Since that last thread got a little heated, I thought I’d start another one. I don’t care about the heat, but the Mod warning kind of squashed the fun in there. And I really don’t want to take it to the pit unless there is no other alternative. With that said, a couple of things have come to light.
Let’s discuss the non-calls.
The Holmes’ TD celebration with the ball was indeed a penalty, but apparently, since he sat on the ground so long and then the play went up for review, no ref saw it. And it can’t be reviewed. That would have been a big penalty and would have made the last drive incredibly interesting.
The Harrison interception/gallop to the endzone. We’ve gone over the alleged block in the back (not a bad block), so let’s skip that one. There did appear to be some jersey grabbing on Warner by a Steeler to pull him out of the way, but I didn’t catch the Steeler. Even if that on was let go because Warner wasn’t really in the play, there were other problems on that play. Fitzgerald ran out of bounds and came back in to make the tackle. He simply can’t do that. If they would have said no touchdown, I don’t know if that would have been reviewable either, but it’s definitely a penalty. The other thing that got lost is there were two seconds left on the clock after the touchdown which magically disappeared after the review. Strange.
The first Warner fumble. I really didn’t think about it at the time, but Warner removed his helmet to plead his case. That’s a 15 yard penalty. That wasn’t enforced.
I didn’t see it, but heard that Harrison also removed his helmet. No flag.
Harrison’s punch in the back on the Cards blocker. He was flagged, but by all rights should have been tossed. Rumor is floating around that he was kicked/kneed in the groin by that guy, but that doesn’t justify what he did when the chips were down in the 4th quarter.
Holding no-calls on Gandy. I know they called 3, but Harrison was mugged all night. There was one particularly bad no-call in the first half where Harrison had him beat to the outside, and Gandy wrapped his hand around his neck and dragged him down. And there was one holding call that looked more like a facemask.
I’m sure I missed more, but that’s the best I can do for now…
With respect, this assertion that you can’t run out of bounds and then come back in and make a tackle has yet to be supported with any citation to the rules. You can’t run out and come back in and be the first to touch a pass, and I believe there was something cited to the effect that you cannot, as a member of the punting team, run out of bounds intentionally while headed downfield to cover the punt. But has anyone actually found out in the rules where it says you can’t run out of bounds at all, on any play, and come back in and be part of the play?
Not yet, and I’m not sure there is or should be such a rule, but you can see where it gives an unfair advantage to Fitzgerald on the play when you watch the replay from the end zone - Harrison is looking out the corner of his eye towards the field of play at the Cardinal coming from his left, and edging closer to the sideline to avoid him, not thinking about someone coming from out of bounds to try to strip the ball. Fortunately he’s strong, and more than that, fortunately Fitzgerald tried to do the “anchor” move by throwing his legs out forward. That allowed Harrison to land on Fitzgerald’s leg, otherwise he would have been down before the ball broke the plane of the goalline.
TMQ did catch one penalty in regards to Fitz and the sidelines - one of the players on the Cardinals had strayed into the sideline area where players are prohibited, and actually got in Fitz’ way.
Stink Fish Pot, I’m not sure why you felt the need to start a second thread on the same topic, despite the moderator warning in the other one.
Two reasons. Like I said, that last thread started getting snippy, and that wasn’t my intent. I thought the mod warning was appropriate, and after that there were a few posts commenting on the warning only. I thought it best to let the thread die.
The second is that this is a slightly different topic. It is based on the no-calls, not necessarily the reviewed calls or perceived bad calls. The no calls were just as important, and even though there is some overlap, I just wanted to focus on those.
As far as the Fitzgerald play, I read in a column by Ed Buchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette (not an unbiased source) that the chasing of Harrison from the out of bounds sidelines was a penalty. I have yet to see the rule quoted. However, running into Rolle was a penalty, since he was on the white sideline stripe.
Related to the Fitzgerald non-call, when a ballcarrier has broken into the clear near the opposition’s sideline, what’s to stop a non-essential player (who is willing to risk a large fine) on said sideline from running onto the field and tackling the ballcarrier? Similarly what about if a fan runs onto the field and makes a tackle? Can the referees award a TD on such a play?
I believe that in the case of a fan or a player that’s not on the field at the time, (or a coach) who impedes the progress of a player, a TD can be awarded to the other team. In the case of Fitzgerald, since he was on the field at the time of the interception, I don’t know. I’m guessing it’s a penalty.
I’ll have to dig through the NFL rule book, but that isn’t fun at all.
Exactly what you described happened in the 1954 Cotton Bowl, and the officials awarded the ball carrier a touchdown. (Youtube vid) Rice’s Dicky Maegle was on his way to a virtually certain touchdown when Alabama’s Tommy Lewis left the bench to tackle him.
In rugby, a penalty try (try = touchdown) can be awarded if the player would have scored had the penalty not been committed, regardless of the penalty.