NFL: Giants would have been flagged if they spiked it

AP Via ESPN ^ | 1-6-03 | ANON

[Pharmboy]

NEW YORK -- Giants holder Matt Allen could not have spiked the botched snap on the final play of New York's loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

It's against the rules.

Mike Pereira, the NFL supervisor of officials, confirmed Monday that Allen would not have been allowed to immediately spike the ball because it was a long snap. The only time a player can spike the ball is when he takes the snap from under the center.

With six seconds left Sunday and the Giants trailing 39-38, Matt Bryant lined up to try a potential game-winning 41-yard field goal. The snap from newly signed Trey Junkin was in the dirt. Allen fumbled the ball, then made a desperation pass downfield to what turned out to be an ineligible receiver, guard Rich Seubert.

Fox commentator Cris Collinsworth said at the time that since it was third down, Allen could have spiked the ball, giving the Giants another chance at a kick. Afterward, on the Fox postgame show, other commentators agreed.

Pereira said the only other option would have been to throw to an eligible receiver.

[discostu]

Because the kick was already coming from the outside of their kickers range (he'd already missed one from 1 yard further out). Taking the tackle moves everything back 7 or so yards. Throwing an incomplete pass out of bound while inside "the box" is intentional grounding. A poster above really hit was his best option was, throw it to the feet of the guy on the outside left of the line, he's an elligible receiver, and as long as there's a snowballs chance in hell a pass could be caught they'll never call it intentional grounding. Also not running around like an idiot and hoovering up clock would have been a good idea. No matter how you slice it he did the absolute wrong thing in that circumstance.

[dfwgator]

Enjoy it now, because it all ends for you next week in Tampa.

[E Rocc]

Everey time collingsworth opens his mouth , i want to stuff it with dogs#$%.

He spent his entire career as a Bengal. Competence is a foreign concept to him.

-Eric

[CougarGA7]

Did you hear ol' Bret Mushburger on Saturday. The game is going on and he's there reminensing about Sid Gilman. With all due respect to Sid, CALL THE GAME. Don't go walking down memory lane DURING a play. I finally had to shout at the TV "SHUT UP, BRET!" I doubt he heard me.

[dtel]

Speaking of radio guys, Brad Sham rocks.
I am glad JJones got him back on our local broadcasts.

[walkingdead]

All for not, because this is the year of the Raiders. They got robbed last year, and this year they're here to make things right.

[twyn1]

I enjoyed watching both games yesterday -- even tho' I wasn't rooting for the Steelers, it was really exciting ! That poor Browns guy (Andre King??) struggling to make it back to his feet and stretching in a vain attempt to get the ball over the sideline as the seconds ticked off was so dramatic -- I could hear the "Chariots of Fire" music in my head as they showed it in slo-mo

[dfwgator]

That's what happens when you have to constantly shuffle in new snappers and kickers. Personally I'd love to see the kicking game removed from football. There's nothing worse than 300-pound warriors going at it for 59 minutes, only to have the game decided by some little foreigner who comes on the field saying, "I'm gonna kick a touchdown."

[BaghdadBarney]

"Secondly: Okay, he spikes it. Illegal forward pass. 5 yards and loss of down. Because he does it so quickly, there's time left on the clock. They get another shot. That's preferable to what did happened."

They get another shot to botch the snap? Have Matt Bryant kick another wounded duck from Fillmore Street?

[HIDEK6]

What would the penalty have been?

Whatever, plus a 10 second runoff because it would have been an offensive penalty in the final two minutes.

[CyberCowboy777]

I'll take what they give me! LOL

This isn't the eighties or even the nineties, but it only takes a small event to change the course of human endeavors.

[CougarGA7]

What I don't understand is why a team calls a timeout to "Ice" the kicker. Hell, the guy has been sitting on his butt for the last half hour. How are you going to rattle the guy.

Kickers aren't really football players, that's why they sit on the bench ALONE.

[walkingdead]

There's nothing worse than 300-pound warriors going at it for 59 minutes, only to have the game decided by some little foreigner who comes on the field saying, "I'm gonna kick a touchdown."

Man I'm LMAO over here!

[7thson]

Would anyone here agree with me that one of the mistakes the New Jersey Dwarfs made was have a punter take the snap vice having the back-up QB. Do punters know who to throw to? Back up QB's should know.

[mr.pink]

stupid stuff like not calling a delay of game (in the Steelers-Browns game) on Cleveland was nuts...

Seemed to me there were a couple of plays where the Browns were given a 47 second clock....and they used all 47 seconds. ;o)

After this weekend, I'm kinda hoping we get a 17-14 type of game this upcoming weekend.....maybe Pitt vs. Tenn.

[dfwgator]

Actually I think that quote came from Alex Karras.

[blackdog]

Shockey could have used his super powers to taunt the clock, causing it to stop dead in fear. Shockey could have then lined up under center, thrown the ball into the outer atmosphere where in an earlier time warp his blazing speed opened up giving him an opportunity to catch his own pass in the end zone upon it's return to earth. As a matter of fact, next year the entire team and coaching staff of the Giants can stay at home and just let Shockey play. He can just put on a cape and fly to each venue, landing mid-field just in time for the coin toss.

[chimera]

Did the Jints have any timeouts left? Can anyone but the QB take a knee? If the answer is yes, then obviously that would be the thing to do and give the kicker another, albeit longer, shot. Anything with a penalty is NG because of the time runoff thingie. Heaving a desperation pass to a bunch of guys who just scattered downfield seems like a panicky thing to try (e.g., Garo).

But, bottom line, the Jints defense froze. Did they lay down or what? But give the niners their props, though. They didn't quit. Its a starnge game, sometimes, and as long as there's time on the clock, anything can happen (like the Fiesta Bowl - yes!).

[dtel]

Simply cannot stand Mushberger, what a pompous ass.

[discostu]

There were only 6 seconds on the clock when the ball was snapped, if the bad snap-control-stand up-spike takes more than 1 second (plus whatever fraction of a second was there that the NFL doesn't show... I love that BTW) then the 5 second count off ends the game. But don't quote me, I'm not sure the 5 second count off is still there.

I think the missed delay of game penalty was the result of two things: 1 - the Browns had been called for it a lot already, I think even the refs were having a hard time believing these guys were so bad at counting to 45; 2 - "all star" refing squads, the NFL assembles reffing squads for the playoffs from "the best" in the league during the regular season (where they work as a unit, same 8 guys for 17 weeks) you see a lot of confusion as refs are used to guy X looking for "that" but guy X isn't there. I'd bet none of the 8 zebras on the field in Pittsburgh were the designated clock watcher for their group. The Steelers did a good job of pointing it out most of the time though ;)