football ruling question

[galacticowboy]

First off, I never post, but read this site daily for Cowboys news. I realize also that this post probably belongs in another forum, but it seems to me that it will get more views here. I was watching MNF last night and there was a play where the qb (Grossman) was hit while throwing. It was reviewed to determine incomplete pass vs. fumble. During the review, I watched the replay and remarked to myself that it looked like the ball landed behind where the passer let it go, so it had to be a fumble either way, because I concluded that a forward pass could not be backward. The play ended up being ruled an incompletion and the commentator stated that it didn't matter whether or not the ball went forward or backward. Am I missing something here? If the QB throws the ball backward (incomplete or not), isn't this still a fumble. Any help would be appreciated so that I might understand this. Thanks.

 

[charles hill]

Yeah I thought the same. If the ball land behind the line of scrimmage its a live ball meaning fumble. The rules seem to change if the QB is getting hit. Grossman arm was going forward but credit the defense for making that play it should be a fumble.

 

[Doomsday101]

First off, I never post, but read this site daily for Cowboys news. I realize also that this post probably belongs in another forum, but it seems to me that it will get more views here. I was watching MNF last night and there was a play where the qb (Grossman) was hit while throwing. It was reviewed to determine incomplete pass vs. fumble. During the review, I watched the replay and remarked to myself that it looked like the ball landed behind where the passer let it go, so it had to be a fumble either way, because I concluded that a forward pass could not be backward. The play ended up being ruled an incompletion and the commentator stated that it didn't matter whether or not the ball went forward or backward. Am I missing something here? If the QB throws the ball backward (incomplete or not), isn't this still a fumble. Any help would be appreciated so that I might understand this. Thanks.

A backwards pass that is incompleted is a fumble.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

I think the rule reads something like, if an action by the defense causes the pass to go backwards, it is not considered a backward pass,, much like a batted ball that goes backwards,, if the orginal motion of the pass is forward, it is considered a forward pass.

 

[CooterBrown]

A backwards pass that is incompleted is a fumble.

The differnce is that it was not thrown backwards. It becomes a pass when the arm starts forward. The defender's action of knocking it backwards does not make it a fumble. Otherwise, a lot of incomplete passes would be fumbles.

Stupid rule?

Maybe, but it would be extremely difficult for the officials to make an immediate ruling on whether the ball had left the throwing hand before it was batted backwards. It is a lot easier to determine whether the arm had started forward, so the league uses that as its definition of a forward pass vs fumble.

 

[Doomsday101]

The differnce is that it was not thrown backwards. It becomes a pass when the arm starts forward. The defender's action of knocking it backwards does not make it a fumble. Otherwise, a lot of incomplete passes would be fumbles.

Stupid rule?

Maybe, but it would be extremely difficult for the officials to make an immediate ruling on whether the ball had left the throwing hand before it was batted backwards. It is a lot easier to determine whether the arm had started forward, so the league uses that as its definition of a forward pass vs fumble.

I did not see the game so I can't really comment on what happened last night. In simple terms a backwards pass that falls incomplete is a fumble however what you are describing is true.

 

[conner01]

a backwards pass is a fumble
a ball forced backwards by the defense is not a fumble. funny thing about that call was his arm was'nt moving forward, it was knocked forward by the defense, but that does'nt matter. what makes the arm go forward does'nt matter, just the fact it went forward.

 

[joseephuss]

a backwards pass is a fumble
a ball forced backwards by the defense is not a fumble. funny thing about that call was his arm was'nt moving forward, it was knocked forward by the defense, but that does'nt matter. what makes the arm go forward does'nt matter, just the fact it went forward.

Some rules are written so the refs don't have to make judgement calls. Instead of having to judge whether the QBs arm went forward on his own or because a defender was hitting the arm, the ref just focuses on the arm going forward. They then focus on whether the QB still has the ball when the ball goes forward. The old empty hand. If he has the ball in hand, it is considered a pass, if not then it is a fumble.

I have not seen a case where the QB was actually trying to pass it to a receiver who was behind him. In that case it would be a lateral and not a pass, but I wonder what would happen that while trying to pass the ball backwards, the QB is hit causing the pass not reach the receiver. Fumble or incomplete pass? The ref would have to make a judgement call as to the intent of the QB to purposely throw the ball backwards. I don't know if that is within their power.

 

[jman]

A backwards pass that is incompleted is a fumble.

No...A backwards pass is a lateral and the football is considered live by rule.

A fumble is losing control of the football when you have possession before you are down. Or something the ground cannot cause...LOL