Chris Carter is Defending Hitchens!

[punchnjudy]

The next NFL game I see without a controversial PI call/no-call will be the first one.

I really don't want reviews on those calls; the reviews could take 3 hours lol. This play will continue to come up though because a lot of folks want to make PI calls review-able.

If reviewed, they would've had to call holding on Hitchens but Pettigrew would've been flagged for illegal contact. Of course, if there were reviews on PI calls this season then everything else changes as well.

edited to add: Actually holding probably would've been off the table if reviewed unless they also made holding review-able. Lord help football fans if they do that.

 

[xwalker]

In my opinion, it does not matter anymore.

Did anyone finish researching taco stands in Green Bay? Better yet, has anyone started researching taco stands in Seattle?

Agree. All this thread is really doing it point out the non-Cowboys fans around here.

 

[gdogg24]

At the very most it should have been offsetting penalties

 

[Rockport]

At the very least it should have been offsetting penalties

Thus play the down over. Agreed.

 

[Aikmaniac]

Sorry. That was PI. Twice. First the jersey grab and then the contact with the shoulder.

We got away with one. I refuse to pretend otherwise.

Good for you!

 

[JD_KaPow]

If they'd thrown the flag and called defensive holding for the jersey grab, nobody would have argued. That would have been a legitimate (albeit ticky-tack) call.
If they'd thrown the flag and called offsetting penalties for PI and the facemask, nobody would have argued.
If they'd thrown the flag and stuck with the PI call, there would have been grumbling in Dallas but nothing more than that.
If they'd thrown the flag, picked it up and said "there was no penalty for PI on the play," there would have been grumbling in Detroit, but nothing more than that.
The refs handled it as badly as it is possible to handle a penalty call, short of throwing the flag into a player's eye.

But here's the thing. After the play, it was still Detroit ball and it was 4th-and-1 on the Dallas side of the field. They didn't go for it, which was incredibly gutless. And the football gods punished them.

 

[manster4ever]

Both McNabb and Randy Moss thought it was PI.

What now?

Cowboy haters... Like you.

 

[AbeBeta]

Refs warn guys all the time about coming onto the field without throwing a flag.
Half the team comes on the field it seems after big plays.
As long as they hustle right back off when warned there aren't flags.

No ref wants to be the story by throwing a flag for that.

If Dez had scored and took off his helmet then threw up the X int he end zone that WOULD have drawn a flag.
But half the team is running on the field after big plays to congratulate guys or huddle around coaches before the next play. A number of those guys will have helmets in hand. QBs often stand there helmet in hand 5 yards onto the field talking to a coach and no one calls for Brady or Payton to get flagged.

Yeah - and what I said in another post was that it would generally be a flag only if he'd been warned about it. They could have thrown the flag based on the rules but you could say that about many many plays.

 

[mahoneybill]

I think more people need to watch this video of the facemask that say Hitchens wasn't looking back.

https://vine.co/v/OdD5hWMBK2q

Nice link. Clearly shows the Offensive PI

 

[mahoneybill]

I have to agree. I would have been pissed if it had been reversed on the Cowboys.

I can see why the call should never have been made, but also think that since it was called, it should have stood.

Still, tough noogies for the Lions. All teams get screwed by the refs. The national media needs to quit crying about it.

The media is disappointed they didn't have two stories:

1) Romo throws game ending interception

2) or gives up game ending fumble

This caused them to have to pick something that they think was the game decider, and bash something they can't do anything about, or harp on forever as fans interests will now move on to the next round...

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Just bc you touch a guy doesn't mean you INTERFERE. The controversy here was only the delay. Why was there such a delay? Maybe bc the guy thought the backjudge was calling 1) the little tug
2) the facemask


But there was absolutely no PI.

 

[Idgit]

Yeah - and what I said in another post was that it would generally be a flag only if he'd been warned about it. They could have thrown the flag based on the rules but you could say that about many many plays.

Flags are flags, but without even getting into the specifics of the rule and how it's generally enforced, a guy coming on the field to talk to a ref has zero material impact with the play on the field. He talked to the ref without his hat on. Big deal. How 'bout you get a yard the next play and then shut up about it.

The way we did on the blown PI call on Williams that negated Witten's first down at the end of the first half.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

if you're talking to who I think you're talking to, why bother? he's never changed his mind, 90% of his posts seem to exist only to make 10+ pages of useless, tired dialog, and he's going to hate everything the cowboys succeed at and tear it down.

outside that he's a pleasure to talk with.

I don't know if I am talking to who you think but I actually like Risen. I enjoy reading his posts and I agree with a lot of what he has to say and his opinions.

We do have some, like this one, where we don't agree.

 

[Wood]

Sorry. That was PI. Twice. First the jersey grab and then the contact with the shoulder.

We got away with one. I refuse to pretend otherwise.

and you would be wrong. If anything its offensive PI as TE pushed off face mask of Hitchens before ball gets there.

 

[MRV52]

Sorry. That was PI. Twice. First the jersey grab and then the contact with the shoulder.

We got away with one. I refuse to pretend otherwise.

The right call should have been a offsetting penalty to both players and replay the down.

 

[Chuck 54]

I like the explanation on ESPN.

First, face-masking as it used to be called in the end zone for not playing the ball is no longer called. It has to be called interference with contact....they allow some contact if you turn to play the ball. They do not allow contact if you aren't playing the ball. Better pass or the TE trying to come back for the ball and being impeded by Hitchens, and it's definitely interference, but neither happened.

1. They probably should have called holding on Hitchens for grabbing the jersey earlier, but they missed it---they miss that stuff all the time, and it has no impact on the picked up flag.

2. They could have called interference on Hitchens because he did contact Petigrew---they could have penalized Petigrew for touching the facemask in a pushoff or gaining separation move, but they didn't.

3. The flag was picked up, not because there was no contact but because others in the crew with different angles said the contact was minimal and didn't affect the catch of a pass that hit Hitchens in the back.

If the interference had been maintained, we'd have no legitimate complaint because there was some contact, but others have no legit complaint about it being picked up because the contact was minimal, Petigrew had no chance of catching that pass---these are judgment calls.

Bottom line, Detroit could have run the ball on 3rd and 1; they could have run it on 4th and 1 from close to where we went for it on 4th and 6 two minutes later. Detroit could have stopped us from scoring the go ahead TD. They could have forced us to kick the tying FG. They had the ball with plenty of time to win the game and their timeouts, and we gave them a second chance with the Lawrence fumble, but they never even got into FG range.

Dallas won....suck it!

 

[LandryFan]

Agree. All this thread is really doing it point out the non-Cowboys fans around here.

Some of us knew who they were before this thread.

 

[iceberg]

I don't know if I am talking to who you think but I actually like Risen. I enjoy reading his posts and I agree with a lot of what he has to say and his opinions.

We do have some, like this one, where we don't agree.

heh, well that was him but all good. not everyone will agree all the time.

even on that, I imagine.

 

[ufcrules1]

I don't know if I am talking to who you think but I actually like Risen. I enjoy reading his posts and I agree with a lot of what he has to say and his opinions.

We do have some, like this one, where we don't agree.

Same here. We all have different opinions. I agree a lot with most of what he posts but clearly don't agree on everything. There is rarely anyone that I agree with on everything but at the end of the day I see a lot of you post in here every day and would never question your loyalty to the team.

 

[Eric_Boyer]

and you would be wrong. If anything its offensive PI as TE pushed off face mask of Hitchens before ball gets there.

his lack of football IQ is startling.

PI doesn't exist prior to the pass being thrown. the jersey hold would be defensive holding, not PI, and dozens of those go uncalled all game long, all season long.