Dilfer on Sportscenter: "NFL Rule book is so convoluted"

[sweetness0986]

Trent Dilfer just said it perfectly. Although I don't have word for word what he said, in essence it was as follows:
We should be celebrating the incredible awareness of Tony Romo to throw a catchable pass on 4th and 2 and the amazing athleticism of Dez Bryant to catch that ball. Those plays are what sporting events are all about and should be rewarded. Instead we are discussing how a clearly caught ball was deemed not caught. The NFL rule book has become so convoluted due to the NFL and the competition committee and it is their fault these bad rules are made, not the officials. When he walks the field before MNF officials' heads are spinning before a game because there are so many loopholes and things in the rule book they don't even understand themselves. The league is worse than it was 10 years ago due to this, not better.

Louis Riddick also on Sportscenter:
Officiating needs to stop being so complex. We know what a catch looks like and doesn't look like. It was obvious he wasn't just falling to the ground, but that he was trying to score with the football.

My thoughts:
I definitely agree with the consensus that there were plenty of opportunities for the Boys to run away with this game earlier on, and I'm upset they didn't capitalize. There were crucial mistakes that were made that surely cost us points on the board. However, this is playoff football just one game away from playing in the biggest game of all. Playoff games aren't gimme games and the road to get there isn't always going to be beating opponents by double digits. If you look back, I'm sure every Superbowl team has games or moments in their season where they wish they did more. Even the all but crowned Patriots barely scraped by the Ravens on Saturday.

I do admire Garrett, Romo and the team's classy response saying the game wasn't lost on officiating and they didn't do enough to win. It really show hows the mindset of the team is day to day on the field and that is a huge part of being a good football team. Mentally they have grown tremendously and I believe that was our biggest battle these recent years. Not having the heart. This team has all the heart in the world and I'm proud of them for that.

But sometimes it really can come down to one significant play at the end of the game when you have to dig down deep and put it all on the line, make a play on 4th and 2 to put your team in position to regain the lead. And who knows, maybe we score a touchdown there and Rodgers does march right back down the field. Maybe our D makes an important stop. The point is we will never get the opportunity to know, and these players will never get the opportunity to know. Sad day for this sport.

 

[mahoneybill]

Say what you will , Dilfer got his ring primarily because of his D, but that said he's one who calls it like it is, and know the risk reward of that 4th down game end throw...

 

[JoeBoBBY]

Trent Dilfer just said it perfectly. Although I don't have word for word what he said, in essence it was as follows:
We should be celebrating the incredible awareness of Tony Romo to throw a catchable pass on 4th and 2 and the amazing athleticism of Dez Bryant to catch that ball. Those plays are what sporting events are all about and should be rewarded. Instead we are discussing how a clearly caught ball was deemed not caught. The NFL rule book has become so convoluted due to the NFL and the competition committee and it is their fault these bad rules are made, not the officials. When he walks the field before MNF officials' heads are spinning before a game because there are so many loopholes and things in the rule book they don't even understand themselves. The league is worse than it was 10 years ago due to this, not better.

Louis Riddick also on Sportscenter:
Officiating needs to stop being so complex. We know what a catch looks like and doesn't look like. It was obvious he wasn't just falling to the ground, but that he was trying to score with the football.

My thoughts:
I definitely agree with the consensus that there were plenty of opportunities for the Boys to run away with this game earlier on, and I'm upset they didn't capitalize. There were crucial mistakes that were made that surely cost us points on the board. However, this is playoff football just one game away from playing in the biggest game of all. Playoff games aren't gimme games and the road to get there isn't always going to be beating opponents by double digits. If you look back, I'm sure every Superbowl team has games or moments in their season where they wish they did more. Even the all but crowned Patriots barely scraped by the Ravens on Saturday.

I do admire Garrett, Romo and the team's classy response saying the game wasn't lost on officiating and they didn't do enough to win. It really show hows the mindset of the team is day to day on the field and that is a huge part of being a good football team. Mentally they have grown tremendously and I believe that was our biggest battle these recent years. Not having the heart. This team has all the heart in the world and I'm proud of them for that.

But sometimes it really can come down to one significant play at the end of the game when you have to dig down deep and put it all on the line, make a play on 4th and 2 to put your team in position to regain the lead. And who knows, maybe we score a touchdown there and Rodgers does march right back down the field. Maybe our D makes an important stop. The point is we will never get the opportunity to know, and these players will never get the opportunity to know. Sad day for this sport.

very sad indeed.

