For anyone who has not heard about the ending of the Saints-Buccaneers clash today, you missed a thrilling conclusion. Taking over in his own end with just under two minutes remaining and trailing 35-28, Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman led an impressive drive down the field, eventually finding his team at the New Orleans nine with six seconds left. On the game's final play, Freeman hung in the pocket, bought himself some time by rolling out left, then fired a dart to an open Mike Williams in the back of the endzone for the game-tying touchdown (PAT pending).
But it was not to be.
So as to make this as useful as possible, here's a quick rundown of what happened on the game's final play. WR Williams was lined up on the left side of the formation. At the snap, he ran up the sideline on the left side of the field, reaching the back corner of the endzone. Freeman took the snap, hanging in the pocket for between two and three seconds before rolling out to the left side. After Freeman had left the pocket on his way toward the left sideline, Williams was pushed out of bounds in the back of the endzone by the New Orleans cornerback. Williams gathered himself, immediately reentered the endzone, and took roughly four steps in the endzone prior to catching the pass from Freeman.
The officials flagged Williams for going out of bounds, then being the first player to touch the pass. Because the play ended with an offensive penalty and no time remained on the clock after its completion, the game ended.
Was the result correct? Yes. Let's take a look at the rules just to make sure.
First, as we saw in our look at pass interference on a tipped pass under Rule 8, Section 5, Article 1, the window for defensive pass interference opens when the quarterback releases a pass and closes when the ball is touched. Here, pass interference did not apply as the New Orleans cornerback contacted Williams well before Freeman threw the pass.
Next, we look to the penalty that was actually called. Rule 8, Section 1, Article 6 addresses ineligible receivers. Subsection (d) explains that an eligible receiver who has been out of bounds prior to or during a pass is ineligible, regardless of whether he has reestablished himself in bounds. There is an exception to the rule: if the player is forced out by a foul by a defender, reestablishing himself inbounds makes the receiver eligible again. Then, Article 8 explains that there is a five-yard penalty for illegal touching of a forward pass. Subsection (b) tells that it is an illegal touch when a pass is first touched by an eligible receiver who has gone out of bounds, either of his own volition or by being legally forced out of bounds, and has reestablished himself inbounds. Here, Williams decidedly was forced out of bounds by a defensive player. However, the rule is clear that he is only eligible to catch the pass if he was forced out because of a defensive penalty. As mentioned above, pass interference is not an option.
What about illegal contact? Let's examine the relatively new illegal contact penalty and its possible application here. Rule 8, Section 4 discusses a variety of regimes in terms of what contact is legal depending on how close the contact occurs to the line of scrimmage. Here, we are only concerned with Article 3 which addresses illegal contact beyond the five-yard zone (contact within that zone is commonly known as a "chuck"). Article 3 explains that, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may use his hands only to defend himself against impending contact caused by a receiver. It's clear that the New Orleans defender initiated contact with Williams. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Article 7 unequivocally conveys that "if the quarterback leaves the pocket area with the ball in his possession, the restrictions on illegal contact...end, but the restriction on defensive holding remains in effect." While Williams was forced out with contact, he was not held. Thus, Freeman's leaving the pocket rendered the illegal contact violation null. Williams was legally forced out of bounds and illegally touched the ball when he caught the apparent game-tying score.
It's an unfortunate result for the Buccaneers, a squad that still has trips to Minnesota, Denver, and New Orleans in addition to two dates with the undefeated Falcons. To remain relevant, they absolutely needed a win today. An intelligent application of the rules by the officials effectively snuffed out any hope they had left.
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