Was Tim Tebow’s game-winning touchdown illegal?
 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-sh...163812959.html



A review of the Denver Broncos' pre-snap formation on the game-winning touchdown pass from Tim Tebow to Demaryius Thomas suggests that the play could have been ruled illegal.

Only six Denver Broncos players were lined up on the line of scrimmage before the snap. NFL rules say that a team must have seven or more players on the line for a snap to be legal. As the picture above shows, tight end Dante Rosario was well behind his teammates.

The formation eventually caught the eye of current Fox analyst and former NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira. He dismissed any suggestion that the play should have been whistled dead. "Watch on any Sunday," he tweeted. "This is a good formation compared to many. They are not technical with this."

In other words, the "seven men on the line" is a rule on the books but one that doesn't require a tape measure and straight edge to determine if every player is precisely on the line of scrimmage. If seven guys are close to line and set, Pereira implies, then the formation is fine.

[Related: Pittsburgh mayor salutes Tim Tebow to settle bet]

This seems to go against all other NFL rule enforcements, which always say that the letter of the law is far more important than the spirit of it. Still, when Pereira speaks, it's wise to listen.

That being said, I went back and looked at tape from every touchdown scored during wild-card weekend and didn't see a single formation in which the scoring team wasn't set with at least seven guys on the line of scrimmage. In this comprehensive highlight package of Bengals-Texans, there's only one play (at the 4:10 mark) that has a similar sloppy formation. This neither confirms nor contradicts Pereira's point, it only shows that illegal sets aren't exactly a pox on the NFL.

Should Tebow's touchdown have counted? Absolutely. It isn't a penalty if you don't get caught.

The NFL has said that it was a legal play and no flag should have been thrown. Which is what happened. Shall we talk about backward passes?

Damn cheaters!

I'm still annoyed that we had a penalty called against us for not having the interior line covered. I don't think I'd ever seen that penalty called before.

of course they did, because they get have the media talk about tebow all week for another week

He's on the line.

Their line is setup in an arc. His position is in a straight line to the guy next to him. He's not "back" at all.

Oh well...he lined up a few inches too far back. That obviously gave the Broncos a competitive advantage and resulted in a touchdown.:rolleyes:

I'm surprised this took so long to show up here... I've read about this one and everyone in the know has said it was a solid formation. What they should be concerned about is the numerous missed face-mask calls against Tebow in recent weeks.

Every Sunday, in every game... you'll see something similar.

looks like hes about 2 yards off the LoS

That's Elway's doing right there. ;)

I've never understood that rule. Many teams on passing plays employ a big arc where the tackle is well away from the line of scrimmage.

build em' up....


tear em down.

He could literally be standing anywhere on the field and be "in a straight line to the guy next to him."

They would only enforce it if he's 2 yards off the guy next to him.

As it is, he's covering the guy next to him, so he's technically on the line.

Counting the playoff game...the Broncos have had 17 uncalled fasmask penalties with 9 of them on Tim Tebow.