# NFL Week 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 15, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738 "2015-10-15T17:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/41 "2015-10-19T20:21:28Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In the NFL, defenses almost never jump offside on fourth down, but that doesn’t stop coaches from trying it like they were in Pop Warner. QB’s keep trying hard counts to make them jump on fourth down, but when did you ever see it work? (I’ve heard Boomer Esiason comment about how he always felt like a dork doing it, knowing it wasn’t going to work). Weird formations don’t draw defenses either. But they just keep trying. > > I’ve been trying to think of a dumber play in NFL history, but nope - that was it. Didn’t, I think Green Bay jump offside yesterday in a short-yardage? I think 3rd down not fourth, but it clearly happens on occasion. Though I agree after three or four seconds of the QB’s hut HUT HUT!, it’s a pretty dim (even for a football player) defensive lineman who doesn’t understand what’s going on. And in this case, the likelihood --even if everything was executed as called – the likelihood of an offside or 12 men on defense was really low compared to the likelihood of just giving up an extra five yards. If a team’s competent enough to immediately take the actual play options (3a, 3b) if they’re there, before the defense gets organized, then this play starts getting worthwhile. But just as ‘draw them offsides’ it seems near-idiotic. Which is too bad, because it was good strategic and situational thinking to call a fake there: Down by one score in the fourth quarter to the heavily favored league champs , it’s time to take risks. And a fairly important game that’s still winnable is a good time to use up a trick play (why do coaches use up trick plays when they’re up or down by three scores? Do they think they’ll never need it in a close game?). And when the other offense (and yours) is pretty good but defense less so, you’re losing a lot less by giving up 40 yards of field position – how quickly could Brady get that back anyway? Way way too many NFL coaches are too conservative in that situation. But calling a play that you’ve practiced so little you don’t trust the team to actually run? Let alone you’ve practiced so little they can’t even get in a correct formation for? That’s bad enough to wipe out the good strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/42 "2015-10-19T23:14:44Z")
I just saw the video on the Golden Tate “catch.” Yeah, not a catch. Bad reversal after review. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/43 "2015-10-21T01:04:37Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In the NFL, defenses almost never jump offside on fourth down, but that doesn’t stop coaches from trying it like they were in Pop Warner. QB’s keep trying hard counts to make them jump on fourth down, but when did you ever see it work? (I’ve heard Boomer Esiason comment about how he always felt like a dork doing it, knowing it wasn’t going to work). Weird formations don’t draw defenses either. But they just keep trying. > > I’ve been trying to think of a dumber play in NFL history, but nope - that was it. It just happened this week - Brees got the Falcons to jump on fourth-and-goal on the 4 yard line, cutting the distance in half. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/44 "2015-10-21T01:36:00Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I just saw the video on the Golden Tate “catch.” Yeah, not a catch. Bad reversal after review. Kind of a tight call, but he did have the ball and he appeared to be in control of it long enough to take a short step. Once you have control of the ball over their painted grass, it is a TD and fumbles are irrelevant. In slow motion, it looks like a TD, at full speed, it looks like an int. The booth official needs to be required to look at the play at full speed, not make a judgement based on slow-mo. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/45 "2015-10-21T01:55:36Z")
In the WTF category, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch drag racing and Jackson crashed his car. > **[TMZ reports drag race between Seahawks teammates - ProFootballTalk](https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/10/20/fred-jackson-wrecks-car-in-reported-drag-race-with-marshawn-lynch/)** > > TMZ was first to report that a drag race outside the Seahawks’ training facility between running backs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch ended with Jackson wrecking his Corvette, first into a planter box and then into a stop sign. PFT later confirmed,... ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/46 "2015-10-21T11:45:02Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Once you have control of the ball over their painted grass, it is a TD and fumbles are irrelevant. Not true, at least according to the current rules. > [@](#): > > A player is considered to be going to the ground if he does not remain upright long enough to demonstrate that is he clearly a runner. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete. But in this case, the ball never touched the ground, right? So I don’t know if this particular rule applies. Last year in the playoffs Dez Bryant made some steps after the catch but it was still ruled part of “going to the ground.” Not sure if it would apply in this case as he was hit before getting to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/47 "2015-10-21T14:27:09Z")
Exactly, there this BS about “completing the catch” now and if Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant’s catches weren’t “catches,” there’s no way Tate’s was. The NFL’s VP of Officiating, Dean Blandino, seemed to agree with the overturn. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/48 "2015-10-21T14:38:57Z")
While we were watching the Lions game and the refs were reviewing Tate’s TD, Fox showed a package of similar catches that had been ruled incomplete: the original Calvin Johnson catch, the Dez Bryant catch, and the Devonta Freeman catch from this season. I tuned to my wife after they showed them and said, “Those all should be catches right? I mean, why the bleep has this gotten so complicated?” So, seriously, the NFL needs to amend its rules to make this stuff simpler. All four of those should be TDs. If a running back just has to break the plane of the goal line when leaping over the pile on a goal line dive, and it doesn’t matter that the ball gets popped out of his hands by the linebacker once the ball has broken the plane, then it makes no goddamn sense that the three of those that were for TDs shouldn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/49 "2015-10-21T18:32:16Z")
If it had happened in the normal part of the field, no sane person would call that a catch and fumble instead of an interception. The ref simply got it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/50 "2015-10-21T19:10:46Z")
> [@DadWagonDriver](#): > > So, seriously, the NFL needs to amend its rules to make this stuff simpler. All four of those should be TDs. If a running back just has to break the plane of the goal line when leaping over the pile on a goal line dive, and it doesn’t matter that the ball gets popped out of his hands by the linebacker once the ball has broken the plane, then it makes no goddamn sense that the three of those that were for TDs shouldn’t count. It simple. If you catch the ball near the line, but aren’t sure if you are going to be able to hold it after contact with the ground, then as soon as you hit the goal line, throw the ball to a defender to make sure the TD counts. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738/51 "2015-10-21T20:37:30Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > It simple. If you catch the ball near the line, but aren’t sure if you are going to be able to hold it after contact with the ground, then as soon as you hit the goal line, throw the ball to a defender to make sure the TD counts. But that defender should definitely not shove that ball out of the back of the end zone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-6/734738.md?page=2)