First of all, go Ravens. They got off to a rough start, but McNair is out and Boller did a great job steering the team to victory. They managed to do the same thing against the Jets that the Bengals did to them: snatch away a too-close-for-comfort comeback. (Airman Doors, your Steelers are looking good; hopefully the Ravens will get their act together and make a good contest out of things. If they played today you guys would cream us.)
Now, I have to admit something that’s a little embarrassing. I’m almost 30, and I still can’t tell the difference between the various field positions (e.g. I know that a tight end is on the offense and is an eligible receiver, but I have no idea what makes him different from a running back or a corner). My knowledge of the rules beyond the basic penalties is… well, sketchy. So when my team’s coach came out with this complaint today, I had to scratch my head:
Is he really whining about the Jets’ defense yelling? We’re talking about a sport where it’s considered de rigeur for the home team to have an advantage because of crowd noise, and 300-pound men try to maim each other every ten to twelve seconds. Is there really a rule against a defensive player yelling a snap count back at the offense? How about yelling other things? How can the refs enforce the rule (or can’t they)?
I don’t want to think of Billick as a whiner, but this seems like something that any team could do covertly on big plays, and a coach should train his QB to expect it and have an adjustment ready.
What he’s saying is that the Jet’s defensive lineman were not just yelling, but were imitating the quarterback’s snap count to cause the Ravens to move before the ball was snapped (i.e, a false start penalty). So while the QB was under center, the defense was allegedly yelling stuff like “hut hut HUT,” imitating the QB’s snap count and throwing the Raven’s timing off.
That’s against the rules and is supposed to be a penalty on the defense if the referee hears it.
That’s what I don’t get – how is the ref supposed to know who’s hollering what? If he hears one snap count, it’s the QB… but if he hears two, how does he know it’s the defense, and not the offense doing a false-flag operation?
And what penalty does it fall under? I checked the NFL rules but I can’t find the rule that covers “yelling the same stuff as the QB.”
The offense (other than the QB) has no reason to call a fake snap count – in fact, they’re trying very hard to listen carefully to the QB’s call. Otherwise they could end up causing their own team to jump the gun and get a False Start penalty.
So if the ref hears more than one person doing a snap count, it’s a safe bet that one of them is a defensive player trying to mess up the offense, and it should be called a penalty.
I don’t know where the rule is; I will try to track it down.
I laughed my ass of when I heard that quote on Mike & Mike. Greeney has been bathing himself in righteous indignation over Belichick “cheating” for the last week. After hearing the Billick quote, he started asking “what does that mean? The Jets were cheating?”
YES Greeney, the Jets cheat, the Patriots cheat; everyone friggin’ cheats. Despite what Tomlinson says, the Chargers and every other team in the league operate under the assumption that if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.
This fact was glossed over big-time during the Belichick scandal, and it pissed me off to no end. “But he was stealing signals!” No, dumbass, stealing signals is perfectly legal and every single team does it. The only rule he broke was using a video camera to do it.
Not sure whether you wanted this part answered, but I’ll take a stab at it anyway.
A tight end generally lines up on the line of scrimmage and is larger than a wide receiver. On running downs he blocks like an offensive lineman. On passing downs he’s usually used as shorter yardage receiver or in situations where a larger, more physical receiver is needed.
Running backs line up in the backfield with the quarterback. Fullbacks usually block for the quarterback or for the tailback, but do get to run the ball occasionally. Tailbacks are the main ball runners and can also be used as receivers sometimes.
Cornerbacks are defensive players, generally guarding wide receivers and trying to keep them from catching passes.
Well, I never realized this, but apparently the actual NFL Rulebook is not available online; the NFL only provides an abridged version to the public. So I have been unsuccessful in finding the exact wording of the rule or confirming the nature of the penalty.
As a Ravens fan, let me be the first to say “suck it up, Billick.” During their Super Bowl year, the Ravens had a defensive shift they called “hot,” and Siragusa would bellow it out at the line of scrimmage… he said it worked every once in a while to draw an o-lineman out of his stance. A few years later he’s complaining about somebody else doing the same thing. Maybe it’s like Merriman complaining about the Pats doing his sack dance.
Billick’s a decent coach, but he’s kind of a whiner. I’m glad he’s in Baltimore, but I wish he’d shut his yap and get to work on fixing the offense.
In the NFL, this is an Unsportsmanlike Conduct foul under 12-3-1-(i):
There shall be no unsportsmanlike conduct. This applies to any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. Such acts specifically include, among others:
Disconcerting (i) The defensive use of acts or words designed to disconcert an offensive team at the snap. An official must blow his whistle immediately to stop play.
Penalty: For unsportsmanlike player conduct (g) through (v): Loss of 15 yards from:
a) the succeeding spot if the ball is dead.
b) the previous spot if the ball was in play.
If the infraction is flagrant, the player is also disqualified.
In NCAA it is delay of game on the defense under 7-1-5-a-3:
3. No player shall use words or signals that disconcert opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play. No player may call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of (or otherwise interfere with) offensive starting signals. An official shall sound his whistle immediately [S7 and S21].
PENALTY—Dead-ball foul. Five yards from the succeeding spot [S7,
S18 or S21].
As a Jets fan I have to protest your “snatch away a too-close-for-comfort comeback.” Basically, our receiver dropped two balls he should have had, both for touchdowns.
If you had seen the Ravens’ fourth quarter against the Bengals you’d understand my characterization of the game. In both games, the trailing team was down 7 with a few minutes to go when their second-string QB marched his team down the field to within 5 yards of a TD, and then watched their hopes teased by incomplete passes, finally to be crushed with an interception in the final minute.
In week one, Todd Heap, our workmanlike reliable go-to receiver caught a pass in the end zone for a TD, only to have “offensive pass interference” called on him. Because they were inside the 1:00 mark and out of time outs, there was no way to challenge the call. The replay showed that it was BS. He missed the next pass thrown to him too, probably because he was rattled by having the TD taken away. Then the refs gave the Ravens a make-up call (holding) which gave us another four tries. Despite that call, Boller couldn’t connect until fourth and goal (and game) when he hits Heap again, right in the hands, and Heap bobbles the pass into the arms of a Bengal. Game over.
Having seen it happen to my team last week, I almost (almost!) felt bad about seeing it happen to your team this week. If it helps, I’ll root for you against your division rivals – that’s the Pats, right?