There was no play. Once a defensive player touches an offensive player before the ball is snapped the game is stopped. The play in effect never happened
I'd like to see a rule change whereby the officials would stop the game clock in, say, the last minute for teams to get set up BOTH on offense and defense. It's really crappy to see defenders dragging themselves back to their side of the line-of-scrimmage on purpose just to run the clock down. McNair was brought along slowly by the Oilers. He sat for 2-3 years before becoming the starter. How long does it take to made good reads and learn how to make fundamental throws. I know they made a commitment to him last year but this is this year and, perhaps, more was expected. Change can be justified if he doesn't get more consistent. I think the offensive scheme stinks. It looks like the Raven receivers just run down the field and they are open-- without a great running threat!
Are you serious???? You've seriously got to be joking. Just because your team lost because they couldn't win by the rules in regulation doesn't call for what would be tantamount to the biggest rule change ever.
A rules change isn't going to stop people from complaining. College football has a rule where the clock stops until the ball is put into play for every first down for the final 2 minutes of each half. Example: Michigan St. was driving on Michigan very late in the 4th quarter. MSU got a first down inside the Michigan 5. Michigan fans argued that the friendly clock operator stopped the clock early and then once the ref put the ball into play, started the clock late. The MSU QB spiked the ball with :01. On the final play, he threw a TD pass and the Spartans won the game. So the refs get blamed for the Titans loss, and UM blames its loss on the clock operator. Titans at least got a free play.
<b>RM95</b>: Not kidding. I'm not just reacting to the Titan game. This kind of thing goes on in any close game. This little rule change would not begin to compare with the demise of the bump-and-run or the movement of the goal posts off the goal line or the in-the-grasp rule. Tweak it if you want; make it the last 30 seconds. Just do something! People complain about refs deciding the game.... how about defenders who intentionally drag their butts getting onsides? That's what Boulware was doing. <b>The kindly ref spotted the ball much more quickly than usual-- is that fair to Baltimore? Or was it biased towards Tennessee?</b> I say let's shape the rules for the betterment of the game. Let honest execution on the snap of the ball determine who wins and who loses... just like that last "untimed down." Baltimore deserved to win.
Da Dakota-Do you ever get a clue? The reason they play stops when there's contact, is so the other team doesn't have a head start to DECK THE FU(K out of the other team's QB. If that rule was not in existence, then you might see Boulware just sit in the Titan backfield, and when McNair gets the ball, he just levels him. That is the rule, always has been and always will be. The Ravens weren't "rewarded" with jack s#it. They were penalized half the distance to the goal line, like any team would. If the Titans were the ones on defense and the Ravens were on offense, the same situation would have occured. Your tears for the Titans belong in Tennessee, not in Houston.
On McNair, I would say his durability alone is worth a few million bucks a year. Their offensive coordinator does suck (that last call was evidence of that), they need to bring back Gilbride and put some points on the board.
The Offensive Coordinator is NOT the problem. The problem is JEFF FISHER. I know everyone thinks he's the best coach in the NFL. But honestly, he doesn't know jack about offense, and gives his OC very little to work with. Fisher is a Buddy Ryan clone, and put defense before anything else. His conservative style is what is bogging the Titans offense down. Also, they have one of the worst WR corps in the NFL. Why is that? He's wasting cap space by getting bums like Kevin Carter. I think a 7 million dollar WR would fit in pretty good right about now. Fisher is a great defensive coach, and his defenses will always be stout. But NEVER EVER expect him to put any emphasis on offense, other than to burn clock. Buddy Ryan did it (his mentor) and Fisher will follow his "lead". The Titans have had I think 3 coordinators during their time in Ten, and it hasn't helped any.
They tried that with Yancey Thigpen, but never threw to him. They need to rollout McNair more. Also, he never seems to scramble when he has the opportunity....you've got to think that has something to do with the coaching staff telling him to hang in there for as long as possible and look for the receiver. He broke so many rushing records in college...why wouldn't he look to run more in the pros?
Bring back the "moving pocket!" That would seem to be a natural advantage for McNair. The pass rush is so relentless these days with all the situation defensive packages and so much defensive aggression. Would it work in today's game?
Freak-I agree. But, the problem with rolling the QB out, is that you limit the receiving options to the WR's and TE's who are on the same side of the field as the QB. I know McNair has a good arm, but if his WR's can't get open, then he's screwed. If you put all 4-5 possible receivers on the same side of the field, then there'd be some serious traffic. Eddie George needs some hands. Eddie George also needs a blocking FB. This one-back set does not work with a team looking to run. The MLB has one less blocker to deal with on his path towards Eddie.
This doesn't need to be changed. That's why each team has their necessary allotment of timeouts. It's not the defensive team's fault if the offensive team had to burn a timeout earlier in the second half.
Nothing is immutable. We could have 6 downs instead of 4 and 20 to go instead of 10. I agree that nothing is dumber than wasting a timeout in the first quarter so that a second and seven doesn't become a second and twelve, but it happens more and more. The game is more complex. How would you address the unsportsmanlike behavior of dragging your ass back so as to delay the start of a play? Is that not worthy of a flag and play stoppage? There are some special rules for the last two minutes; why not 1 more? It would make the games more exciting. Nothing wrong with that. The ref did the Titans a favor and hustled that ball to a spot so they could get the play off. Boulware was deliberately trying to prevent (and almost succeeded in preventing) the ball from being snapped. That is a problem that needs be remedied.
