Play Clock Solution / Delay of Game

[SteveFreeman22]

They should just let the play play out. Let defense decide if they want the result of the play or take the penalty.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Per McAfee yesterday (Ian Rappaport segment), the NFL had a chip in the Cinci/Ravens game ball to determine how close it came to breaking the plane of the goal line right before the fumble, so why can't those same chips tell us when it was snapped relative to the play clock?    

[clayboy54]

When the play clock hits zero the obnoxious train horn automatically goes off and the play ends. Just like the buzzer in basketball or hockey. That is simple. So simple that the NFL would never do it.

[Dan Darragh]

OK, maybe I'm obsessed.

 

I went back and rewatched the game so the rest of you wouldn't have to.  I counted SIX plays when the play clock said "0" before Miami snapped the ball.  Several of those times the snap came after the 0 was on the clock for a full second.

 

If I was really, really super-obsessed I'd have taken screen shots of each one of them but you'll have to trust me on this (or rewatch it for yourself).

 

I thought I was imagining things during the game but apparently this was a thing, and it didn't include the times that Miami had to call timeout to avoid a delay (twice I think) and the one time that they actually were flagged for delay (on the 4th and 1 play).

 

The NFL needs to get this right.  I have a vague recollection from a couple of seasons ago of Lamar Jackson taking a snap well after the play clock ran down and won a playoff game because of it.

[LeGOATski]

On Miami's 2nd TO in the 2nd half, no one even called a TO. Do they give them an option to burn a TO after the fact?

 

Something Gene Steratore said in the booth made it seem like they do.

[Golden*Wheels]

Yeah the thought that they can't call the delay until it had been 00 (apparently literally the time for the guy to TURN HIS HEAD from the clock to the play) for a full second still makes it hard for me to believe there is a ref so fast and reactive he DOES KNOW that a coaches time out WAS in time. Doesn't that guy still have to....check the play? AND check the clock too?

 

The NFL just doesn't want to call it. I'll never forget our Colts playoff game fro a couple years ago. Rivers went to double 0 so many times, was driving me nuts.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Golden*Wheels

[stevewin]

The whole "it takes a second to go from the clock to ball" explanation they try to give is ridiculous.  It is essentially instantaneous for your eyes to make that movement.  It is the stupidest thing in the league 

 

When the shot clock goes off in basketball they don't say "Oh we give an extra second"

Edited January 18, 2023 by stevewin

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Yeah it's utter nonsense.  It's not like holding where if you called every single ticky tack hold the game would just be unwatchable.  Start calling delay of game consistently and teams will start getting the snaps off in time.

[US Egg]

My wife is always running late so I’m use to waiting.

[JerseyBills]

I remember screaming delay of game multiple times.  That's the Mafia factor!!!. Nobody wants to come to OP in the playoffs, especially with a rookie QB

[BRH]

The excuse the league uses - that the ref looks at the play clock when it hits zero and then looks at the ball - is complete bull####.  The clock is situated so the quarterback can see it.  It’s not hard to situate an official where he can see both the clock and the snap. Especially if the clock uses a red border like in basketball.

 

Also, when the clock hits zero, it doesn’t mean there’s one more invisible second.   If that were the case, they would wait one second to blow the whistle at the 2 minute warning or the end of the half. 

 

It’s also a nonreviewable call.  Entirely subject to the officials’ judgment.  And the league to my knowledge has never demonstrated any interest in getting this right. 

[Sierra Foothills]

There's already a thread on this:

 

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

15 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

OK, maybe I'm obsessed.

 

 

 

 

Roger that.

Just now, Sierra Foothills said:

There's already a thread on this:

 

 

 

 

so that usually is the greenlight for a third!

[BeastMaster]

Should be like the NBA where a buzzer goes off and lights come on

[SRQ_BillsFan]

5 minutes ago, BeastMaster said:

Should be like the NBA where a buzzer goes off and lights come on

I was about to say the same exact thing. Make 00 audible so the Ref doesn’t even have to look. This is the NFL. In the old days they didn’t get this extra time and the Refs handled it just fine. 

[US Egg]

1 hour ago, BeastMaster said:

Should be like the NBA where a buzzer goes off and lights come on

I tell ya, temporary eye destabilizing laser flashes a split second after the clock hits 0 puts an end to this late snap tomfoolery.

Edited January 18, 2023 by I am the egg man

[Epstein's Mother]

47 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

If I was really, really super-obsessed I'd have taken screen shots of each one of them but you'll have to trust me on this (or rewatch it for yourself).

 

I'll just wait.  Eventually you'll post the screenshots. 😁

[Billsfan1972]

And what were the results of the plays?  I know the 4th & 1 was 2 seconds past before the flag was thrown and the Bills blew up the play.  

 

Maybe the Defense should just go on 0 and then the play is reviewed from the booth and the penalty assessed?

[GunnerBill]

The refs all year have given a lot of leeway on play clocks but Sunday was something else!!

[RunTheBall]

It’s just another tool the refs use to subtlety manipulate games. I don’t think there’s a pre-determined agenda but if there is an opportunity to keep games close the refs will take it. Doesn’t matter the team, and if one team is absolutely boat racing another there’s nothing they can do. But just watch games that you have no rooting interest in and you can see it happen. One team starts to pull away, all of a sudden they are getting holding penalties or their defense is getting PI’s. It’s the judgement calls they use to keep so the viewers keep watching and the ratings stay high.