Bill Simmons of Grantland on the Earl Thomas "roughing" flag

SoulfishHawk":nw08owsk said:

I'm still not sure how not ONE person on TV mentioned the fact that Reggie Bush clearly was bobbling the ball before he scored that TD. That play was huge in the game, should have been a touchback. But this is the Seahawks we're talking about.

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God damn right! I saw the bobble when it happened. I quickly re-played it as I DVR all Hawks games. Sure enuf, he did not have possession of the ball when he crossed the line and then it ultimately went out of bounds while in the endzone... FUMBLE, TOUCHBACK.

I told my wife that when they watch the replay to confirm the TD that they will overturn the call and award the ball to the Hawks at the 20.

Didn't happen.

Most aspects of those possessions are not whats on the field but whats in the players head, I agree with kid on the score points 7 points either way possibly either we stop 7 or we score 7, it's the ticky tacky call and then the controversy that takes the air out of a team sometimes. Additionally with the run back we have another emotional swing. Now add that we play not to lose on defense and offense which of course as we all know means you will lose, now we have the perfect storm of why we cannot win on the road.

ivotuk":2vbw8b7m said:

I liked this from the comments section

"P.S. QBs should start pump faking and then running underneath the player who jumped if they are going to start calling this roughing the passer.

At some point the player has to protect themselves."

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I would love to see this. Like an NBA player ball fake then jump up into the airborne player. This would be fantastic lol

It is true, that every event can change the following event, but the score would have been no different.quote]

At this juncture it's impossible to prove this theory one way, or the other. take that 7 points off the Phins score, and everything gets changed.

Had the Ref's not called that bogus penalty, and the interception was upheld, RW would have had the ball on the 20, and who says he would or wouldn't have driven the team down for another TD and taken time off the clock.
The Leon Washington return maybe doesn't get done, but the Phins would have had 7 less points, and would have to try for that TD with less time on the clock.
I will never be convinced that the Ref's were correct in making that bad call.
To say that the temporary Refs were inept in their duties, and that the regulars have been spot on, is a joke, and a bad joke at that.
Is it still possible that the Seahawks still lose that game?, hell yes, but we honestly don't know that for sure.

onanygivensunday":1fz1ij1d said:

SoulfishHawk":1fz1ij1d said:

I'm still not sure how not ONE person on TV mentioned the fact that Reggie Bush clearly was bobbling the ball before he scored that TD. That play was huge in the game, should have been a touchback. But this is the Seahawks we're talking about.

Click to expand...

God damn right! I saw the bobble when it happened. I quickly re-played it as I DVR all Hawks games. Sure enuf, he did not have possession of the ball when he crossed the line and then it ultimately went out of bounds while in the endzone... FUMBLE, TOUCHBACK.

I told my wife that when they watch the replay to confirm the TD that they will overturn the call and award the ball to the Hawks at the 20.

Didn't happen.

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I felt the same way about the play, but from the angles I saw on the replays, it looked like the ball broke the plane of the end zone while Bush still had possession. Barely, but barely = TD. Once the ball crosses the plane in possession, TD, play over. But it was very close. I honestly saw it as a legit Dolphins TD best as I could pick out from the replays.

the defense getting more rest is a good argument as well, I believe it had a lot to do with the outcome, several other ticky tack calls for the fins as well

kidhawk":1nyq0vif said:

Zebulon Dak":1nyq0vif said:

kidhawk":1nyq0vif said:

I feel his pain, but that hit (penalty) didn't really alter the outcome. It was that ensuing kickoff where Leon Washington ran back the TD. If they let us keep the INT, we never get that big run back, so basically both TD are nullified. of course possession would have flipped there, but we didn't really do a lot with the ball late in that game anyway due to poor play calling (be it Carroll or Bevell doesn't really matter).

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I think it deflated the defense. They thought they'd held. They thought they had a turnover. They thought they'd gotten off the field. Then Leon scores on the KR and they're right back out there with no chance to rest. Not that it's an excuse to blow the game the way they did, but I totally think it had an effect on the D.

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It is true, that every event can change the following event, but the score would have been no different.

Could the outcome have been different? Sure, but it's not like it was the game winning TD at the end of the game. Many things could have happened for us to still lose this game had they not called the penalty.

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Why does everyone think only the game ending scores matter? They all add up to the final score. This is the same mental process people take when they call Seattle cheaters for the GB game (I still hear this once a week, makes me want to punch a baby each and every time). GB never should have scored a TD because the PI call on that drive was total crap.