Rich, how would it be any different if Boulware had tackled a receiver running past him to catch a pass? Both the offense and defense can use the rules to help them, that's just smart football. QB's get someone offsides and get a free play as long as the defender doesn't make contact or has a clear path to the QB. Cornerbacks tackle receivers when they get fooled on double moves. The Titans could have snapped the ball at any time no matter where Boulware was.
<b>timing</b>, I agree; but I'm not just reacting to the Titan game. I've watched NFL football for 40 years and I've seen too many games end with the offense unable to get a play off because defenders were lumbering back to their positions. Honestly, I don't know exactly what the NFL rule is. Is the referee waiting for players to get in position before he will spot the ball? Is it the defensive players' responsibility to get back onsides by the time the ball is spotted? Can they loiter around the offensive team's huddle? If the refs would hustle-spot it every down, we'd see more football because that's when the play-clock starts. That would be good. <b>Did you see how quickly the referee spotted the ball for that final play? He flat out hustled to get it spotted. He did it in a third of the time that he would normally have taken... as a gesture to the Titan desperation. If he hadn't done that, the ball would have never been snapped for that last play. Is that fair to Baltimore?</b> I just want to see the game settled on execution of plays not on some of these extremely subjective matters that, to me, border on unsportsmanlike behavior. I say it would make the game better-- nothing wrong with that?
this makes no sense, for several reasons. 1) as witnessed monday night, the offense can snap the ball and run a play as soon as they're set. they don't have to wait on the defense, nor do the officials; 2) the call on boulware was a result of him touching a titan. had he just been offsides, tennessee can run a play and then either accept the the penalty and redo the down, or decline it, which is what, obviously, they would've done monday night. but boulware hit matthews, inadverently, and thus, the play was rightly ruled dead. the referee's job is to spot the ball as quickly as possible. he waits for no one, but, obviously, the offense has to wait for him to spot it before they can run a play. yes, it's the D's job to get onsides before the snap -- the game is not held up to wait for them. as for loiterring, i suppose, technically, they could, as i don't think there's a rule that says they can't, but why would they give up five yards to do so? what game were you watching? boulware was hustling to get back -- not lollygaging. the last thing he wanted to do was draw a flag there because the game can't end on a defensive penalty. if he gets caught offsides, the playclock is reset, the ball is moved half the distance to the goalline and tennessee has a chance to regroup and call a play. he and the ravens are much better off if tennessee has to rush to get a play off while all hell is breaking loose.
<b>ric</b>: I was watching the Titan game... and you? Boulware was, inexplicably, yards behind everyone else in getting back onsides; I call that lolly-gagging. He only STARTED hustling when he saw the official spotting the ball. The official hustled to spot the ball; that's not their usual pace. Just watch the video. I have seen refs waiting for the D to get lined up before they put the ball back in play; that's what they do when there are 7 minutes left to play. They blow their whistle drop their arm and assume their refereeing position. I bet the guy in the Titan game did that same procedure but in a hurried, blurred motion; I wonder if he even saw Boulware who was running up behnid him on his blind side. I would like to know if, in fact, Boulware grazed Matthews after he had snapped the ball. No one has talked about that-- just that he did graze him. I think you're giving Boulware too much credit. Even the officials didn't get the play right at first: THEY SIGNALED TOUCHDOWN and then took 5-minutes to unravel the mess.
I hate the Ravens' and think they are the most overrated football team ever but: The 15 yard late hit on McCreary that kept the last drive alive was bull****. The catch was questionable at best (lucky the play was initially called a catch because no reverse was going to happen either way). The refs SHOULD have called illegal procedure on the Bubbling Crude ending the game and making the off sides call, and extra play, null. The Crude got all the calls they could possibly hope for and still couldn't punch it in from the 1 foot line. Why the hell they didn't they go to a double tight end set (use back-up linemen if you need to) and then run the sneak was stupid, stupid, stupid. It wasn't the first guy that got McNair, it was the 2nd and 3rd guys who were never blocked. He might have made it on 2nd effort with more blockers. I love this quote, so true:
same. i wouldn't say his tardiness was inexplicable, unless you can tell me definitively why he was late getting back. it was the 60th minute of a physical game, perhaps he had been knocked to the ground, or maybe he was hurting -- it's obvious he was upfield, not down around the play -- maybe he thought the game would end before tennessee could get another snap off. who knows? the only shot we had of boulware was of him running to get into position. and again, his lollygagging, if purposeful, would've been a detriment to baltimore's cause, not an advantage. doesn't matter what boulware was doing. in a situation like that, with time running out and tennessee unable to stop the clock, the official's are going to hustle to mark the ball -- can you imagine the hysteria if they'd taken their sweet time? -- and once done, regardless of where the defense is, the offense can snap the ball. as for officials waiting for the D to get lined up -- 9 out of 10 times, the officials are spotting the ball while the teams are huddled. if it's a no-huddle situation, they do not wait for the defense to set, at least, they're not supposed to. yes, definitively, he grazed his leg -- no question about it. looked unintentional, too. if he'd meant to hit matthews, it would've been more obvious. as it was, his leg hit bruce's as he tried to jump back onsides. how an official even saw, i don't know. too much credit for what? i saw him running to get onsides, i saw him graze, unintentionally, matthews leg... his was a reaction, there was no intent. again, what boulware did was, in theory, the last thing baltimore would want him to do -- in essence, he gave tennessee an untimed shot at the end zone, plus a chance to organize and regroup. the bottom line is that the officials made the right call, even if it took five minutes to figure out.
