It is, but remember the D is subbing players in and out, calling their alignments, and so on, inside a loud ass stadium with fans cheering and music blaring, not everyone on defense might hear it, that’s why the play works once and awhile, its why the Lions did what they did.
There were 2 other players over there also reporting as eligible along with 68 Decker, so regardless of what Decker said it was confusing for the ref.
There is no reason for a linemen to approach the ref other than to report that he is an eligible receiver. If #70 wasn't reporting as eligible, he wouldn't go over to the ref.
If it was confusing to the ref, it is his job to straighten out the situation. It is completely on him, however you want to look at it.
Only one player can report as eligible by league rules. The involved players and Campbell were all adamant that it was 68 Decker and were beyond furious that the ref botched the call. 68 Decker, the LEFT tackle, was on the RIGHT side of the field talking to the ref before 70 Skipper ran onto the field. 1+1=2. The ref F’d up badly.
70 didn’t approach the ref. 68 did. 70 ran into the field while 68 was talking to the ref and just as the ref turned to talk to the defense.
Look at the video. #70 runs straight to the ref. It was obvious #70 got the ref's attention, #68 didn't say anything to get the ref's attention because he was lurking with #58. Once #70 gets within close proximity to the ref, the ref points at #70 signifying that #70 reported to him as eligible. The ref then goes over the deliver the message to the Cowboys. If #70 is not reporting as eligible, then he should be running over to the huddle, not the ref.
I’ve looked at it a bunch of times and have watched it with analysts breaking it down. Everyone in an America but you and jive turkey saw the same thing.
For starters, you had 3 lineman approach the official. #70 who reported as eligible on past plays runs to the official (why run to the ref if you are not reporting as eligible?) and tells him something. I assume he is telling him he is eligible because the ref points to him and walks over to Dallas to report.
Everyone messed up. There is no deception possible here. The ref tells the defence who reported as eligible. For Detroit to send multiple players accomplishes nothing except what actually happened. Dallas didn't need to cover that receiver, as he hadn't been announced by the ref. Detroit deceived themselves.
Exactly. If the ref is confused, it is on him to get the situation straight. Refs do this all of the time, when they confer with each other over calls.
The Lions deserve some of the blame, they created the situation that caused the confusion.
And remember, the refs are briefed before each game, about any unusual plays that a team might run. so they knew that Detroit had a play with that lineman being an eligible receiver. It is in more of a gaff that they botched it. Despite your conspiracy theory.
Yes...they did that a few plays during the game and #70 was the eligible receiver in those cases. This is why people are saying the Detroit intentionally tried to deceive the refs.
They didn't try to deceive the refs, they tried to deceive Dallas and it backfired.
Well said......this is how every sport should be played. No wonder less young people are choosing to be refs, the torment from fans and complexity of the game are frustrating.
LOL, I was trying to explain this to my wife right after this shit show happened and they were going on about it after the game. She was asking questions like, why don't they all report as eligible every play, and what was 58 doing over there. It devolved into well the ineligible receiver is just stupid.... which I kind of agree with. Do they really need that rule?
Is football the only sport where a penalty can happen due a number a player is wearing?
You might want to run that by Dan Campbell since he has the reason and has stated such....O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive! *
Another thing I forgot to add, if they did eliminate 50% of the rules, NOBODY WOULD NOTICE OR COMPLAIN.
The NFL has a set of numbers that aren't considered eligible. That's why they do this. It's important for the official to determine the if the alignment is legal and because at some point, someone definitely pulled a fast one using a loophole in the rules. So far as other sports, there is a lot made over numbers in volleyball because alignment is critical according to how players are rotating. If you think the NFL rule is murky, you'd love the way it's inconsistently applied in volleyball. We saw a violation that was not called in the NC game a few weeks ago. Didn't affect the outcome but it did get called in a pretty big state playoff game this year.
Yes? Kind of like, why do then have a rule about running 15 players onto the field for a punt or why do they have a rule about injuries delaying the game. Someone exploited it.
Probably a smart move considering the drama that has surrounded them since the Detroit/Cowgirls game. Any call would be scrutinized whether it was right or wrong.
