- Mar 30, 2007
- 151,175
- 202,611
from peter king:
[h3]The mystery reversal.[/h3]
Midway through the third quarter, Dallas trailed 20-7. Romo drove Dallas 79 yards to the one, and DeMarco Murray got the 80th yard on fourth-and-goal; Detroit, 20-14. A Dan Bailey 51-yard field goal made it 20-17 five minutes later. On the next series for Detroit, the Lions had third-and-1 at the Dallas 46, and Matthew Stafford threw a pass up the left seam for tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Rookie linebacker Anthony Hitchens, with the ball in the air close to Pettigrew, never turned around and ran into Pettigrew as he reached to try to make the catch. Back judge Lee Dyer, with a clear sightline to the play, threw the flag for pass interference.
“Pass interference,’’ referee Peter Morelli said in the stadium. “Number 59, defense. Automatic first down.”
When the call was made, Dallas receiver Dez Bryant sprinted out on the field, helmetless, to protest to one of the officials. Players aren’t allowed to be on the field without helmets, so that should have been a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Then head linesman Jerry Bergman spoke up in a crew conference, saying—according to a pool report after the game—that he thought this was more face-guarding (a penalty in college but not in the NFL) than interference, even though Hitchens seemed to clearly restrict Pettigrew’s attempt to make the catch while Hitchens wasn’t playing the ball. On TV, Pereira said it was clearly interference. Seventeen seconds after making the original call and announcing a first down, Morelli said over the PA: “There is no foul on the play.”
First: What is Morelli’s hurry? Why didn’t he say to Dyer: “Tell me exactly what you saw.” If an official throws a flag at that moment of a game, he sees something, and the referee’s job, I believe, is to sort that out, and to hear all sides—no matter how long it takes. Two teams’ seasons are on the line here. How do you reverse a call like that one, and do it in breakneck time? What kind of official is Dyer if he can be so easily convinced that his call was wrong? What kind of conviction does that show?
And would this have happened if Morelli—who had zero of his regular crew on the field with him Sunday, in his biggest game of the season—had his men with him, and they’d worked together the entire year, and the head linesman’s strident opinion clearly could be more trusted? This play changed my mind about the mixed crews in the postseason. Namely, there shouldn’t be mixed crews. Crews work together all season to form a chemistry. And the biggest game of the year, officials who are working together for the first time (in most cases) have to make season-deciding calls like this one. It’s just not a smart way to do business in the biggest games.
Apparently, Dyer didn’t stick with his call, deferring to Bergman’s judgment. But I’ve seen crew conferences after flags were thrown, and the flag is picked up. I have never seen a flag thrown, a referee announcing the penalty and the first down, and then going back and saying, in effect, it’s a do-over. When it happened, Pereira, on FOX, said: “Wow.” Sort of how I felt. Instead of having first down at about the Dallas 25 with eight minutes left, Detroit had fourth-and-1 at the 46
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/05/nfl-los-angeles-rams-wild-card-weekend/2/
[h3]The mystery reversal.[/h3]
Midway through the third quarter, Dallas trailed 20-7. Romo drove Dallas 79 yards to the one, and DeMarco Murray got the 80th yard on fourth-and-goal; Detroit, 20-14. A Dan Bailey 51-yard field goal made it 20-17 five minutes later. On the next series for Detroit, the Lions had third-and-1 at the Dallas 46, and Matthew Stafford threw a pass up the left seam for tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Rookie linebacker Anthony Hitchens, with the ball in the air close to Pettigrew, never turned around and ran into Pettigrew as he reached to try to make the catch. Back judge Lee Dyer, with a clear sightline to the play, threw the flag for pass interference.
“Pass interference,’’ referee Peter Morelli said in the stadium. “Number 59, defense. Automatic first down.”
When the call was made, Dallas receiver Dez Bryant sprinted out on the field, helmetless, to protest to one of the officials. Players aren’t allowed to be on the field without helmets, so that should have been a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Then head linesman Jerry Bergman spoke up in a crew conference, saying—according to a pool report after the game—that he thought this was more face-guarding (a penalty in college but not in the NFL) than interference, even though Hitchens seemed to clearly restrict Pettigrew’s attempt to make the catch while Hitchens wasn’t playing the ball. On TV, Pereira said it was clearly interference. Seventeen seconds after making the original call and announcing a first down, Morelli said over the PA: “There is no foul on the play.”
First: What is Morelli’s hurry? Why didn’t he say to Dyer: “Tell me exactly what you saw.” If an official throws a flag at that moment of a game, he sees something, and the referee’s job, I believe, is to sort that out, and to hear all sides—no matter how long it takes. Two teams’ seasons are on the line here. How do you reverse a call like that one, and do it in breakneck time? What kind of official is Dyer if he can be so easily convinced that his call was wrong? What kind of conviction does that show?
And would this have happened if Morelli—who had zero of his regular crew on the field with him Sunday, in his biggest game of the season—had his men with him, and they’d worked together the entire year, and the head linesman’s strident opinion clearly could be more trusted? This play changed my mind about the mixed crews in the postseason. Namely, there shouldn’t be mixed crews. Crews work together all season to form a chemistry. And the biggest game of the year, officials who are working together for the first time (in most cases) have to make season-deciding calls like this one. It’s just not a smart way to do business in the biggest games.
Apparently, Dyer didn’t stick with his call, deferring to Bergman’s judgment. But I’ve seen crew conferences after flags were thrown, and the flag is picked up. I have never seen a flag thrown, a referee announcing the penalty and the first down, and then going back and saying, in effect, it’s a do-over. When it happened, Pereira, on FOX, said: “Wow.” Sort of how I felt. Instead of having first down at about the Dallas 25 with eight minutes left, Detroit had fourth-and-1 at the 46
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/05/nfl-los-angeles-rams-wild-card-weekend/2/
Aint like his big toe was stepping on green turf and ppl asking for a flag.
