more.

This is really good stuff.  I appreciate it.  I guess we move onto passively watching football.  So much less exciting.

[John Fox react to Officials overturn 2nd half kickoff from Bills TD to touchback]

This has nothing to do with intent, what we think happened, etc.  IMO, it should be viewed as interpretation of the law, ie, what does the rule book say and what happened.  If we agree to look at it through that lens, there is simply no defense for it not being 6 for the Bills.  I agree fully that it would've felt "bush league" to get that TD but the book is the book and the NFL needs to follow it to preserve the integrity of the game. 

 

Does anyone know or understand the ref wearing all black who ran onto the field was clearly responsible for changing the call?  Watched a lot of football in my life but that was a first.  Perhaps it's a playoff only type thing but it didn't pass the sniff test then or now.

[Everybody should be ticked off]

9-3 while mostly feasting on an easy schedule to a 10-7 to finish.  When the going got tough, McDermott simply could not create a winning mentality. He is Jauron 2.0.  I refuse to call this a good season.  Josh is still young and I am not worried about him.  I am worried about the game manager type mentality that is stemming from our head coach.

[Bengals accuse Pats employee of videotaping their play calls]

No respect for the "it's not illegal" argument.  It's the equivalent of a golf opponent coughing in someones backswing consistently and claiming it's ok because it isn't stated as illegal by the USGA to cough on a golf course...It is just poor sportsmanship and quite honestly comes down to moral integrity.

[Tell us your favorite Ref moment today...]

Anybody notice the timing of the flag on the phantom "hands to the face" that overturned the INT?  Curious if that flew in late when the impact could be understood or at the perceived moment of the penalty.

 

[FIRE Daboll ASAP]

Offense is a total dumpster fire.  I feel for Josh Allen.  I have this kids back 100% but Daboll is awful.  Not sure who is guiding the offense but we have no identity which has been the case since Bledsoe.  Curious if anyone knows about the worst passing stats within the past 15ish years.  I have to think our offense this year is about the worst.

[Would Allen have been there at 12?]

We kept all firsts and got our guy.  He will embody Buffalo and we are going to love him and he has a cannon to boot.  Stop complaining everyone.  The Edmunds pick was over the top.  We needed an athlete linebacker and got him.  We won the draft...Cleveland however, yikes.

[Peterman Works w/ Tom House, Adds Velocity]

Agree, Peterman was a "fish out of water" in SD but his quick release was something I wanted out of Taylor since day 1 and never saw.  It is a necessary trait of a starting QB and Peterman has the stones to let it fly.  Not saying he is the next Tom Brady but I am also ok with disregarding his rookie season mistakes and giving him another chance.