Will PR React?

[donny77]

we are looking at the spot of the ball the instance before it was snapped.  Taht was around the 12.5 yard line.  This means nothing though.  We need to see where the OFFICIAL placed the ball before the offense lined up.  Centers move the ball all the time.

[donny77]

Earlier in the game I happened to watch the official spot the ball.  Because of the rain the official held the ball under his towel until the offense broke huddle and then he placed it on the ground.  This means the markers and the spot of the ball were determined before the ball was placed down and means the ball could be misplaced at the wrong spot.  I really think this is what happened.  They did not get a 5th down, the ball was not placed on the correct LOS.

[PewterReportSR]

There was no fifth down play for the Redskins despite the way Fox and NFL.com had described the action. The mistake was that the call of first down by the on-field refs, who certainly gave Washington a generous spot, after Armstrong's catch was not picked up by the Fox broadcast team.

“I knew they gave him a first down,” Bucs head coach Raheem Morris said. “There was no scandal – no fifth play.”

[CyberDilemma]

There was no fifth down play for the Redskins despite the way Fox and NFL.com had described the action. The mistake was that the call of first down by the on-field refs, who certainly gave Washington a generous spot, after Armstrong's catch was not picked up by the Fox broadcast team.

“I knew they gave him a first down,” Bucs head coach Raheem Morris said. “There was no scandal – no fifth play.”

Thank you. That's what I have been trying to beat into everybody's head. The spot where they marked the catch was clearly past the 1st down marker and clearly beyond where he hit the ground.

[Biggs3535]

They didn't have the ball at the 12. It was at the 12 and a half.. The 1st was not given at the 3.. it was given at the 2 and a half.  Yards are actually rather long units of measure, it's almost impossible to get something on the exact yard line.

Um, yeah, you're still wrong.  The ball was spotted at the 12, not the 12 1/2.  And the sideline marker after that play was on the 3, not the 2 1/2.  So really, any way you look at it, you and the officials are still wrong.

Because the posted YouTube video doesn't show the prior play.  You are saying the first down marker is wrong, I am saying the spot of the ball on first down was wrong.  One means they got too many downs, the other means they got a free half yard, which isn't all that uncommon in the course of a game.  See the difference?

How many times do you see a center move the ball forward before snapping the ball, I think the officials spotted the ball a half yard off and the center moved it forward making it look like a whole yard off.  Without seeing the previous play again, I couldn't really say either way.

The previous spot was on the 12 yard line.  That YouTube clip is not as clear as my HDTV that has the game DVR'ed.

I really don't give a crap about how you want to word it, but the bottom line is the officials screwed up by giving Armstrong a first down because they had their marker directly on the 3 yard line.

[FreeWill]

It is so rediculous that there is still an argument over this. The ball was spotted maybe an inch or two off the 12 yard line. Look where the ref is standing. Look where the blue line is. LOOK WHERE THE BALL IS. It still does not explain why the field marker is on the 3! The marker should be at the 2.5 yard line if the ball was in fact spotted on the 12.5 yard line. But it isn't! The marker is EXACTLY ON THE 3 YARD LINE. For the marker to be on the 3 yard line, the ball must have started on the 13 yard line. But it didn't! You can count each individual yard! It adds up to 9 no matter which way you look at it.

[CTGuyton]

It is so rediculous that there is still an argument over this. The ball was spotted maybe an inch or two off the 12 yard line. Look where the ref is standing. Look where the blue line is. LOOK WHERE THE BALL IS. It still does not explain why the field marker is on the 3! The marker should be at the 2.5 yard line if the ball was in fact spotted on the 12.5 yard line. But it isn't! The marker is EXACTLY ON THE 3 YARD LINE. For the marker to be on the 3 yard line, the ball must have started on the 13 yard line. But it didn't! You can count each individual yard! It adds up to 9 no matter which way you look at it.

The marker on the far sideline is UNofficial. It's supposed to mirror the one on the near sideline which is out of view. We can't actually see where the official marker was.

