Just curious if the following would have worked at the end of the game.

Atlanta's ball at the 28, 0:25 left. At the snap the Hawks rush 3 and the rest grab a receiver, not letting anyone get down field. The play takes 6 seconds, the refs call defensive holding, and the falcons get 5 yards and a first down. Repeat 2 more times, getting called for defensive holding each time, and now the ball is around the 50 with less than 10 seconds left and Atlanta only has enough time for a hail mary into the endzone.

I figure it can't be this simple or all the teams would do this at the end of games. What am I missing?

That's kinda what I thought too; hold Gonzo before he comes open-5yds 1st down with little or no time remaining...we win.

I think I heard about that scenario on the radio, too. I'm sure there would be a huge uproar, and it would certainly be addressed by the competition committee in the off-season. I wonder if there is any rule preventing this?

Very interesting idea. I wonder why they haven't tried this before. There must be a rule or perhaps they reset the game clock somehow?

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simple game plan would have been to just knock him on his backside right off the line....

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GO HAWKS!!!

I thought there was a rule against purposely trying to interfere with the clock, and it was because a team could go offsides repeatedly on onside kick attempts and the game would just end. Some college team did it a few years ago and they instituted a rule or at least said they were going to that would prevent teams from committing penalties on purpose to influence the clock and end games.

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R.I.P. Dad. I miss you. You will never be forgotten
1/12/39 - 8/7/08

There has to be some rule preventing this, otherwise it would have happened already in all of the games that have happened over the years. It wouldn't surprise me if they reset the game clock.

I don't care if it's "legal", it's against the spirit of the game

I like the idea of bringing only three and having the rest in coverage here. That is not the time to gamble on getting to the QB when you haven't been able to all day when you brought 5.

They would in essence get free plays and if they did get one the clock would stop due to the penalty.plus that would be a bitch move.

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Russell Wilson is 3mendous , and I'm lovin it!!!!

This is certainly a valid position, but I tend to doubt that it being against the spirit of the game is why coaches don't do it. There must be some rule preventing it.

The only thing I could see would be a 15 yard flag for unsportsmanlike if the whole team held. Now if you say - hold Tony Gonzales and double-team down field I don't see how you get 15 yards. The risk is that you get pass interference instead so you got to watch out. Kind of like fouling a shooter and he makes the bucket - there is risk as well

If you just do it to one guy I don't see how the competition committee changes the rules - "holding in the last two minutes equals an automatic touchdown to the opposing team"? That probably wouldn't work very well........

Someone should send this question to Sando. I'm sure he would do a good job looking into it and writing about it on his blog. It's a really interesting question.

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I suppose the QB could start throwing the ball immediately, leaving no time for holding. It would be PI if the defender grabbed the receiver once the ball is in the air. But defensive PI is a spot foul...no minimum yardage that I can find. So they would not get very far that way, and if they throw it immediately it would not chew up much clock. They would just keep getting first downs over and over.

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The closest rule I could think of would be the Palpably Unfair Act. Used in extreme circumstances, it "is a case of any illegal action that the officials of a sports game deem has clearly and indisputably deprived a team of a score. It is one of the rarest penalties in the sport."

The closest example to the situation we are discussing is "The defense commits repeated intentional infractions very close to its own goal line (the half-the-distance rule making the consequence of such infractions otherwise infinitesimal)." While multiple holding penalties are not infintisemal, I think it would be clear to the refs that we are using penalties to cheat for the win and could see us being slapped with this penalty.

I also just don't like the idea of cheating to win.

^This.

It might work... but it's a bitch move.

We have the talent to stay toe-to-toe with their receivers, but whether it was a call from Gus or Pete, either way, we needed to be in press-coverage on Juilo and Roddy at the end. The fact that no one was on the screen (within 5 yards) when Julio caught that 25yard out-route was disgusting.

PS. There's no rule against holding every time, you're just going to piss off the fans and ...if they still make the catch, then you're even worse off.

PSS. Hindsight being 20/20... Once ATL got the ball on offense, I would try 10 guys on D as Cornerbacks or Safeties ...and maybe put in Tate or Rice or a WR out there too and 1 LB (Wagner). Rush 0 - and have Wagner spy Ryan... drop everyone not named Browner and Sherman into a zone. The most they could have is 5 guys out there running routes, and if you have levels of CBs, one at 5-10 range, 10-20 range, and man on the two main WRs, Ryan would be standing back there for days trying to find someone open...

That's my thought on how to play the last :25 of a game when you KNOW they're going to pass the ball.

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Last year the giants pulled a move where they put 12 men on the field for one of the last plays.

5 yards given up, but better/safer defense, and clock still runs.

My alternative ending was to bring 6 and not allow time for any receiver to get downfield with a 15 yard buffer. IF they make the play, it goes for 15 yards or less and more than likely is not an accurate pass. Free JJ or Lane to hit Ryan.

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"What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?" -- Jeff Spicoli

Cheating to win? What's the difference of doing it with 0:25 seconds left or say getting a PI to prevent a deep ball turning into a TD in the 3rd qtr? I suppose an argument could be made that a coach game planning for that is different than a DB making a split second decision. IDK personally I feel the word cheating is a bit strong for this scenario.

On a side note I remember UW doing something very similar in the 2002 Apple Cup. Put Reggie in at CB to hold/PI the WR on the corner fade route when the Cougs were on the goal line late in the game. Pissed me off but it was smart strategy. Cougs kept getting 1st and goal but had to switch their game plan and couldn't convert. End result an unranked UW wins and upsets the #3 team.

What about stopping the team as we were supposed to in those situations?