Hit on Zeke on final play

[Virginia-Dave]

Did you guys see what happened to Zeke on the final play of the game? He's out to the left, clearly as a receiver, and #53 from Philly comes over and nails him right in the back sending Zeke face first into the turf just past the line of scrimmage. Is that a legal play? It can't be right? But it was literally right in front of one of the refs and he did nothing, so maybe I'm missing something. It looked dirty to me. Thoughts?

Link, video of final play (Somebody smarter than me feel free to embed video)

 

[romothesavior]

Yes, pretty sure it is legal. You can chip guys at the LOS. Zeke was right at the line and paying no attention, sort of just a decoy, and the defender engaged him.

Cheap? Maybe. But he's got to keep his head on a swivel.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Yes, pretty sure it is legal. You can chip guys at the LOS. Zeke was right at the line and paying no attention, sort of just a decoy, and the defender engaged him.

Cheap? Maybe. But he's got to keep his head on a swivel.

Never seen in any rule book that it is legal to hit a guy in the back.......

 

[HomeBiscuit]

Huh, it was indeed illegal.

"For those who need a refresher: Regarding illegal contact, defenders are not allowed to use their arms or hands to restrict receivers when they are 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, as long as the quarterback is in the pocket with the ball. Defenders also can't hit receivers in the back within that 5-yard zone. Violation of these mandates leads to a 5-yard penalty and an automatic first down." http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/132346/inside-slant-pass-defense-takes-a-hit

 

[Nightman]

You can deck them in the first 5 yards......just can't grab or hold or hit them when the ball is in the air

 

[Doomsday]

You can also deck the receivers once Dak is out of the pocket, until the ball is in the air.

 

[romothesavior]

Never seen in any rule book that it is legal to hit a guy in the back.......

Most rules are written as prohibitions on conduct, so I doubt you are going to see anything that says "Defenders may hit receivers in the back."

You need to point me to something that says it is prohibited. I'm not aware of any rule that prohibits it, but I may be wrong. It's not holding, it's not pass interference, and I'm almost positive it's not illegal use of hands. So how is it illegal?

 

[AdamJT13]

It should have been a penalty.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

 

[Vtwin]

Welcome to the Philly rivalry Zeke.

 

[DeaconMoss]

It should have been a penalty.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

This

 

[DanTanna]

It should have been a penalty.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

Good find!

 

[Sydla]

Zeke hit the ground hard. For a split second I thought he was going to have a concussion.

Hope the team sees that and in the next game someone hits Bradham into the next century. Bradham is the same clown who has been arrested for beating up someone at a night club and then trying to get on a plane with a loaded gun.

 

[Silver Surfer]

It should have been a penalty.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver (unless he is a Dallas Cowboy), nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Most rules are written as prohibitions on conduct, so I doubt you are going to see anything that says "Defenders may hit receivers in the back."

You need to point me to something that says it is prohibited. I'm not aware of any rule that prohibits it, but I may be wrong. It's not holding, it's not pass interference, and I'm almost positive it's not illegal use of hands. So how is it illegal?

Look at the post by Adam below your reply, then get back at me

 

[Sydla]

Most rules are written as prohibitions on conduct, so I doubt you are going to see anything that says "Defenders may hit receivers in the back."

You need to point me to something that says it is prohibited. I'm not aware of any rule that prohibits it, but I may be wrong. It's not holding, it's not pass interference, and I'm almost positive it's not illegal use of hands. So how is it illegal?

How is it illegal?

Pretty simple. The NFL rule book says it's illegal. That's how it's illegal.

 

[Virginia-Dave]

It should have been a penalty.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

Thank you, this is what I thought. That officiating crew throws more flags than any other, but dude decided to look the other way on this one for some reason. So glad we beat those dirty birds. Hope they had a long, long, long, flight back home.

 

[Redball Express]

Welcome to the Philly rivalry Zeke.

Exactly.

First win in your rivalry with Wentz.

Hopefully many more to come.

I think its time to open up the playbook for DAK now.

Defenses are seeing his tendencies and they will move to stop him.

Zeke bleed off just enough defensive pressure to allow DAK to find his receivers in the end.

There are going to be teams that have the defense to play this way.

 

[Nightman]

You could argue Dak left the pocket

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

More evidence the refs were trash last night.

 

[viman96]

Definitely illegal per the rules. I assume they missed it or did not care because either way the game was over.