posted by Zebra Man on Sep 27

On 1st down from the Atlanta 43 yard line with 5:59 remaining in the first quarter, Atlanta defensive end, Jamaal Anderson, is reminded not to touch New England quarterback Tom Brady with a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty.

The Patriots drive to the Atlanta 3 yard line before kicking a field goal. The Patriots win by a score of 26 to 10.

Is this really roughing the passer??? Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Zebra Man on Sep 14

Throughout the 2009 NFL season, the Zebrawatch staff will highlight bad calls during games:

WEEK 01 2009 – Raiders versus the Zebras

Critical Bad Ruling:

Week 1 – Oakland Raiders at home against the San Diego Chargers – 00:45 remaining in the first half – Louis Murphy (WR-OAK) (rookie) catches a pass in the end zone, maintains possession while both feet are established in the end zone. However, beyond the end of the play, he is tackled to the ground and the tip of the ball touches the turf. Upon further review, the TD is negated; Oakland is forced to settle for a FG.

If a running back can not fumble when breaking the plane, why does a receiver have to maintain possession THROUGH THE GROUND when tackled in the end zone? When a receiver breaks the plane with clear possession, it is a touchdown! A player that has possession in the end zone can not be tackled… because it is a touchdown and the play is over… Why does it matter if the ball touches the ground during a reception when possession is clearly evident? This is a bad rule…:

Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 1:

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete.

As Howie Long said on the following Sunday’s Fox Pregame Show: “90% of the people watching said it was….what? A Touchdown!” (paraphrased)

Critical Bad Call:

San Diego possession, 1st and 10 at the Oakland 32 yard line with 1:42 remaining in the 4th quarter – Philip Rivers (QB-SD) takes the snap; Trevor Scott (DE-OAK) beats his man quickly and reaches the QB… Rivers, while standing in the pocket between his tackles, throws the ball in the dirt at the 35 yard line (3 yards behind the line of scrimmage). 5′6″ Darren Sproles (#43, RB-SD) is at the 27 yd line, 8 yards away. The side-arm pass which is clearly meant to avoid the sack and lands nowhere near Sproles is given to the Chargers as an incomplete pass despite the clear intentional grounding.


San Diego scores the winning Touchdown a few seconds later to continue their dominance over the Raiders by 4 points.. Final Score: 24 to 20.