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Umpire in backfield
This past weekend was the first time that league officials experimented with shifting the umpire from the defensive side, usually at the depth of a linebacker, to the offensive backfield. For any long-time football fan, seeing no official in the middle of the defensive action probably looked pretty weird.
The league will also try this experiment during the third weekend of preseason games with the umpire on one side and the referee on the other in the offensive backfield. The idea is to see if the umpire can still call holding penalties while also removing him from the center of the play where occasionally he had players knocking him over.
"I'm not sure I like it," Rams Coach Scott Linehan told me after Friday night's game in Minneapolis against the Vikings. "It looks like (the umpire) could get in the way of the quarterback when he's scrambling in the pocket."
Having the umpire in the offensive backfield may have also cost the Rams a third-quarter touchdown when rookie receiver Derek Stanley caught a deflected pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass hit a downed Minnesota defender on the arm and then the ball bounced up to Stanley. The pass was rule incomplete on the field and the play whistled dead. However, referee Ed Hochuli properly reversed the call and gave Stanley a 19-yard reception. But had umpire Chad Brown been in his proper place he may seen the catch and never blown the play dead, leading to a 54-yard touchdown.
LINK
This past weekend was the first time that league officials experimented with shifting the umpire from the defensive side, usually at the depth of a linebacker, to the offensive backfield. For any long-time football fan, seeing no official in the middle of the defensive action probably looked pretty weird.
The league will also try this experiment during the third weekend of preseason games with the umpire on one side and the referee on the other in the offensive backfield. The idea is to see if the umpire can still call holding penalties while also removing him from the center of the play where occasionally he had players knocking him over.
"I'm not sure I like it," Rams Coach Scott Linehan told me after Friday night's game in Minneapolis against the Vikings. "It looks like (the umpire) could get in the way of the quarterback when he's scrambling in the pocket."
Having the umpire in the offensive backfield may have also cost the Rams a third-quarter touchdown when rookie receiver Derek Stanley caught a deflected pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass hit a downed Minnesota defender on the arm and then the ball bounced up to Stanley. The pass was rule incomplete on the field and the play whistled dead. However, referee Ed Hochuli properly reversed the call and gave Stanley a 19-yard reception. But had umpire Chad Brown been in his proper place he may seen the catch and never blown the play dead, leading to a 54-yard touchdown.
LINK
