Official Alex Smith taking the ball off the field thread

Not blaming the loss entirely off of that but the NFL screwed that all up.

 

Yep, that was a huge blunder by the refs.

 

Huge blunder. Holding call on Watt was equally as bad for me.

 

They had to know when it happened that it was total BS.

my question is, whose responsibility is it to get the ball? Is the team supposed to give it to the refs or are the refs in possession of it? Either way, they should never have stopped the clock on that.

 

Sorry, but no. Watt grabbed the guy.

 

Alex Smith lost 100% of my respect. F him and his great story. Dude is a flat out cheater.

 

I now root against him and don’t care if he loses his job.

 

They made the same call in the bills game. Said you can hit the guy but not reach out like that.

 

It happens to Watt every game with no call. Consistency would be great.

 

To be fair, the call against Watt was obvious. Yes, Watt gets held far too often with no call. Washington's right tackle also got away with taking a step back before the snap on one of the big plays on the game-tying touchdown drive. It wasn't even close. That no-call was far worse than the holding flag against Watt.

 

I am upset that Tomlin was not upset when the call happened. Did not ask for any kind of clarification on what was going on?

Most coaches would of had to have a meeting with the officials to go over what was happening and why they were putting 8 seconds back on the clock. A few of the smarter coaches would have had the officials get hold of New York and get clarification on the rules.

Tomlin stood there like an idiot with his thumb up his ass and didn't say anything!

 

Do you think he kept the football? As in still has the football.

And, how infamous does this football become in NFL history if the Steelers run the Table.

Hopefully someone will ask him if he still has the football on one of these morning shows.

 

So very true !! Could you Ben running off the field with the ball in the same scenerio, say ... vs the Ravens ? Hardbaugh would’ve been yelling and screaming !! Not sure what the hell Tomlin was thinking.

 

Another poster in the game day thread was spot on when he felt there should have been a delay of game inside the 2 minute mark and 5 seconds ran off the clock.

 

If there was no penalty for walking off with the ball, a player will walk off with the ball every time they want a free time out. This could happen 30 times a game. Why ever take a time out?

 

Yeah that wasn’t even close. Obvious penalty.

 

B.S. Tomlin was arguing with the referees.

 

Maybe I’m misunderstanding things. Smith knew they were going to try a field goal, so he was fine taking the gameplay ball off the field. The officials couldn’t find the K ball (for reasons not disclosed—it’s the kicking team’s responsibility to have it ready), and that’s why they stopped the clock and eventually put eight seconds back.

 

I never really paid attention to the different footballs for kickoffs and/or FG's. Any Idea what the actual difference is? Slightly smaller, bigger, different psi's? Does it create an advantage to kickers and why we see 58 yard tries on a regular basis?

Also, if it's really the kicking teams responsibility and not the refs then it should have been a delay of game penalty. Definitely was a momentum swing the old Redskins.

 

From the Deflategate reporting, I recall the footballs are prepped re: surface and can be inflated to anywhere within the legal range. QBs are finicky about the feel and grip, and they prefer lower PSI; kickers probably don’t care about feel and benefit from higher PSI. So...different game and kicking balls.

I also thought Washington shouldn’t have benefited from the officials not being able to get a K ball from *Washington’s* staff.

 

I was honestly a little bit confused about the whole thing. I didn't really know that depending on time, the game ball would be used instead of the K-ball. I've had to do a bit of reading to fully understand what was supposed to happen and what did happen.

There is of course no way to know Alex Smith's intentions. With that said, between Jim Miller, who we all know is a former QB, and Pat Kirwan, who I think is one of the smartest football minds out there, neither were aware that that game ball would be used instead of the K-ball when the special teams is being rushed out there. So I think it's likely that Alex thought he was helping out his special teams by getting the game ball off the field so the K-ball could be used.

Still, the refs shouldn't have allowed Washington to benefit from it, but it's likely something they haven't experienced before in their careers. Easy to make a mistake when you're faced with a scenario you haven't faced before.

All in all, we had plenty of opportunities to put this game away and we couldn't do it

 

Watt actually turned the guy around. That was as blatant a hold as you'll ever see.

 

I disagree with both of you. You are allowed to jam a running back the same way you are allowed to jam a receiver. Watt did extend his arm. Watt did get a piece of his jersey, but only for a split second. Even in slow motion this was a ticky tacky call. In real time it appeared that Watt checked the running back coming out of the backfield, which again you are allowed to do. In that situation that's a bad call. Smith was back peddling for his life. It wasn't much of a hold IMO. It certainly wasn't enough of a hold to warrant Washington getting a fresh set of downs.

Does anyone have a link to the play? I was trying to re-watch it and I can't find it anywhere.

 

I know you're a big Watt fan, but he grabbed the guy. Watt didn't even complain or protest.