Was Tim Tebow’s game-winning touchdown illegal?

[Deberg_1990]

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.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by PGM

Didn't the Chiefs lose a huge gainer to Baldwin on a similar call in the first Bronco game? Was a pretty big momentum killer.

Good memory, you are right. That really hurt for the team and Baldwin.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Good memory, you are right. That really hurt for the team and Baldwin.

I remember being shocked that Cassel completed a bomb and of course it was negated by a ticky tack foul

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by PGM

I remember being shocked that Cassel completed a bomb and of course it was negated by a ticky tack foul

And, of course you're sure of the exact type of penalty that was called.

[LiveSteam]

More than 24 years ago, Pam & her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own saf...ety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher. Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow
FML

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Bane

Game never should have been close enough for that snap to matter anyway.

This. No team ever deserved a loss more than Shitsburgh did last Sunday.

[Dr. Gigglepants]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

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.

I don't really care, the Broncos won, this didn't help them. However, during one of our games this year, the announcer clarified the rule. According to him, your helmet has to be at least even with the center's belt to be considered on the LOS.

If that is the common interpretation of the rule, then both the TE and the LT are too far back, IMO. Could have been a penalty, but the NFL sure isn't going to come out and admit that now. The Tebow train keeps rollin' on.