2010 Post-Season Week 5 Clips  

                                                            Encroachment    This is an example of a rarely seen foul, encroachment.  With minimal exceptions, Team A players are prohibited from being in or beyond the neutral zone after the snapper touches or simulates touching the ball.  (7-1-3-a-3)  Officials will normally use preventative officiating to get Team A players back but if that fails, they will prevent the snap and penalize as a dead ball foul. 

                                                           Punt Challenging the Goal Line     Punts that approach the Team B goal line can be challenging plays for officials.  There are many issues to consider, illegal touching, the ball's crossing (or not) of the goal line plane, batting, etc.  When Team A is attempting to "down the ball" outside the goal line, they might bat it backwards or they might even possess the ball.  If the ball is simply batted backwards, a bean bag is used to mark that spot as it is an illegal touch spot.  But, if they actually possess the kick, the ball becomes dead immediately.  (4-1-3-e)  The covering officials must indicate the ball is dead and not permit further action.  No good can come of permitting play to continue when ball is actually dead by rule.  In this play, had the covering officials not ruled the ball to be possessed by the first Team A player but rather that it had simply been batted, then they would have to have a bag down at that spot, PLUS another bag down in the end zone where the 2d Team A player touched and batted or possessed the ball.  That would have given Team B the option of electing a touchback when the ball became dead. 

                                                           "Unabated"   There have been previous video examples of dead ball offside calls made where the officials applied AR 7-1-5-III and prevented a snap even though there had been no defensive contact nor reaction by Team A.  Those examples were questionable applications of the AR.  In this video, clip the defensive player is clearly behind Team A linemen so the dead ball offside call is appropriate. 

                                                           Forward Progress and the Sideline   When a ball carrier goes out of bounds, determining the correct spot for the ball to be placed for the next down can be difficult.  This is especially true when the runner is very close to the line-to-gain when he goes out.   The correct spot is not where the runner first touched ground out of bounds.  (4-2-4-d & AR 8-2-1-II)  We must judge where the ball was when the runner was declared out of bounds. That spot can be significantly different depending on which arm/hand the ball is carried with.  When Instant Replay does not have conclusive evidence available to confirm or overturn a call, the announcement is simply, " After further review, the play stands."  (NOTE: If the ball carrier dives or jumps toward the sideline, the spot the ball crossed the sideline becomes the forward progress spot, regardless of where it was when the ball carrier is actually declared out of bounds)

                                                           Flag and Officiate   A universal axiom for officials is to continue officiating after flagging a foul.  While the spot of the foul is frequently an important spot, we must continue to officiate, especially if we are responsible for other spots such as forward progress.  In this clip, the covering official does continue to officiate after dropping his flag for the facemask foul against Team B at the B-36.  The official left his forward progress spot and went to his flag spot which resulted in the penalty being incorrectly enforced from the 36 to the B-21 instead of from the B-35 to the B20.   (10-2-2-d-1-b)

                                                           End of Game Hurry-Up and Confusion     While we can train and prepare to make ourselves the best officials possible, sometimes the chaos of the moment can overwhelm us.  When that happens we hope we can respond appropriately but sometimes it is just a matter of luck.  When the clock is running in "hurry up" situations, we do all we can to give Team A an opportunity to snap the ball and make a play.  But, doing so can cause us to miss some of our own pre-snap duties or processes, such as getting a correct count of players on each team.  In this clip, the crew expedites getting the ball ready for play  and may not have been able to get Team A's players counted in the mass confusion.  As a result of the confusion, Team A had substitutes trying to get off the field at the snap which is a live ball illegal substitution foul (3-5-2).  Additionally, Team A had 12 players in the formation at the snap which is illegal participation (9-1-5-b) although that was not flagged.  (NOTE:  Can Instant Replay step in to help the crew who may not have realized there were 12 in the formation?)  Since Team A was subbing and hurrying to the line of scrimmage, perhaps the U could have stayed over the ball for a few seconds after getting it ready for play as Team B needs to be given a chance to substitute in response to Team A.  This particular play may be the genesis for a rule change that will limit Team A's ability to conserve time by deliberately snapping the ball before they are ready and before they have a legal formation that is legally set.

                                                           "Pull and Shoot"   This is a great example of a great call by an umpire.  A defensive player attempted to create a lane for a teammate to attack the QB by grabbing the lineman assigned to block the teammate and pull him away.  Defenders may not hold an opponent other than the ball carrier.  (9-3-4-b)

                                                           Almost KCI After a Muff of an Attempted Fair  Catch    Some players are obviously being coached to give the fair catch signaller the chance to complete the catch after a muff.  Had the Team A player grabbed the ball instead of avoiding it, he would have fouled. ( 6-1-5-b)