Bell (14) was locked in on 70

[MarcusRock]

You're leaving out the part where the referee announced 70 as being eligible. I guess Belle could have ignored that and taken the chance they would have called illegal formation but he was covering the guy that they called eligible

I didn't leave it out. It's in the OP and I opined with that assumption. When the formation shifted, Bell didn't need to be on him anymore. That was my point. That the defense didn't recognize in the moment. Easy for me to critique from my couch but not recognizing that actually could have resulted in tragedy if Goff made a read to his left and came back right to the RB in the flat who only had to beat one man to the pylon with Bell frozen on 70. Good thing it turned out the way it did but you gotta be alert to these trickeries in the moment.

 

[MarcusRock]

Yup, they played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.

Good summation.

 

[gimmesix]

And that's great. I'd want a thinking defense that recognized they didn't have to be on him anymore and could make a quick adjustment to that effect. In this example, they could have shifted to their left since all the other actual eligible receivers were on that side, including the RB I mentioned who had a good chance to score otherwise.

I think you are asking for more than we normally see from a defense. They are not going to leave a player uncovered that they were told was an eligible receiver. They are just worried about their assignments, not whether the officials are going to call an illegal formation. Bell's assignment was the eligible receiver who was announced. I think your expectations here are not realistic.

 

[TwoDeep3]

That dumbazz female ref needs to be launched by the NFL.

Be careful....

However, it seems that the post game interviews conducted by the female "journalists," always ask the same question.

"How does it feel to....." Without trying to be a misogynists here, when asking the winner of the game how it feels seems to me to be vacuous beyond words.

"So, Jock Rockly, what did you see to know you could fit the ball into the receiver on the single coverage on that long pass?"

"Well, Betty Lou, I looked off the safety by facing right. Then when he turned his hips that way I threw it left. Found that in watching film."

"Oh. And what film was that?"

"Pulp Fiction. Geez."

 

[MarcusRock]

I think you are asking for more than we normally see from a defense. They are not going to leave a player uncovered that they were told was an eligible receiver. They are just worried about their assignments, not whether the officials are going to call an illegal formation. Bell's assignment was the eligible receiver who was announced. I think your expectations here are not realistic.

And Detroit was counting on that mental overload. That's why it was a brilliant plan to take away an extra man from the defense, and a good one. They just messed up their execution. Wish we could think on those levels.

 

[gimmesix]

And Detroit was counting on that mental overload. That's why it was a brilliant plan to take away an extra man from the defense, and a good one. They just messed up their execution. Wish we could think on those levels.

I don't necessarily disagree on this. Detroit was definitely thinking we'd think Skipper was eligible and cover him instead of Decker. And maybe we would have. But we may have only stuck with him because he had been announced as eligible.

I essentially think this is why the NFL announces when players with ineligible numbers are eligible. They don't just expect the defense to recognize it by formation. I mean, technically, they could just say it's up to the defense to figure out who is eligible by formation.

 

[DripTooHard]

Listen to the audio in this clip, and the play clock was at 25 seconds when Allen announced 70 for everyone to hear as being eligible. Lions should have corrected Allen before the play was run.

 

[Redsfan_83]

To be honest the solution to the Lions issues were simple, and I said it at the time. All they had to do is drop back to punt than fake it. We would have taken the bait and they could find someone open in the EZ for the 2 pts. Nothing illegal, etc

 

[mrmojo]

And Detroit was counting on that mental overload. That's why it was a brilliant plan to take away an extra man from the defense, and a good one. They just messed up their execution. Wish we could think on those levels.

Why would they, it didn't work...and it would have been illegal formation anyway if 70 went out for the pass.

 

[BlueStar22]

That dumbazz female ref needs to be launched by the NFL.

No need to be sexist.

 

[Creeper]

I am still more concerned about how quickly and easily the Lions moved the ball down the field, basically unchallenged for a TD. I am also concerned that Bland has been exposed. He basically covers the out routes and everything else he gets burned.

 

[CWR]

The point is that they didn't catch the formation shift and it eliminated one of them from defense when they could have helped elsewhere. Of course they'd have been on 68 if he were announced but if he too became ineligible in the formation they'd have likewise stayed with him for nothing and deprived themselves of extra resources. It was a brilliant plan because we're not good in heat of the moment situations. But apparently, neither is Detroit because they went ahead with a plan that was unannounced as it had to me.

Yeah I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a supposedly eligible player uncovered relying solely on the officials to catch it. I dont blame Bell at all.

As this and many other games have shown you can't simply bank on the "correct call."

 

[MarcusRock]

Why would they, it didn't work...and it would have been illegal formation anyway if 70 went out for the pass.

Why would they what? It wasn't illegal formation if 68 was announced like they wanted.

 

[MarcusRock]

Yeah I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a supposedly eligible player uncovered relying solely on the officials to catch it. I dont blame Bell at all.

As this and many other games have shown you can't simply bank on the "correct call."

You're not wrong. Everything is a risk. I would have erred on having the extra man available.

 

[Thorn]

If you watch the 2pt play, you will see that Bell was locked in on 70. Although 70 was at the Tackle position and not "really" eligible to catch the ball, he never leaves the line of scrimmage and Bell also never leaves 70. So it's easy to assume that had 68 was declared eligible, Bell would've been doing the same on him.

Kinda sad that Bell and the Dallas defense are not tuned in enough to realize 70 is ineligible as he is covered up and 68 is in an eligible position. I would expect my high school defense to recognize this so I don’t think it should be that hard for professionals.

 

[Bagman]

i still could not believe that after the first time the lions failed that they did not take the game to overtime. if they would have had the ball first i think they would have scored another touchdown the cowboys defense was done in my opinion they would not have stopped the lions from scoring again.

And vice versa. If Dallas wins the coin flip, they march down and score a TD. They weren't stopping Dak, CeeDee and Co.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Ya all this attention on that play is overblown

It's actually an interesting play. What really happened? There's like at least 4 or 5 different perceptions. One of the most interesting is the one where people are trying so very hard to look like super fans by claiming nothing happened or Dallas sucked. Holier than thought judgemental jack a's in mho.

I get some don't want to get in the weeds about it. But something odd happened. I like dead horses and will beat and beat and beat,

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Kinda sad that Bell and the Dallas defense are not tuned in enough to realize 70 is ineligible as he is covered up and 68 is in an eligible position. I would expect my high school defense to recognize this so I don’t think it should be that hard for professionals.

Who reported as eligible?

 

[Jkyle]

Kinda sad that Bell and the Dallas defense are not tuned in enough to realize 70 is ineligible as he is covered up and 68 is in an eligible position. I would expect my high school defense to recognize this so I don’t think it should be that hard for professionals.

You're High School team must've stunk because; NFL rules state that any player with a non-receiving jersey # (50-79 and 90-99) have to be declared eligible by the referee. Until and unless that player is announced to the Defense by the referee, they are not eligible. just because they line up correctly to be eligible, doesn't make them so if not announced by the referee.

 

[Bagman]

Kinda sad that Bell and the Dallas defense are not tuned in enough to realize 70 is ineligible as he is covered up and 68 is in an eligible position. I would expect my high school defense to recognize this so I don’t think it should be that hard for professionals.

Again, you can't rely on the refs to make the correct call. You can't just leave a guy uncovered and hope they do their job. The last people to blame in this fiasco is the Dallas defense.