Zebra Report: Off-Week Mailbag

Zebra Report is FanHouse's analysis of actual NFL rules and how they are to be applied ... because most fans think they could do a better job than the NFL officials, yet definitely could not. Click here for an introduction as to how we do things.

As we were without meaningful football this past weekend, it gives the Zebra Report a chance to clean out the old inbox. I can't publish every question I've received, because there are far too many, but I have answered everyone. As always, if you have a question about the rules (or just want to tell me I suck), please email me at: zebrareport2009@gmail.com.

We'll start with a great technical question.

• Robin F. asks: Seven officials can't hope to see every single action that occurs in a game with 22 players and three dimensions. I'm sure that collective experience has shown where officials should be placed to maximize the action they can see, and a significant part of good officiating is learning when and how to get where you need to be. Still, are there spots where a player is more likely to get away with a foul?

The short answer is no. Blind spots for an officiating crew are dynamic in the sense that they are ever-changing. The seven officials all are assigned to certain areas and players, but those assignments are constantly changing as the action of the play dictates it. Small windows of blind spots happen on most every play, but there's no way to predict where or when they might happen with any degree of accuracy.

• Many people are still focusing on the Colts' motion before an offensive play and we've covered that. Specifically, though, there are several readers wanting to know why Peyton Manning isn't committing a false start penalty when he backs out of center or when he steps into the snap from shotgun.

First of all, when Manning backs out from center to change the play, he doesn't make what I would construe as an "abrupt" motion. Remember, non-abrupt action is legal, as long as it stops prior to the snap.

On the perception that Manning is approaching the line at the snap when he's in shotgun, we have this rule (7-2-6):

Note 1: No player is ever permitted to be moving obliquely or directly forward toward his opponent's goal line at snap.

Also, the case book has this situation:

Third-and-one on the B40. Quarterback A1 stops about a foot behind the center and then moves forward and takes the snap and goes to the B38. Ruling: Illegal motion. Can't be moving forward at snap. A's ball third-and-six on B45.

Remember, though, he only has to come to a pause for one second after lifting his leg to signal a snap. It does appear Manning is gaining ground when he does the leg lift, but as long as he comes to a complete stop for one second he's not doing anything illegal.

• Commenter Mike asked this under last week's Zebra Report: Ok, here is a rule that I could never understand. If a defensive player hits you in the facemask, it is illegal hands to the face. FLAG. But if a running back stiff arms a defensive player to the facemask it's not? Why? It is still tweaking the players' neck, the reason that the rule was imposed, for the safety of the players.

In rule 12-1-2a, it says, "A runner may ward off opponents with his hands and arms." The runner still may not, however, grasp, twist or turn the facemask. He also cannot hit an opposing player with a closed fist or club him with his hand. As long as he's shoving the opponent away with his hand, though, the stiff arm is a perfectly legal play.

• ZR Hall of Famer Bears Fan Dan submitted the following question: How do officials handle garbage games? Are they more likely to let up on certain calls if the team is losing by 5-6 TDs or do they tighten up on things like taunting and after the whistle pushing?

This is a tough one, which is why Dan's a Hall of Famer. Typically speaking, every single play should be called the same, no matter the situation. Especially at the NFL-level, where every player is a professional, the officials should always call everything equally. Of course, it's always possible for human nature to take over. I'm going to speak from my high school officiating experience here on some factors that could come into play.

First of all, when a game is an obvious blow out, getting both teams out of there quickly is a priority. Thus, a marginal holding call away from the ball on either team is likely to be let go -- as long as you talk to both the offending player and the player who was held. People don't like seeing the field peppered with flags anyway, but especially not when there is a blowout.

Of course, the biggest priority is always safety. Every safety issue (block in the back, illegal block below the waist, facemask, unnecessary roughing, etc.) will get called no matter the score. We would probably crack down a bit more on taunting and things of the sort in a blowout, because this can escalate into more of an issue as the blowout progresses. Keeping the coaches apprised of what players are talking a bit too much is always key, because they have the power to remove potential problem players from the game.

Finally, no one wants to be construed as an official who "calls the scoreboard" or tries to "keep it close." The team who is getting blown out should always be treated the exact same as the team who is winning.

Again, though, I'm just a lowly high school official. I'd guess the NFL officials call every play like it's the first quarter of the Super Bowl.

