Hill: Official admit timeout error, robbing the Cowboys of a TD opportunity

Cotton

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Official admit timeout error, robbing the Cowboys of a TD opportunity

BY CLARENCE E. HILL JR.
chill@star-telegram.com

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett refused to discuss the officials after 13-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

But there is no question the Cowboys are unhappy about a blown call at the end of the first half, robbing them of a possible touchdown opportunity.

“That was a technicality, and that was screwed up,” owner Jerry Jones said. “…But I wouldn’t blame the game on that call or our outcome of the game on that call.”

The Seahawks called a illegal second consecutive timeout to avoid being penalized for an extra player on the field as the Cowboys were lining up for a 35-yard field goal.

Officials didn’t flag Seattle for the second timeout, which in turn prevented them from being penalized for having 12 players on the field.

“It’s double jeopardy,” referee Carl Cheffers said in a pool report. “The timeout should not have been granted. Obviously, the snap did not happen. At the time, the timeout was erroneously granted. It was not, by rule, 12 men on the field. We just made a mistake.”

If officials would have flagged Seattle for 12 men on the field, the Cowboys would have gotten a first down at the 12.

A touchdown was not a guarantee but the Cowboys were robbed of the opportunity by a blown call from the officials.
 

dallen

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How the F was it double jeopardy? It seems more like 2 wrongs make a right to me. Seattle committed a penalty in order to avoid being called for another penalty and neither of them were enforced.


It didn't cost the game, but it sure as shit didn't help.
 

Simpleton

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It really blows my mind how often mistakes like these are made in the NFL that have huge impacts on games.

In the NBA or MLB you see judgment type of calls that are maybe like 65/35 type of deals where you think they are wrong but you can kind of see what they were thinking (of course the NFL has more than their fair share of these too), but you don't see blatant procedural mistakes like this and the clock fiasco in the Steeler/Charger game a few weeks ago. I don't know if things happened like this 20+ years ago or not because I was too young at the time but the sport is really devalued in my mind with how it is being officiated these days.

There is more parity in the NFL than in any other major sport, and we all know that the margin between winning and losing is infinitely small most weeks, combine that with the arbitrary and capricious nature of the officiating and I think you have to question the integrity of the game. Of course the league doesn't give two fucks about the integrity of the sport as long as they're raking in cash through endorsements and getting ratings, the vast majority of which are based on the depravity of gambling addicts and the popularity of fantasy football.

If you put on NFL Network these days half of the shit you see are fantasy projections or graphics showing the top scorers of the day in daily fantasy leagues, it's a god damn joke what the league is turning the sport into, which is basically just a conduit for gambling.
 

dallen

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From the Official NFL rule book (pg 54) on what constitutes an Unsportsmanlike Penalty:

(x) Attempting to call an excess or illegal timeout to “freeze” a kicker prior to a field goal attempt or a Try Kick when:
(1) a team has already been charged a timeout during the same dead ball period
(2) a team has exhausted its three charged team timeouts that are permitted in a half
If an attempt is made to call a timeout in these situations, the officials shall not grant a timeout, play will continue, and a
penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct shall be enforced after the down has been completed. The penalty shall also be enforced
if a timeout is inadvertently granted.

Note: The Referee (or another official) will notify the Head Coach (i) that two charged timeouts by the same team in the
same dead ball period are not permitted, and (ii) when he has exhausted his three charged team timeouts in a half.
http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook/
 

Cowboysrock55

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I love how they admit that it was an error. Really? As though no one knew that? You granted a team an extra time out to save them from a penalty. Yeah, that's a screw up.
 

P_T

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If you put on NFL Network these days half of the shit you see are fantasy projections or graphics showing the top scorers of the day in daily fantasy leagues, it's a god damn joke what the league is turning the sport into, which is basically just a conduit for gambling.
This.
 

bbgun

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NFL conceded that the Lions were screwed in the playoff game and the Gmen in game one this year. Dallas fans didn't give a shit, so no whining now.
 

dallen

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NFL conceded that the Lions were screwed in the playoff game and the Gmen in game one this year. Dallas fans didn't give a shit, so no whining now.
People on this board have been complaining about terrible officiating around the league for a while now.
 

