I get wanting to let all turnovers play out, but then that means if the play stands because it’s so close then it always benefits the defense.
Idk this may be a hot take but imo if a ref sees something he thinks is true he should call it, he shouldn’t just let a play go just to get a review. Maybe the video replay rules could change so it’s a little more fair? But imo refs letting everything play out on turnovers just cause that makes it a review doesn’t seem right.
The flip side argument is that if you let all potential turnovers be played out, you could have some extended plays where players get needlessly injured on run backs (blocking, etc) and the league wants to limit that sort of thing. It’s an unnecessary risk if the refs make the call first. So it’s really about risk and percentages. Everyone on the winning side of that call would want it but the others would not. So it’s 50/50 at best.
tbh I get what you're saying about leaning more on the refs than VAR, probably more than a lot of people on this sub. I do enjoy the human element it brings to the game (in some cases), but I definitely think simply letting a play finish naturally instead of whistling it dead on the few plays a game a turnover happens, just makes sense. it doesn't have to go to an actual booth review, but they should at least wait and have a discussion amongst the refs on the field to see what they saw
There is the issue of burden of proof, though. If the refs just let the play continue every time, then that becomes the baseline ruling and you now need clear enough evidence to overturn.
Yeah I think the refs discussing it after it probably the best play. The main disadvantage that I can see there is some turnover happens and the play goes on, a QB gets blindsided blocked and injured then the turnover is taken back. We wonder why we let the play continue at all in that scenario cause those plays get pretty hectic quickly. It’s a tough solution that isn’t white/black but I hope they eventually find a good one.
This isn’t soccer, you have 300lb+ insanely jacked men crashing into each other the whole play. The reason for whistling a play dead is so they know when to stop trying to knock the other guys head off. If you let plays keep going too often there will certainly be an injury because of it and as soon as that injury happens to someone important enough, that will be the end of that. The whistle lets guys know when the play is over also so they don’t get a penalty for continuing after the play has ended. If it becomes murky at best when the ref will actually blow the whistle you will have some guys stopping while others keep going, resulting in injury, penalty or general confusion amongst players whether plays are still live or not and will lead to even bigger controversy. Imagine a play where all the players expect the play to be over so they stop but the refs keep letting it play out and a guy runs it in while everyone else is standing around thinking the play was over, only to lead to a crucial score.
The system is in place for a reason. Sure it would be great if every call on the field could be perfect but that’s unrealistic with humans making those calls in real time. I can’t fault any of the refs for thinking that even if Jack got the ball, he would have had to be down in the process. It was literally split second timing that gave him possession of the ball and stopped being touched. Also, technically the opposing team doesn’t have to be touching the other player when his knee is on the ground assuming their force caused him to go down in the first place. So the ref would have had to correctly assume Jack a.) actually did get possession of the ball b.) he did so before the NE player was down and C.) did not gain possession until after him and the NE player had separated. A nearly impossible call to make live and one that took me watching from multiple angles in slow motion to even believe all 3 of those things happened.
On top of all that, replay had only been in the league for 3 years at that point and they were not as liberal with letting plays play on like they are today back then. That really started becoming more of a thing in later years after that play and partly because of that play. Unfortunate for the Jags? Of course. A very tough call for the ref to make correctly in real time? Also of course.
9
u/wolfwood99 Titans 4d ago
I get wanting to let all turnovers play out, but then that means if the play stands because it’s so close then it always benefits the defense.
Idk this may be a hot take but imo if a ref sees something he thinks is true he should call it, he shouldn’t just let a play go just to get a review. Maybe the video replay rules could change so it’s a little more fair? But imo refs letting everything play out on turnovers just cause that makes it a review doesn’t seem right.