• Emailer Jerry wants to know how it's possible for two officials to be looking at the same receiver and have only one conclude there was pass interference on the play.

Every official has a different angle to every play, so one guy might have seen an arm doing something that the other couldn't see, for example. Also, has anyone ever watched a game or even a movie with someone where one of you caught something and the other didn't? It's only human. Now think about trying to watch 22 incredible athletes at full speed. That's why there are seven guys out there.

I can tell you from my high school officiating experience, there will be times that my line judge throws interference and I don't (I'm a back judge) and I want to call it off. Once we talk it over, though, he'll say something like, "did you see his back arm doing XXXXXXXX?" and I'll say, "no, couldn't see that, OK, good call." I'll assume the NFL officials do the same, only to a much greater extent on nearly every play.

• Emailer F.S. submitted the following: During the Cards/Packers game we noticed several times that the clock didn't stop when a player went out of bounds at the end of a play (either forced out or they ran out). When did the rule change that keeps the clock running and what circumstances permit the clock to continue to run?

Part of this has to do with forward progress. If a player is knocked backward or even directly sideways from where he was inbounds, the clock will continue to run because his furthest point of progress occurred when he was still inbounds. If a player's greatest point of progress is when he goes out, they'll stop the clock. Watch the officials on the sideline when this happens -- they'll either make an emphatic winding motion with one arm or kill the clock by waving both hands over their heads.

Also, the clock will always start back up after a play went out of bounds -- when the clock initially does stop -- when the ball is set and the referee (the one wearing the white hat) blows his whistle to signify the play is active (this is called the "ready for play whistle"). The exception here is that when there are less than five minutes left in either half, the clock won't start until the snap following a play that went out of bounds.

• Emailer John B. asks: Recently, the NHL had a controversy with one of their games whereby one of the goals was not upheld because the video production team withheld the tell-tale video angle of a goal score by the opposing team. It turns out that the NHL uses the network broadcast as their video reviews, Does the NFL operate the same way? Does the NFL ensure that they are getting all possible available angles from the production team? Is there a member of NFL security in the production trailer or room?

Actually, in the NFL the league itself completely controls the replay system, so this would not happen. It's probably much easier, logistically, for them to do so since every single game is broadcast by a national network (Fox, CBS, ESPN or NFL Network) instead of a local crew who may have bias. There is a replay official who works for the NFL (many are retired referees) at every game.

• Finally, a creative and quite intriguing idea from loyal emailer Chris R. I'll let him bring it home without adding comments of my own:

Everyone agrees that there are too many situations where all parties on the field in an NFL game are helpless to stop an injustice. But yet there also must be limits to challenges for obvious reasons. Often, there is an epic judgment call failure in a key situation and no one in the NFL has the power to stop it in real time. One gets the sense that even the guy who made the call is kicking himself a few seconds later but can do nothing. The officiating crew is not being allowed to perform at the top of their game by correcting an obvious error on the fly. Apology letters should not be common when they could be avoided instead. I think this systemic flaw can be corrected in an efficient and elegant way.

Face masks, mystery interference, etc are not currently reviewable plays, but if both the grading of an officials performance and the game were on the line, the crew would often reverse their own judgment call and get it correct. The problem is that these unreviewable judgment calls are currently "fixed events" in time.

The NFL can solve this issue by allowing teams six to eight "wild card reviews" per season. Even officiating crews and upstairs in the booth could have a wild card review that would allow the officials to review absolutely anything on a critical play. The beauty of the concept is that the NFL gains freedom and live in-game flexibility while still not micromanaging what is or isn't technically a reviewable play. With a wild card, someone getting their groin stomped on is reviewable if that's the play you think it's going to cost a team a playoff spot. Otherwise it's not. You still have to live with a final human judgment call, but at least it's now under the spotlight for review. A fight situation can result in the perpetrator finally getting caught rather than the retaliator's instant reaction costing his team a playoff game. A receiver who drags down a defender to draw an defensive pass interference call in a desperate ploy to steal a victory can be caught.

Got a rules-related question? Whether it's an elementary, high school or NFL rule -- or hate mail -- feel free to email TZR. Also, the comments section on the Zebra Report is an open forum. Discussion is encouraged from people who want to discuss the rules like mature adults.