And there are a lot of "Odd" things coming from the NFL these days..... Goodell needs to be.....watched or something...? What exactly is he doing?

 

[demdcowboys#1]

The rule will be gone next season, I guarantee it. Horrible, horrible rule. Clearly a catch, clearly possession, then he TRIPS over the defender's leg, and makes a clear attempt at a lunge to the goal line in the process. While doing this, the ball moves, but he never uses the ground to assist the catch( Which would be a justifiable incompletion.) IF ANYTHING, it should be a catch, then fumble. But, oh well. We didn't make enough plays early on in the game to avoid this situation. We still have oogles of talent, and with the right pieces put into place this offseason, as well as getting/keeping the right coaching staff around, we will be back.

 

[Seven]

very sad indeed.

And there are a lot of "Odd" things coming from the NFL these days..... Goodell needs to be.....watched or something...? What exactly is he doing?

Signing expense reports for the officials dinners where they discuss................gardening.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Say what you will , Dilfer got his ring primarily because of his D, but that said he's one who calls it like it is, and know the risk reward of that 4th down game end throw...

Dilfer is as good as it gets as an analyst.

 

[TommyBoy21]

Dilfer is as good as it gets as an analyst.

Was just going to say the same thing. I think he's one of the only people on ESPN who knows what they're actually talking about.

 

[Frozen700]

It sucks bro, but I think we just have to move on.

We keep letting teams hang around, with turnovers and poor execution. You can't behave that way, and expect to keep winning.

As easy as it is to blame the refs. We need to look on the inside. Murray cost us that game more than anything. Sure he had a great season, but he screwed us.

Without that fumble we might not be having this discussion.

 

[Doomsday101]

"The NFL rule book has become so convoluted due to the NFL and the competition committee and it is their fault these bad rules are made, not the officials."

I fully agree with him and have said this for years now. Every single year the competition committee ads new rules of changes within the rules and makes the job of the officials even harder. I just do not see the need in the yearly rule changes.

 

[Bull Frog]

The rule should be two feet down with control. That is the football move. The act of grasping a ball with your hands while maintaining control is a football move. If the ball is moving and the receiver doesn't have control before he hits the ground it's incomplete, but when a receiver has 100% control of the ball, with both feet down it is a catch. If he reaches out and loses the ball as he hits the ground before he is touched, then call it a fumble. Instead plays are being reviewed by some clowns who have probably never even made a football move. There are only a few guys in the league that make that catch and only a couple with the presence and athleticism to reach for the goal line. Get rid of the football move verbiage.

 

[DallasEast]

There are times when I criticize the officials. I have often said the speed of the pro game has gotten too fast for some of them to process in real time. That said, I do not blame the officials for reversing The Catch. The rule is the problem. It is idiotic, plain and simple. If the league were serious about cleaning up its own rulebook once and for all, it would strongly consider adding people like Dilfer to the competition committee. He's intelligent, does his homework, and makes logical arguments about many aspects of pro football. That's the exact mentality that the NFL rulebook needs badly. In my opinion, the concept of possession should be the same for receiver and running back IF ball control is established AFTER taking two steps FOLLOWING the reception. Cut and dried.

I was being conservative when I said "some."

 

[DallasEast]

The rule should be two feet down with control. That is the football move. The act of grasping a ball with your hands while maintaining control is a football move. If the ball is moving and the receiver doesn't have control before he hits the ground it's incomplete, but when a receiver has 100% control of the ball, with both feet down it is a catch. If he reaches out and loses the ball as he hits the ground before he is touched, then call it a fumble. Instead plays are being reviewed by some clowns who have probably never even made a football move. There are only a few guys in the league that make that catch and only a couple with the presence and athleticism to reach for the goal line. Get rid of the football move verbiage.

Beat me to it.

 

[links18]

I still don't know what rule was applied here or just what the rule actually is. I also don't know who made the call, Steratore or some guy in the NFL office in New York?