E_D_Guapo

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If you put on NFL Network these days half of the shit you see are fantasy projections or graphics showing the top scorers of the day in daily fantasy leagues, it's a god damn joke what the league is turning the sport into, which is basically just a conduit for gambling.
I wish DraftKings and FanDuel would both die a horrible death. Like, immediately. It is the most aggressive, invasive campaign of any kind that I have seen in a long time. But everyone sure as hell keeps taking their money and promoting them. It is sickening.
 

Cowboysrock55

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NFL conceded that the Lions were screwed in the playoff game and the Gmen in game one this year. Dallas fans didn't give a shit, so no whining now.
A judgment call on pass interference is way different then what happened in the Dallas/Seattle game. One is a judgment call that you see made on every play. There is a ton of grey area with that type of stuff. There is contact on almost every pass play and it's up to the refs to determine if the contact is enough to call PI or if it is "incidental."

The other is a black and white situation. There is no debate, no discussion, no possibility to argue it the other way. The refs just straight up didn't know the rules. Huge difference in my opinion.
 

Simpleton

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NFL conceded that the Lions were screwed in the playoff game and the Gmen in game one this year. Dallas fans didn't give a shit, so no whining now.
The Lions TE had his hands on Hitchens just as much as Hitchens had his hands on him on that play last year, that's an example of a 65/35 type of play that I mentioned that you think is wrong but you can kind of see what they were thinking.

I'm talking about referees making mistakes that flat out fly in the face of obvious rules week in and week out, that doesn't happen in other sports as much as it does in the NFL.

Everybody knows damn good and well that a team can't call 2 timeouts in a row, especially not to save their asses because they have 12 men on the field, it's those kind of procedural mistakes that are unbelievable. I'm not talking about a referee missing some hand-fighting in a bang, bang type of play or missing a holding at full speed, those happen each and every week in every game, and are bad enough in their own right.

I'm talking about situations where the referees have plenty of time to address a procedural issue during a dead ball and they still dick it all up.
 

bbgun

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A judgment call on pass interference is way different then what happened in the Dallas/Seattle game. One is a judgment call that you see made on every play. There is a ton of grey area with that type of stuff. There is contact on almost every pass play and it's up to the refs to determine if the contact is enough to call PI or if it is "incidental."

The other is a black and white situation. There is no debate, no discussion, no possibility to argue it the other way. The refs just straight up didn't know the rules. Huge difference in my opinion.
True, pass interference (like Leary holding Suh on a critical play) is in the eye of the beholder, but overruling the official who was closest to the play by picking up the flag was egregious.
 

Cowboysrock55

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but overruling the official who was closest to the play by picking up the flag was egregious.
And if he didn't throw the flag in the first place it would have never been mentioned.
 

Genghis Khan

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NFL conceded that the Lions were screwed in the playoff game and the Gmen in game one this year. Dallas fans didn't give a shit, so no whining now.
Are you retarded? Do you not know what a fan is? I'm rooting for my team to win. I'm NOT rooting for fairness or balance or any similar bullshit. I couldn't care less about being objective. I want my team to win. I disagree with the notion that Detroit got screwed, but I wouldn't give a single fuck if they did.

So yeah, if my team gets screwed by a call, it irks me. Other teams, not so much.
 

NoDak

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Are you retarded? Do you not know what a fan is? I'm rooting for my team to win. I'm NOT rooting for fairness or balance or any similar bullshit. I couldn't care less about being objective. I want my team to win. I disagree with the notion that Detroit got screwed, but I wouldn't give a single fuck if they did.

So yeah, if my team gets screwed by a call, it irks me. Other teams, not so much.
:lol

Exactly.
 

boozeman

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Are you retarded? Do you not know what a fan is? I'm rooting for my team to win. I'm NOT rooting for fairness or balance or any similar bullshit. I couldn't care less about being objective. I want my team to win. I disagree with the notion that Detroit got screwed, but I wouldn't give a single fuck if they did.

So yeah, if my team gets screwed by a call, it irks me. Other teams, not so much.
:lol
 

bbgun

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Are you retarded? Do you not know what a fan is? I'm rooting for my team to win. I'm NOT rooting for fairness or balance or any similar bullshit. I couldn't care less about being objective. I want my team to win. I disagree with the notion that Detroit got screwed, but I wouldn't give a single fuck if they did.

So yeah, if my team gets screwed by a call, it irks me. Other teams, not so much.
I totally reject that "my team right or wrong" mindset, but thanks for your input.
 

boozeman

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I totally reject that "my team right or wrong" mindset, but thanks for your input.
Keep it real, even here in this nest of homers. I admire you, bb.
 
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