[ISLAND BUCS]

Morris said the refs said first down on the pass catch.  He knew it was a first down.  Notice also that the 10 yard markers are no longer in play after the pass.  Both teams knew it was a first down.

[ryan24]

It is so rediculous that there is still an argument over this. The ball was spotted maybe an inch or two off the 12 yard line. Look where the ref is standing. Look where the blue line is. LOOK WHERE THE BALL IS. It still does not explain why the field marker is on the 3! The marker should be at the 2.5 yard line if the ball was in fact spotted on the 12.5 yard line. But it isn't! The marker is EXACTLY ON THE 3 YARD LINE. For the marker to be on the 3 yard line, the ball must have started on the 13 yard line. But it didn't! You can count each individual yard! It adds up to 9 no matter which way you look at it.

The marker on the far sideline is UNofficial. It's supposed to mirror the one on the near sideline which is out of view. We can't actually see where the official marker was.

The side judge straddled the 12 yard line on first down at the 12. So the starting point was the 12. The marker for the first down was at the 3. The player went down at or before he got to the 3 yard line. No matter how you look at it the officials messed up.

[ryan24]

Morris said the refs said first down on the pass catch.  He knew it was a first down.  Notice also that the 10 yard markers are no longer in play after the pass.  Both teams knew it was a first down.

That's pretty clear. It's the play which got them to the first down which is in question.

[FreeWill]

It is so rediculous that there is still an argument over this. The ball was spotted maybe an inch or two off the 12 yard line. Look where the ref is standing. Look where the blue line is. LOOK WHERE THE BALL IS. It still does not explain why the field marker is on the 3! The marker should be at the 2.5 yard line if the ball was in fact spotted on the 12.5 yard line. But it isn't! The marker is EXACTLY ON THE 3 YARD LINE. For the marker to be on the 3 yard line, the ball must have started on the 13 yard line. But it didn't! You can count each individual yard! It adds up to 9 no matter which way you look at it.

The marker on the far sideline is UNofficial. It's supposed to mirror the one on the near sideline which is out of view. We can't actually see where the official marker was.

Look where the ball is!

[FreeWill]

Wow guys. Go to Buccaneers.com and watch the Buccaneers vs. Redskins Highlights video. Start it at 1:54. Tell me the league would not go through this much effort if they didn't know they made a mistake. Why even bring any attention to it?

[BuccinTex]

CTGuyton is right and all of you guys whining about the markers and saying he's wrong are funny.   Those are the unofficial markers and I don't care how big your HDTV is or how cool your DVR is the OFFICIAL markers were right and not visible to you or any other viewer at the time.   They explained all this on NFL network, GTGuyton and I must be the only ones who watch it.     Who the hell cares anyway let's get that win next sunday. 

[barbernbrooks]

Watching that vid, it looks like a Fox eff up to me. He clearly got the 1st down on the 1st play.

Huh?  They went from the 12 to the 3.  That's 9 yards.

Forget what the announcers are saying. They are wrong. Look at where the 2 referees are standing to mark where the ball should go. It's over a yard past where Fox has the yellow line.

Dude the refs are standing out the 12 and the ball is on the 12 which means they need they 2 yard line and armstrong got to the 3 so you're wrong

Look at the 9 second mark in the vid to where the ref who is asking for the ball after the play is standing. It's more than 10 yards from where the play started.

Yeah, had he put it down yet? No...He was just wiping the ball down....off screen, he obviously spotted it at the 3. That's where our 2nd play was from...the 3.

I remember, because I was about to flip out when I saw the ref stand near the half yard line with the ball, but than when it was at the 3, I knew he had walked back a couple yards to put it down. And either way, if the refs did spot it ahead of the first, which they didn't, it would've been the worst spot ever in football...not to mention the booth didn't look at it....so either way, it's the refs fault.

[BuccaNova]

So what? This is a loser discussion. This is crap you argue over when you lose. This is the stuff that is all over the radio in DC today.  Is it going to change ever? No.  Are they going to admit a mistake, if made? No. Who cares. We won, that's history. If we had lost, I can see wasting some cry-time over it, but as is...who cares.