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The fair catch, that wasn't.


peterpan

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DEAD BALL RULE --- RULE 7, SECTION 2, ARTICLE 1 OF THE NFL RULEBOOK

 

AN OFFICIAL SHALL DECLARE THE BALL DEAD AND THE DOWN ENDED WHEN A RUNNER DECLARES HIMSELF DOWN BY:

 

FALLING TO THE GROUND, OR KNEELING, AND CLEARLY MAKING NO IMMEDIATE EFFORT TO ADVANCE  

 

 

 

If that's Andre Roberts making the mistake the refs would have given the nation something to laugh at by allowing the rulebook to dictate the play, and who would be able to argue against them?

 

Sad part is that you have Bills fans' agreeing that the Houston returner should not have been penalized for not giving himself as the rulebook requires, much like they agree with the crackback/blindside block called against Cody Ford that took the Bills out of field goal range in OT. Smh  

 

Just calling it by the books, right?  

 

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On 1/4/2020 at 8:48 PM, Chaos said:

The ref knew he screwed up. Every Bills player knew he screwed up. Rules are rules. There was no reason to over turn that. 

 

Definitely a mistake by the ref. Later in the game we were punting and the ref wouldn’t move out of the way of somebody trying to pin the ball down at the one. Ref didn’t move and it ended up being a touchback. 

 

Just because the ref screwed up doesn’t mean we got to undo to touchback. 

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48 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

Definitely a mistake by the ref. Later in the game we were punting and the ref wouldn’t move out of the way of somebody trying to pin the ball down at the one. Ref didn’t move and it ended up being a touchback. 

 

Just because the ref screwed up doesn’t mean we got to undo to touchback. 


The ability of fans to delude themselves is unreal.  Now you’re adding this pretend slight to the list?  Wow. 

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7 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

If someone can find even one example of this happening before would be much appreciated

 

Apparently it happens all the time

Bunch of trolls on the board apparently making ***** up to make themselves feel better. It literally never happens. 

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That's absurd.  

 

But so is the call that removed 6 points from the scoreboard the other day.  The refs decided they knew that that kid didn't make a mistake.  He didn't mean to break the rules and cost his team another 6 points.  

 

The guy screwed up.  In life, when you screw up, you pay for it.  Maybe he should have gone to confession on Monday, or apologized to his teammates for being an airhead.  But the rule clearly states that the ball was live and we fell on it and scored.  After the extra point it would be 23-0.

 

When Houston got off a play after the clock expired, the referee realized that Watson MEANT TO call for the snap in time, so he was allowed the extra second to get it done.  

 

It's probability and outcome.  It's "Heaven Can Wait".  

 

When Cody Ford legally blocked that guy, the ref knew that, in Ford's heart he was thinking about committing an infraction, so he decided to penalize him for that.  

 

I'm shocked that they allowed Brady's pick six to count the other night.  It's clear that he did not intend to throw the ball to the Tennessee player, and should have instead been given a 99 yard touchdown pass....because that's what Brady had in his heart when he dropped back and threw it to the wrong team.  

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I used to be a huge football fan, watched all the time for years, but I quit following sports for a while due to some changes in my life.  The last football game I watched before this one was the Pats/Giants Superbowl in 2012.

 

I noticed a Bills/Texans playoff game was on when I had some down time on Saturday, so I figured I'd see what NFL football looks like these days.  Turns out it looks so rigged, I had to search and see if anyone was talking about this game.  I am surprised it isn't a bigger deal; I couldn't believe how fixed this game looked.

 

They spent like 45 minutes waxing poetic about J.J. Watt's pecs and then spent the rest of the game making sure every call in every clutch situation went the Texans' way.  Amongst other things, I saw delays of game not get called, that crap illegal block call at the end, and of course the most blatant screw up I had ever seen in my 25+ years playing and watching football - the non-call of that safety on the kick return.  I was surprised it was called a TD and expected it to be reviewed and changed to a safety (I actually feel like I have seen almost this exact situation in a game back in the 90s), but to pretend like it was somehow a touchback is 100% ridiculous.

 

Quote

They opted to go in favor of the spirit of the rule, rather than the letter, and that's the way it should be. Otherwise, the game becomes unwatchable.

 

Someone said this earlier in the thread and I couldn't disagree more.  There is no such thing as the 'spirit' of a rule, there are just rules.  Some of them have gray areas, but the intent is always to minimize these unclear situations so everyone knows what game they are playing.  Once you start making stuff up as you go along, why should I even watch?  It is not interesting to me to find out who showed up and won a game that neither team knew they were going to be playing - if that was an NFL football game, then that was a safety.  Houston does not get a free pass because one of their players could not be arsed to even read and remember the rules of the game that he is paid truckloads of money to try and maximize his performance in.  That's on them for hiring an idiot to return kicks.

