Gibbs Time Out a Penalty? (1 Viewer)

[Alex96]

So was Gibbs call of the second time out really a penalty? I ask, because it wasn't when the Bears did the same thing in the NFC championship game against the Saints last season. The logic then, was that the officials just ignore the players and/or coaches when they try to call the second successive time out. I've really been looking for some clarification on this.

 

[Ditka is God]

From TMQ this week:

Gibbs was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, in keeping with Rule 12, 3, 1, u(i), which forbids consecutive defensive timeouts before a field goal attempt. (Looked it up under "freezing the kicker" in the NFL rulebook. The league seems to think "freezing" is more dignified than "icing.") This blunder by Gibbs made the final field goal attempt a 36-yarder, rather than a 51-yarder. Bills kicker Rian Lindell is reliable and might have hit from 51 anyway, so perhaps the Gibbs error did not impact the outcome. But it was, well, embarrassing to see the Hall of Fame coach, whose return to the Redskins' sideline has been troubled, make the kind of basic error immediately caught by a 12-year-old.

Zebra note: The above-cited rule also reads, "The Referee (or another official) will notify the Head Coach that two charged time-outs by the same team in the same dead ball period are not permitted." Gibbs said after the game that he asked the sideline official whether he could call a second timeout. Apparently, Gibbs was not warned that he could not, and the rule says he should have been warned. Gibbs did not know about the consecutive timeout rule to begin with, and from his postgame comments, didn't know the warning clause either. But it appears at least one of the zebras working Sunday's game also did not know the details of the consecutive timeout rule. Probably Buffalo would have won in any case, but officials are supposed to know the rulebook!

 

[Alex96]

OK, so the key in the difference between when the Bears tried to call two time outs in a row (and were simply ignored, not penalized), is that they weren't doing it before an opponents field goal attempt?

 

[Ditka is God]

Must be; I don't recall the specifics of the Bears game other than I remember saying then "They can't do that".

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Here's the whole rule:

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: ...

An attempt to call an excess or illegal time out to freeze a kicker prior to a field-goal attempt or a Try attempt, when:

(i) a team has already been charged a time out during the same dead ball period; or

(ii) a team has exhausted the three charged team time outs that are permitted in a half.

If an attempt is made to call a time out in these situations, the officials shall not grant a time out, play will continue, and a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct shall be enforced. If a time out is inadvertently granted, the penalty shall also be enforced.

Note: The Referee (or another official) will notify the Head Coach (i) that two charged time outs by the same team in the same dead ball period are not permitted, and (ii) when he has exhausted his three charged team time outs in a half.