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

The rule will be gone next season, I guarantee it. Horrible, horrible rule. Clearly a catch, clearly possession, then he TRIPS over the defender's leg, and makes a clear attempt at a lunge to the goal line in the process. While doing this, the ball moves, but he never uses the ground to assist the catch( Which would be a justifiable incompletion.) IF ANYTHING, it should be a catch, then fumble. But, oh well. We didn't make enough plays early on in the game to avoid this situation. We still have oogles of talent, and with the right pieces put into place this offseason, as well as getting/keeping the right coaching staff around, we will be back.

Agreed, it should have been a catch and fumble, but I see by the rule how they called it the way they did. I don't agree with it and even knowing the rule I don't think they got it right. It's the maintaining possession until they hit the ground part (which I think Dez did anyway) that needs to be removed , just revert to the "make a football move" requirement, because Dez certainly did that.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

It sucks bro, but I think we just have to move on.

We keep letting teams hang around, with turnovers and poor execution. You can't behave that way, and expect to keep winning.

As easy as it is to blame the refs. We need to look on the inside. Murray cost us that game more than anything. Sure he had a great season, but he screwed us.

Without that fumble we might not be having this discussion.

I think the biggest factor of us losing was the end of the 1st half. There was less than a minute to play and we were up for a 45 yard field goal to go up 17-7. Then there was a 5 yard penalty that made it a 50 yarder. Bailey missed the kick and we gave them excellent field position. They scored and made it a 14-10 game. That's a 6 point swing. Not a big deal? How many points did we lose by? 5. They outscored us 16-7 in the second half. Had we went up 17-7, the final score would have been 24-23 for us.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I don't think it's a bad rule, it's just the referees don't know the rules. We've seen this issue with the refs actually not knowing the rules before.

If a receiver has not made an attempt to advance the ball, then they *should* have to catch the ball thru the ground.

It's just that Dez made an attempt to advance the ball towards the end zone. So the ball should be deemed to be caught.

Stetatore even admits to this in print. He was looking for 'another act common to football', but claims he didn't see it.

I just don't know how he can honestly claim that when a guy extends his body, extends his arm and makes a lunging motion. We see it hundreds of times a year. It is an act very common to the game.





YR

 

[Frozen700]

I think the biggest factor of us losing was the end of the 1st half. There was less than a minute to play and we were up for a 45 yard field goal to go up 17-7. Then there was a 5 yard penalty that made it a 50 yarder. Bailey missed the kick and we gave them excellent field position. They scored and made it a 14-10 game. That's a 6 point swing. Not a big deal? How many points did we lose by? 5. They outscored us 16-7 in the second half. Had we went up 17-7, the final score would have been 24-23 for us.

Agreed.

Again, we kept shooting ourselves.

So we can flail around, with our arms up in the air, shouting and hollering like teenage females, who's favorite singer, just left their favorite band, over the Refs all we want.

Fact is, we lost this game way before that call.

 

[Derinyar]

Agreed, it should have been a catch and fumble, but I see by the rule how they called it the way they did. I don't agree with it and even knowing the rule I don't think they got it right. It's the maintaining possession until they hit the ground part (which I think Dez did anyway) that needs to be removed , just revert to the "make a football move" requirement, because Dez certainly did that.

There is no way that play can be ruled a fumble. The rules don't support that. The two possibilities are incomplete and complete/down by contact. The reason it can't be a fumble is for it to be a fumble it has to be ruled a completed catch. if its a completed catch Dez is down by contact before the ball comes out, the trip and his knee is down prior to the ball coming lose. The incompletion from the process rule is saying there's no completion, so therefore there's no fumble possible because Dez didn't have the ball. Basically Steratore made the mess by reviewing a judgement call and using a judgement call to over turn it.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

It sucks bro, but I think we just have to move on.

We keep letting teams hang around, with turnovers and poor execution. You can't behave that way, and expect to keep winning.

As easy as it is to blame the refs. We need to look on the inside. Murray cost us that game more than anything. Sure he had a great season, but he screwed us.

Without that fumble we might not be having this discussion.

Blowing it off and moving on doesn't fix anything though, it just guarantees that somebody else, maybe us, will get screwed all over again. They need to dissect this play and determine if the replay ruling was indeed correct and, if it was, they need to change that rule. If it wasn't correct then these officials need to educate themselves. The inconsistency of interpretation by these highly paid unionized professionals is nothing short of pathetic.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

Watching the replay I saw this, shouldn't Dez be automatically down at this point? Elbow equals a knee?