 

Either the NFL is switching to Calvinball rules, or the fix is in, and neither of those things is acceptable in fair competition.  This game was a joke and I will almost certainly never bother trying to watch an NFL game again.

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On 1/4/2020 at 5:19 PM, peterpan said:

I've never seen that signal before.  Since when does double fists, arms spread, signal a fair catch/give up???  I'm wondering when that became a legal signal and/or why the call was overturned?!?!?

Bottom line is we didn't score enough points and we got beat by a team we were better than . Sour grapes at this point is pissin in the breeze .

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6 minutes ago, BeefCurtns said:

Bottom line is we didn't score enough points and we got beat by a team we were better than . Sour grapes at this point is pissin in the breeze .

 

Its not sour grapes.  It’s what the NFL has become.  You can’t selectively over-rule your own rule book when the Patriots have built a 20 year dynasty exploiting every rule.  Yes, the Bills still should’ve won the game but that’s a completely separate issue.  

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On 1/4/2020 at 8:24 PM, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

Because he clearly gave himself up and that would have been the most horrendous call in the history of the sport, just my opinion though.

The rules say he has to kneel for a touch back. Based on the written rules, that's a TD for the Bills.

13 minutes ago, BeefCurtns said:

Bottom line is we didn't score enough points and we got beat by a team we were better than . Sour grapes at this point is pissin in the breeze .

every call and play affects the game......yes we did lose but bad calls against us contributed....the call on Ford was brutal. We could have kicked the winning FG then. If players and coaches get faulted for mistakes and losing....so should the refs

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4 minutes ago, nucci said:

The rules say he has to kneel for a touch back. Based on the written rules, that's a TD for the Bills.

every call and play affects the game......yes we did lose but bad calls against us contributed....the call on Ford was brutal. We could have kicked the winning FG then. If players and coaches get faulted for mistakes and losing....so should the refs

Maybe so but if we would of scored TDS instead of fgs we'd be getting ready for another playoff game

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46 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

That's absurd.  

 

But so is the call that removed 6 points from the scoreboard the other day.  The refs decided they knew that that kid didn't make a mistake.  He didn't mean to break the rules and cost his team another 6 points.  

 

The guy screwed up.  In life, when you screw up, you pay for it.  Maybe he should have gone to confession on Monday, or apologized to his teammates for being an airhead.  But the rule clearly states that the ball was live and we fell on it and scored.  After the extra point it would be 23-0.

 

When Houston got off a play after the clock expired, the referee realized that Watson MEANT TO call for the snap in time, so he was allowed the extra second to get it done.  

 

It's probability and outcome.  It's "Heaven Can Wait".  

 

When Cody Ford legally blocked that guy, the ref knew that, in Ford's heart he was thinking about committing an infraction, so he decided to penalize him for that.  

 

I'm shocked that they allowed Brady's pick six to count the other night.  It's clear that he did not intend to throw the ball to the Tennessee player, and should have instead been given a 99 yard touchdown pass....because that's what Brady had in his heart when he dropped back and threw it to the wrong team.  

This x 1000

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13 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

There it is.  Thanks.

 

It HAS happened before, and it HAS been officiated correctly.  

 

The continuing incompetence of NFL officials is pretty amazing.

 

BUT the officials who made the point of "intent" were NOT on the field. They were standby Refs who interfered with the Refs ON the field 

 

Edited by SlimShady'sGhost
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When the play happened, my attitude was that the guy clearly was giving himself up and that it would have been crazy to give us points there.  But having read the rule now, and having listened to a lot of veteran NFL guys commenting on the play (in particular Tim Hasselbeck), I have to say we got hosed there.  The rule is the rule, and you can't just circumvent the rule because you think it makes sense to do so.  That is the path to football anarchy.  Also, I have never before seen the replacement refs come onto the field to reverse a call like that.  The ref on the field should have been the only guy to overturn, and that should only have been in consultation with the league guys in NYC.

 

Do I think it cost us the win?  Who knows - might have completely changed the psyche of the game in either direction.  But with time for reflection it was nonsense.

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On 1/4/2020 at 8:17 PM, Bermuda Triangle said:

These refs in the black jackets - are they instructed or authorized to run onto the field and put in their .02 whenever they see fit?  I can't say that I've ever seen that happen before.  And the ref in the EZ danced away from the ball after the returner tossed it in his direction. 

I was screaming about that at the game.  I have never seen that before.

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