Well I actually watched part of this game during your Thanksgiving broadcast while breaking bread with my family etc. But I watched this particular touchdown game as it was happening. And it resulted in the controversy that followed soon after, which also set me back as well as others. Talk about refs “playing the rules” to the letter! Confusing and yet this rule is still in a gray area.
I saw two Lions defensive players attack Texans running back Justin Forsett, and then two or three points on his body hit the ground horizontally as a result. You can see this play online from a good angle, but at the time of the live action, I saw other angles that convinced me of this. Now for some reason the running back got up and kept running down the scoreboard. The two Lions defenders who tackled him stopped when they made downed contact with him and felt the play was over. Another Lions defender chased after him not 100% sure due to his distance from the starting tackle, so he simply reacted to a player running into the end zone.
Now this got interesting when the referee signaled a touchdown for the Texans. Yeah, again I say, it knocked me down a bit. I even yelled at the coach to challenge this play. I didn’t know if after a touchdown it was an automatic review and there’s no need for a coach to contest the call. I figured it had to be a “questionable” call anyway for the review to go through. And the obvious thing would be the flags thrown by the refs after a touchdown that will keep the coach from getting upset. Additionally, instant replay shots would allow fans at home to view any problems with the play and fans at the stadium would also receive instant replay review on the “jumbo-tron”.
The most interesting thing about this rule is that the coach cannot throw his challenge flag or it will result in a “no review” which means the play or score will stand as directed by the Officials. Again, I have thought in the past that if the coach throws the challenge flag, if the play is reviewed, and the Officials comply with their call, then the coach receives a penalty in the form of yardage on his team’s next possession or loss of time. . -outside. It seems to me that this would have been the appropriate call. Which is why it made my “favorites” list of memorable moments of 2012.
Coach Jim Schwartz stated at the end that he knew the rule and that it was a big mistake on his part. Even so, this play should have been reviewed and the marker returned because it was a valid player less than two defenders. Not every coach who watches every touchdown play would want to challenge her if they feared losing timeouts or yardage. So it’s not going to slow down the game or be done out of spite towards the scoring team.
We all want the sheet music to be legit.