NFL sends video to teams regarding players reporting as eligible

[MarcusRock]

Would not have mattered if 70's acting job had worked because the defense still would have to have been notified if #68 was the one declared eligible. Had he been then there isn't much doubt that the Cowboys would have covered him. Especially there wasn't much of a run fake as I can recall. Had they gone with a run fake I could buy a tackle being able to sneak out to the flat but absent that there's just no way.

Well that's obvious because the number has to be announced. Detroit was going for the okie doke by lining up 68 as eligible on one side and 58 on the other side plus bringing in 70 as they had done prior to catch the defense sleeping. When Goff gets to the line he can then pick his options based on whether Dallas did cover 68 or if they fell for the okie doke. Even with the busted reporting, they had a shot with the RB in the flat who only had 1 guy to beat to the pylon. The big question is how they missed 70 being announced and still went through with it as if 68 was announced.

 

[Flamma]

It might have been legal if HE had be the only one who reported eligible. The fact that the refs only announced #70 as eligible then by definition the instant anybody covered him up the formation became illegal. Both Sewell AND the wide receiver to that side covered up Skipper and of course the receiver covered up Sewell. So TWO cases of illegal formation in addition to the undeclared ineligible receiver on the other side. The just for grins let's throw the ball to that guy. So really four fouls on one play. Frankly the Lions should be castigated for NOT knowing how illegal this was.. if in fact they didn't know.. which I doubt.

Yeah, the formation was illegal on both sides. Since 68 didn't report, he needs to be covered up. The entire formation is fine as long as it's 68 that reports. But that little shift crap on the right side of the line is cheap garbage tactics.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Why would he do that? 70 is a big boy and can do it himself if that's what he wanted to do, lol. It was just a mess by the Lions. If you watch the video, 68 also touches himself on the chest as he's approaching the ref, albeit less demonstratively and appears to be talking to the ref too with his head bobbing up and down. But 70 running and doing that signal is probably the one that sticks out more to the ref so he goes with that. What 70 should have done was just run at the other 2 players there while not even looking at the ref and follow behind him as he's talking to the Dallas players as he kinda did. He did too good an acting job and convinced the ref.

yeah, but to confuse the cowboys and the refs. 70 came out late and gesturing. it was all designed to cause confusion. they got caught in a mess they made. not only that, if not that penalty, then they had an illegal formation. its not in the good spirit of the game. resorting to trickery. that's BS.

 

[gimmesix]

Well the rules don't state what you have to say, only that you make a physical and verbal sign that you're reporting. If you look at the video, 68 does make a subdued physical sign and you can tell he's saying something to the ref. 70 just takes the ref's attention away and his more demonstrative sign won him over is what I'm guessing.

I read somewhere that sometimes the QB tells the ref who is reporting, and then I guess the lineman does the physical sign. I wonder if since 68's physical sign was subdued to keep Dallas from noticing that Allen thought Decker was reporting for 70 ... since Skipper was jogging over and making the physical sign. Of course, the video doesn't say that someone else can give the verbal sign for the reporting player.

 

[gimmesix]

I know some fans are tired of it, but I've actually enjoyed the discussion on this. There are elements to this rule that I did not know.

 

[Mark]

Detroit (Dan Campbell) received just desserts.

A playoff rematch would be interesting.

 

[zack]

Watch the video. It's pretty much a smack down of the Lions' shenanigans.

So should I post to Facebook so all my friends from back from my hometown of Detroit MI can see that they are all wrong??

 

[pentatwirl]

Well the rules don't state what you have to say, only that you make a physical and verbal sign that you're reporting. If you look at the video, 68 does make a subdued physical sign and you can tell he's saying something to the ref. 70 just takes the ref's attention away and his more demonstrative sign won him over is what I'm guessing.

Agreed, and I think it hurts Detroit even more the way they did it to maximize deception. 68 said he did what his coaches told him to do, which was to just say "report". At the moment of Decker's subdued tummy touch at 0:27, Skipper's already sprinted to within a few yards and they are basically all in a clump in Allen's line of sight. Saying "report" at that moment probably just adds to the mess. Maybe if Decker says "68 reporting" when he taps his tummy that is enough to alert Allen that something is different, especially since 68 and 70 could not both become eligible.

 

[DCwarrior]

What I can’t figure out is if Ref announces who’s eligible and Lions knew the player they wanted was not announced then why not get Ref to acknowledge it and correct it. Is it as simple as then the Boys would know who to cover?

If that’s the case then Lions were definitely trying shenanigans and deserved what they got which is a loss.

 

[Lutonio]

It might have been legal if HE had be the only one who reported eligible. The fact that the refs only announced #70 as eligible then by definition the instant anybody covered him up the formation became illegal. Both Sewell AND the wide receiver to that side covered up Skipper and of course the receiver covered up Sewell. So TWO cases of illegal formation in addition to the undeclared ineligible receiver on the other side. The just for grins let's throw the ball to that guy. So really four fouls on one play. Frankly the Lions should be castigated for NOT knowing how illegal this was.. if in fact they didn't know.. which I doubt.

