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Referee checks the
instant-replay monitor
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The uproar over the controversial overturn of a last-quarter play in the
Raiders-Patriots playoff game in Foxboro, in which an apparent fumble was changed to an
incomplete pass after an instant-replay review, shows that the NFL still has some work to
do with its rules, including those for instant replay.
No, this is not one of those hometown "We was robbed!" claims like those that
have been made by some San Francisco Bay Area writers. Frankly, the whining of Raiders
fans has become annoying. I had to quit reading my e-mails because they were so
repetitive, with fans who understand neither the rule nor history claiming it was the
"worst call in history," while others espoused the Al Davis belief that there is
an NFL conspiracy against the Raiders.
Nor do I have much sympathy for the Raiders, who had their chances, both in the game
and the season, but blew them. If they had won just one of their last three games, they
would have had a bye week and been hosting the game against the Pats. (Losing to the Jets
in the last game of the season was especially galling because the Jets almost gave the
game away; Vinny Testaverde threw a couple of interceptions right to Raiders defensive
backs.) If the Raiders had made a first down on a 3rd-and-1 on their last possession in
snowy Foxboro, they could have run out the clock — but they didn’t.
Even after the overturned call, if the Raiders had made a couple of defensive stops,
they’d have won the game, but they couldn’t prevent the Patriots from moving
into position for a game-tying field goal. Nor could they stop the Patriots in overtime.
Those failures were all too typical of the Raiders in the second half of the season.
Referee Walt Coleman didn’t beat the Raiders, and his call was the only one he
could have made, given the reading of the rule, which clearly states that once the
quarterback starts his passing motion, the play is considered an incomplete pass if the
ball is knocked away before he tucks it away. Patriots QB Tom Brady had pumped, decided
the pass wasn’t there and was trying to tuck it away before it was knocked loose by
Raiders CB Charles Woodson, who was blitzing on the play.
One of my San Francisco Chronicle colleagues wrote that an official’s call
shouldn’t decide the game. Actually, Coleman’s reversal didn’t, because the
Raiders still had a chance to stop the Patriots. If the original ruling had stood, that
would have decided the game because the Raiders could have run out the clock, with the
Patriots out of timeouts.
But the overturn showed one thing: The rule is a bad one. Nobody who saw that play
could dispute that Brady fumbled the ball. He thought so at the time, walking off the
field, dejected. He thought he’d lost the game. He didn’t know the rule, and
almost nobody else did either. Television announcers Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms both
thought it was a bad call (as did I originally, watching at home) until the rule was read
to them. No rule should be so contrary to logic.
Owners, general managers and coaches aren’t foolish. The NFL has shown an
admirable willingness to change its rules with the times, to keep the game fresh and
interesting, and I think this rule will be changed in the offseason.
This isn’t the first time this season that replay has come into play amid great
controversy. Just think back to the fiasco in the Dec. 16 game in Cleveland between the
Browns and the Jaguars.
Trying to drive for a score which would have won the game, Browns QB Tim Couch threw a
fourth-down pass that was ruled complete. He rushed his team to the line of scrimmage and
spiked the ball to stop the clock.
At that point, referee Terry MacAulay rushed up, said the replay official in the press
box had signaled him through a buzzer in his pocket and checked the replay, which showed
that Couch’s fourth-down pass actually had been incomplete. When MacAulay reversed
the call, the angry Cleveland fans started throwing things onto the field. MacAulay called
the game, with 48 seconds left, and the teams left the field. Half an hour later, after a
call from the commissioner’s office, the game was resumed, with the Jaguars taking a
couple of kneel-downs.
On the hotly contested play, there were four errors.
1. The original call was wrong, because Couch’s pass was really incomplete.
2. Couch double-pumped before his spike, which should have been called intentional
grounding.
3. The instant-replay rule states that there can be no replay if another play has
already been run. If MacAulay was indeed buzzed before the play, he should have whistled
the play dead immediately.
4. Only the commissioner can rule that a game is over before the clock runs out.
Despite all the confusion, though, the one thing that went right was the replay. The
reversal on the Couch pass was the right call, and it enabled the Jaguars to win the game.
If the original call had stood, the Browns might have notched a win they didn’t
deserve.
That’s the whole point of instant replay: To get it right. In both these cases,
the system enabled officials to make the right call.
Sometimes, rules have to be changed. I think the NFL needs to put in some kind of time
period to challenge a call so quarterbacks can’t eliminate the possibility of a
replay simply by spiking a ball before anybody can make a challenge. But the system works,
even if you’re unhappy because the ruling went against your team.
Glenn Dickey is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle and has covered pro
football since 1967. He can be reached via e-mail at Gdickey@sfchronicle.com |
