The reason that the rule is there is because players are coached to play to the whistle – as long as the whistle hasn’t blown, they are trained to consider it to still be a live play. But, when an official blows a whistle, most players will let up – at least a bit – because they both want to avoid injury, but they also want to avoid a penalty for a late hit.
Yes, the rule is a “technicality.” Yes, if it had been enforced correctly, it would have wiped out a touchdown (on a pretty amazing pass by Burrow, at that). But it’s an important rule, and enforcing it is not “stupid.”
(FWIW, I hate arguing with you – I’ve always respected and enjoyed your posts here. I just disagree with you on this one.)
I dislike disagreeing with you, kenobi too. I respect your opinion a ton, and you are, technically, absolutely correct. But, again, the inadvertant whistle had no effect on the play, and the better and more just outcome was reached. Enforcing the rule in this case, would have done a great wrong in favor of … blind adherence to rules. I’m glad the refs did the right thing.
Still hasn’t sunk in. 30 years I’ve lived in the greater Cincinnati area and became a huge fan of this downtrodden, POS franchise and now that wait is over. Wow. I still cannot believe it.
And yes, Hamlet, I think that Burrow fella might turn out to be an okay NFL QB!
I’ve watched the replay a couple of times. My hearing sucks, but it seems to me that the whistle sounded while the pass was in the air. If the ball is supposed to be dead immediately, I’m not sure how one could rule a dead ball on a pass that’s still traveling toward the receiver.
Easy: If the QB had stepped out of bounds before releasing the pass, “ball is dead while still in the air” would have been correct. Ball is in motion, but the play is over.
My suspicion is that that’s exactly why the whistle was blown – an official saw Burrow running towards the sideline, and thought (or assumed) that he had set foot out of bounds before throwing the ball.
But they didn’t: the rules are clear that when the whistle blows the play is dead.
I tend to agree with you that the result produced by their error was in many ways better than the correct action (replay the down) would have been. But it’s clear that they did not act in accordance with the rules.
A point I am not disputing. But it’s absolutely clear that the application of the rule would lead to an unfair outcome and it is much better for games to be decided by the play on the field rather than blind adherence to the rules.
He’s CBS’s #2 NFL play-by-play announcer; Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are the #1 team, and usually get the national games. But, with 6 playoff games this weekend, the networks are using some less-heard guys, too.
I kinda think refs should go for blind - or at least strict - adherence to the rules. It can lead to rare unfairness (e.g. this case) but nothing in comparison to what would result from “don’t be afraid to fudge things a bit when fairness seems to call for it”.
No, at that point, the play is dead, and the whistle would be correct. The whistle could happen after the ball is released, but the play is clearly dead. I was talking about an inadvertent whistle that happened when the ball was in flight.
