Fox Sports got it wrong, as usual.
Jimmy Johnson should have known better:
http://msn.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs02/s/2003/0106/1487933.html
Collinsworth is a moron- I don’t expect amything more from him.
I think that the ineligible man trumps everything in this case. If you attempt any sort of forward pass with an ineligible man downfield, it’s a penalty.
Anyway, what possible value can there be in an o-lineman going downfield on a field goal? If the play goes off ok, being downfield doesn’t help anything… if the play is muffed, it’s likely to be a pass, so stay where you are, idiot! Whaddya think, the holder is going to try a draw to run 30 yards for a touchdown?
This whole debacle is fitting because the Giants have had horrible Special Teams for years, this year being the flat out worst. I’ve never seen more muffed snaps, holds, kicks from a pro team in my life. I like Jim Fassell as a coach, but he need to get his act together on Special Teams.
Hold the phone!! The Giants were robbed. Oh well, too late now.
jklann, you get the free tupperware for this weeks edition of “You make the call”.
Personally, I was hoping that after Shockey’s touchdown, he’d pull out a pen, sign the ball, and hand it to Terrell Owens.
Once that didn’t happen, I knew the Giants were finished.
-lv
That’s weird. When the flag was thrown the announcers all said “pass interference.” But all three flags thrown were for the inelligible man downfield. No official was actually watching where the ball went, even though that’s where everyone in the stadium, in the press box, and at home were watching.
The NFL has spoken, and it says that the officials screwed up.
Statement on last play of Giants-49ers game
Regarding the spike:
However, that wasn’t the officials’ screw-up. The NFL page I quoted basically says:[ul][]There was an ineligible Giant downfield - Tom Hopkins, #65. Three officials correctly flagged this violation[]The intended receiver of the pass - Rich Seubert, #69 - was not ineligible. He lined up in an eligible position, and his number had been reported to the officials prior to the game as such in the standard manner.[]He was interfered with by Chike Okeafor of the 49ers, and this should have been called.[]Had pass interference been called, as it should have been, there would have been offsetting penalties and the down would have been replayed, untimed, from the previous spot.[/ul]I see that this has already been posted. I’ll go ahead and post this in case anybody didn’t follow the link.
It wasn’t just about a botched field goal attempt.
Give the 49ers some credit. They did NOT give up. They scored 25 points in the final 19 minutes of the game.
OK, then it was about a botched field goal attempt, and a completely unprofessional melt down of the Giants in the final minute of the game.
NINERS!
Yeah, he couldn’t have spiked the ball. But, according to the NFL guys on ESPN, they had a timeout left. So, he could have just ate the ball and called a timeout. Or he could’ve gotten up and thrown the ball forward at the kicker’s legs, or at the legs of the four other eligible recievers on the line in front of him.
So, just to summarize the carnage, since this is after all The Pit, we have no less than five colossal fuckups on this play–three by New York, one by San Francisco, and one by the refs.
- First of all, there was that lame-o snap.
- Then, the holder should have thrown a pass at the feet of one of the eligible receivers.
- Then, we have Hopkins drifting downfield, for absolutely no reason, and standing there with his thumb up his ass while three officials throw penalty flags.
- Then we have Okeafor tackling a perfectly eligible receiver, which at that point was the only thing that could have cost his team the game.
- And finally we have seven crack officials that can’t sort out a simple case of offsetting penalties.
What a league.
{{{kevja}}}
I don’t know whether you’re male of female. It matters not. I think I’m in love with you.
When my Niners were down by by 24, I called my mom and told her to keep watching, it’s not over yet. I’ve been a fan for so many years and have seen then make more 4th quarter comebacks than I can count.
The Niners fully deserved to win this game. Peterson (98) was all over the field and will be a major superstar. The Giants snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
On to Tampa.
Honey-Hoping it’s ok to hug in the Pit
Here are a couple more topics for conversation:
1)should the 49ers fine Owens for being a such a moron? How fing stupid do you have to be, to take 2 15yd penalties in a game with 1 minute remaining?
2)should the NFL adapt a similar rule to the NBA, wherein if a player commits two technical fouls, he is disqualified for the rest of the game? I say yes…if a player commits 2 late hits, or 2 illegal chop blocks, or 2 unsportsmanlike conducts, he should be removed.
also—lineman ARE taught to cover a FG 2 seconds after it is kicked, if they do not here the call from the holder that the ball has not gotten away(we always used FIRE). Kicked field goals are the same as punts, they are live balls which can be returned by the defending team, if they choose.
hear not here
ugh it’s too late for me to be here
(got it right that time)
I think they should adopt a rule where if a player is Terrell Owens, he is disqualified. I really don’t like that guy.
At least he’s not an ice-throwing, trash-talking homophobe like Jeremy Shockey. Owens does like himself too much, but I can tolerate his “hey, look at me!” act more than Shockey’s “I’m 22 and the biggest bad-ass in football so don’t fuck with me” act. For that, I think you need only know that he played college ball at Miami.
Aye, this was discussed and agreed upon above … Does anyone know if the holder called that signal? (Has there been a press release, commentary, anything that anyone has seen?) I didn’t see anything that made me think he did, and it looked to me like the whole line released-but I may have been laughing too hard to notice everything. 
The holder almost certainly called “FIRE”, because every player except Hopkins reacted correctly. The other linemen held their positions, and Seubert took off downfield looking over his shoulder for a pass.
I heard Seubert interviewed on the radio today (Dan Patrick show), and he said the holder yelled “fire” at which point Seubert ran downfield and tried to get open. Er, confirming what jklannsaid.