I have a question about a call during the Seahawks-Cowboys game over the weekend. It was one of the plays late in the fourth quarter where the Seahawks were trying to score after the pass interference call that put the ball right near the Cowboys goal line. On 4th down the Seahawks go into a pass play starting from the 9 yard line. Hasselbeck is flushed from the pocket and is rolling to his right. Tightend Will Heller is in the end zone right near the right-front cone, and a Cowboys DB knocks him out of bounds right about the time Hasselbeck throws to him. So, obviously Heller didn’t catch the ball and the Seahawks lose possession.
Now, the question is “Why wasn’t that pass interference?” The announcers said that it was not interference since Hasselbeck had left the pocket and the DB was now defending against Hasselbeck running and he had a right to get in the way of Heller as a potential blocker for Hasselbeck. I understand the concept of that, but that leaves a whole lot of questions… So, anytime the QB leaves the pocket does that mean any receivers are able to contacted by DB’s? You rarely ever see that happen… because wouldn’t that just lead to all the receivers being taken down on any bootleg or anytime a QB is flushed out?
And if it is the case of Hasselbeck leaving the pocket… how is the “pocket” defined? The space between the two tackles? …within X number of yards of where the ball is snapped?
While the quarterback is in the pocket, it’s illegal contact. Once he’s flushed & running, it’s not. Once the ball leaves his hands, it’s pass interference, whether or not he was in the pocket. So defenders are still going to be careful to some extent until the QB crosses the line of scrimmage, because if they’re not paying attention at the instant he pulls the trigger, they’re screwed … I didn’t see that particular play, but if the DB actually pushed Heller after Hasselbeck made throw, as opposed to ‘about the time’ he made the throw, then the refs missed the call, I think.
No, I don’t think the refs missed the call. There was no challenge and the announcers (Madden and Michaels) didn’t say much about it. Hasselbeck, of course, complained a bit to the ref, but that is to be expected. So, it seemed everybody was OK with the call. I just wasn’t sure about the rules behind the call, and your explaination makes sense.
As a follow up… does this kind of thing happen alot off of the ball that we as television viewers don’t normally see? To use the play above as a further hypothetical example… Say, after he left the pocket it takes a few seconds of Hasselbeck scrambling, doing some pump-fakes, etc…, a good squad of DB’s could potentially have all the elegible recievers knocked on their asses (or at least blocked out of the play and knocked off balance), thereby eliminating all the QB’s targets. Is this something a defense tries to do, or is it too risky with pass interference? Was the play in the Seahawks/Cowboys game just somewhat of an anomaly and that is why it struck me as odd?
Until the illegal contact rules were put into place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was not uncommon for DBs to level receivers as they came down field.
It would be pretty hard for a defense to knock over all the eligible receivers on a play (in theory, five of them) if the quarterback is rolling out. The DBs won’t be in the right place to do it and the receivers are pretty good at running away too. The DBs also have to worry about getting called for defensive holding too.
Judgement calls like pass interference can’t be challenged, and for that matter, no challenge can result in a penalty that wasn’t called on the field, I think.
The attacking team (Seattle, I think - I’m from the UK!) quarterback throws a pass near his own line.
The receiver catches it safely, but fumbles the ball in the tackle.
Ball rolls into the endzone and heads out of play.
Defending team player grabs ball before it hits the ground out of play and lobs it back into the endzone.
Defending team colleague holds ball with both feet in play.
After viewing the TV footage, the refs called a safety.
Did I remember it right? (It was the early hours of this morning for me)
Why a safety? (I thought that was when an attacking player was successfully tackled in his own endzone).
It was a safety because the defending teams players who you remembered “lobbed it back into the endzone” had his foot on the sideline, essentially making it as if the ball were fumbled out of bounds in the endzone.
If he had kept his feet inbounds, it would have been a touchdown.
I’m nowhere near an expert on American Football, but how can it be a touchdown if caught by the defending team? Shouldn’t that have been “a touchback?”
No - a touchback would mean the offense that fumbled the ball would have it back, at their 20.
It’s a touchdown because any time the defense gains possession of the football in the offense’s end zone, they score. If they make a fumble recovery at the 1 yard line, and run it in, it’s a touchdown. If they make a fumble recovery in the end zone itself, it’s a touchdown.
Very close. It was Dallas that fumbled (Terry Glenn). They originally thought it happened the way you said, but the review showed that the Seattle player who grabbed the ball before it hit the ground out of play had his foot out of bounds while he had contact with the ball. On a fumble recovery if any part of a player is out of bounds (in contact with the ground) then his whole body is essentially considered out of bounds. Even if the ball is still in the field of play, if an out of bounds player touches it, it’s out.
Up to that point Seattle hadn’t established control, so it was called Dallas fumble out of bounds. In addition to a player being tackled in their own endzone, fumbling out of bounds in their own endzone results in a safety. Also, certain penalties if they are actually committed in one’s own endzone; holding I know for sure, if the player doing the holding is in the endzone when he does it, intentional grounding I believe, probably others.
Or on preview, what Trunk said (I ain’t wasting all this typing dang it!)
Expanding on SenorBeef’s answer, it’s a touchback if the defending team gains control in their own endzone, not their opponent’s. Same for kick return teams.
Yes. I didn’t see the game (obviously) and somehow misread the previous posts to get the impression that this was all happening in the defensive team’s end-zone, not (as was the case) in the offensive team’s zone! D’oh :smack:
if the attacking team are pinned down near their own line and the ball goes out of play in the endzone (e.g. either by a fumble or a player knocking the ball loose in a tackle), it’s a safety?
Or, if a QB is sacked in his own endzone, or if the punter steps out of bounds, or if the long snapper snaps the ball out of bounds. A couple years ago, New England was trailing Denver by 4 late in the game. It’s 4th down near their own endzone. They took an intentional safety to go down by 6. Punted from the 20, got the ball back with better field position than they otherwise would have, and won the game.
It also gets a little funny here. . .let’s say TEAM A is backed up on their own 1.
QB throws an interception. As the interceptor runs the ball to the endzone, he fumbles the ball and it rolls out of the endzone.
Are you sure? I thought he had possession prior to the fumble, but I haven’t seen the play since Saturday so I could be mistaken. IIRC, the ball touched the ground during his catch, but he had control of the ball so it’s still a catch.