...
Here is a short article written on allowing a fumble recovery "after" the whistle;
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The-greatly-flawed-rule-on-recovering-fumbles-af?urn=nfl,207503
"Since 2006, a whistle hasn't always been a whistle in the NFL. In that off-season the rules committee made the determination that teams can recover a fumble even after an official has blown the play dead. This was done to bail refs out of ruling a fumbling player down by contact, only to be contradicted by replays. After the rule change, the call could be reversed, enabling the recovering team to get the ball despite the premature whistle."
I should think any "
Football Guy" worth their salt would be aware of this rule change ... but seems many are not.
In the case of the Broncos / Steelers game yesterday, the ruling was an incomplete pass (vs "down by contact" as the article above states... but one would think the same rule of recoving the ball after the whistle would apply since replay shows that it was actually a fumble).
Seems like the NFL is second guessing themselves here.
Can you recover a fumble after a whistle or can't you???
DEN should have been awarded the ball where it was recovered without the opportunity to advance it (because of the faulty wistle).
Shades of the Steelers SB vs. the Seahawks yesterday. Would have been a huge issue had DEN lost in OT.
It is a little bit of a struggle to interpret the rules as they are currently written, as they just aren't overly clear. Though I think the NFL had a definite intent that only certain plays allowed possession after a whistle to be awarded, and you can kind of see it in the wording. Not that I think it should be differentiated, but I can see an argument that it is set up that way.
Here are the actual rules from the rulebook that are involved. Note the highlights in red:
Reviewable Plays. The Replay System will cover the following play situations only:
(a) Plays governed by Sideline, Goal Line, End Zone, and End Line:
1. Scoring plays, including a runner breaking the plane of the goal line.
2. Pass complete/incomplete/intercepted at sideline, goal line, end zone, and end line.
3. Runner/receiver in or out of bounds.
4. Recovery of loose ball in or out of bounds.
(b) Passing plays:
1. Pass ruled complete/incomplete/intercepted in the field of play.
2. Touching of a forward pass by an ineligible receiver.
3. Touching of a forward pass by a defensive player.
4. Quarterback (Passer) forward pass or fumble.
5. Illegal forward pass beyond line of scrimmage.
6. Illegal forward pass after change of possession.
7. Forward or backward pass thrown from behind line of scrimmage.
(c) Other reviewable plays:
1. Runner ruled not down by defensive contact.
2. Runner ruled down by defensive contact when the recovery of a fumble by an opponent or a
teammate occurs in the action that happens following the fumble.
3. Ruling of incomplete pass when the recovery of a passer’s fumble by an opponent or a teammate
occurs in the action following the fumble.
4. Ruling of a loose ball out of bounds when it is recovered in the field of play by an opponent or a
teammate in the action after the ball hits the ground.
Note 1: If the ruling of down by contact or incomplete pass is changed, the ball belongs to the recovering
player at the spot of the recovery of the fumble, and any advance is nullified.
Note 2: If the Referee does not have indisputable visual evidence as to which player recovered the loose ball,
the ruling on the field will stand.
Note 3: This does not apply to complete/incomplete passes, or the ruling of forward progress.
So the three Notes that allow possession to be awarded occur in section C which only covers review of down by defensive contact where a fumble takes place... whether a ball was a forward pass or a fumble (i.e. QB's arm going forward or not)... or whether it was a loose ball going out of bounds or was recovered first.The Notes only apply to the rules in section C directly above them. The review of whether a pass was a forward or backward pass is in section B and so those Notes don't apply.
So on one hand, yes the rules are consistent with what the NFL is saying where the Steelers game the call was correct, and in the Saints game the call was incorrect.
From a common sense standpoint though why should there be a difference between a fumble that drops out of a QB's hand versus a lateral that isn't caught? The NFL says they don't want big scrambles for the ball after any incomplete pass that might be a lateral, but I don't think that's enough reason.
If it were me, I would go with something like this:
1. On a play that may be reviewable, if you think the play should be dead but the ball is free, don't blow the whistle yet. If the ball is recovered by a player who is continuing play, then blow it and make your original call and possession could be awarded by review. If no one continues play, if more than, say, 2 seconds pass without anyone making an effort to recover the ball, or if a pile up ensues and you can't tell who recovered immediately, blow it dead and possession cannot be awarded by review.
That would mean players would have to make an immediate recovery. None of this stopping playing and then realizing the whistle didn't blow and picking it up 4 or 5 seconds after the fact. That's not having it happen as part of the play (since we think the ball is actually dead but are just delaying the whistle), so I have no qualms about not getting possession if they stopped playing.
Having a consistent ruling would be good. You have different rules based on whether you go to the ground or not which makes confusing to say the least.
Did you watch the Saints vs. Lions game where that is EXACTLY what happened... An errant whistle blew the play dead BEFORE anyone recovered the ball.. Watching the replay you could see all the Saints players not even try to recover the ball as they believed it to be "dead.
on the NFL / Refs for not being consistent.