Sewell’s initial position caught my eye earlier today when I went back to watch the play. Now I’m hearing people say he initially lined up at tight end and doesn’t have decades there. Any insight on this?

 

[CoachD]

Now that the play has been broken down with the refs getting the call right bottom line is the Lions tried to cheat their way to a win and with that I have a new name for their head coach Dan Scambell

 

[pete026]

Exactly. They thought they could convince the Cowboys that Skipper was the eligible player and not Decker.

I would have given it to them just for the sheer genius of it.

BTW, I am 100% convinced that had we not inducted Jimmy that play would have stood.

Jerry is sneaky smart.... held out on Jimmy's induction for just the right time.

 

[Cowboys22]

70 did a physical sign. The video says there needs to be a physical AND a verbal sign and he contends he didn't give a verbal. Maybe Campbell thought he could get away with only doing one and not the other.

No, the plan was for him to run on making the motion but never verbalizing. That was intended to confuse Dallas. 68 also verbalized but did not jesture so Dallas wouldn’t see it. That was all the plan and they told the refs before the game wanting them to ignore 70 swiping his chest as he ran in. Problem was Allen wasn’t in that pregame meeting and interpreted 70s actions as reporting and that’s why he announced him. It all a lot Detroit trying to exploit the rules and basically cheat. They even tried to enlist the refs to participate in their scheme. They got what they deserved.

 

[gimmesix]

Well that's obvious because the number has to be announced. Detroit was going for the okie doke by lining up 68 as eligible on one side and 58 on the other side plus bringing in 70 as they had done prior to catch the defense sleeping. When Goff gets to the line he can then pick his options based on whether Dallas did cover 68 or if they fell for the okie doke. Even with the busted reporting, they had a shot with the RB in the flat who only had 1 guy to beat to the pylon. The big question is how they missed 70 being announced and still went through with it as if 68 was announced.

I guess they were locked in on the play and just didn't listen or else the crowd noise made it hard for them to hear. If they were going to try to pull off this subterfuge, I would have made sure I had an audible ready in case something like this went wrong ... and that I listened to make sure the official got it right.

Every other team should learn from Detroit's mistake, though.

 

[Buzzbait]

It might have been legal if HE had be the only one who reported eligible. The fact that the refs only announced #70 as eligible then by definition the instant anybody covered him up the formation became illegal. Both Sewell AND the wide receiver to that side covered up Skipper and of course the receiver covered up Sewell. So TWO cases of illegal formation in addition to the undeclared ineligible receiver on the other side. The just for grins let's throw the ball to that guy. So really four fouls on one play. Frankly the Lions should be castigated for NOT knowing how illegal this was.. if in fact they didn't know.. which I doubt.

Campbell knew, that's why he acted SO mad, to cover up like he didn't know.

 

[speedkilz88]

I read somewhere that sometimes the QB tells the ref who is reporting, and then I guess the lineman does the physical sign. I wonder if since 68's physical sign was subdued to keep Dallas from noticing that Allen thought Decker was reporting for 70 ... since Skipper was jogging over and making the physical sign. Of course, the video doesn't say that someone else can give the verbal sign for the reporting player.

Dak tried that a and we got flagged.

 

[Cowboys22]

Well the rules don't state what you have to say, only that you make a physical and verbal sign that you're reporting. If you look at the video, 68 does make a subdued physical sign and you can tell he's saying something to the ref. 70 just takes the ref's attention away and his more demonstrative sign won him over is what I'm guessing.

Which was all by design to confuse Dallas. They thought the refs knew exactly who they wanted eligible because they told them before the game. Problem was Allen was not in on that meeting and took their actions at face value and interpreted it as 70 reporting. This is all on Campbell. He knew he basically tried to cheat and that why he didn’t want to talk about it. 68 didn’t really want to talk about it either. The most he would say is he did what the coaches asked him to do and he thought he reported. You could tell by his demeanor that he knew he had not done what the rules say he should.

 

[RonnieT24]

Sewell’s initial position caught my eye earlier today when I went back to watch the play. Now I’m hearing people say he initially lined up at tight end and doesn’t have decades there. Any insight on this?

Sewell actually initially lined up in the slot but then shifted to a tight end position outside of Skipper. All part of the eye candy of the trickeration to detract attention from #68 on the other side. Problem is, the fact that #68 was never announced meant they didn't HAVE to pay him any attention. Apparently this minor detail missed the Lions' braintrust.

 

[Lutonio]

Was it legal for Sewell to line up in the slot and then motion back to RT? If an OL never declared himself eligible then I thought they could only line up on the LOS.

Looking at it again, I think Sewell is okay because he is covered by two receivers on his right. The problem is that he is covering Skipper, who had been (correctly or incorrectly) declared eligible. Once he’s declared eligible and Sewell lines up there, that’s an illegal formation.

 

[Beaker42]

Watch the video. It's pretty much a smack down of the Lions' shenanigans.

Simple - do away with the reporting. If you’re not a RB, WR or TE you can’t catch the ball.