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Here is a good example of what I meant by the spirit of the rules, Panamamike. This is an excerpt from a article posted today on SI.com. I didn't even know about the running things by the officials unwritten rule. (By the way, there seem to be a lot of unwritten rules that every team except the Belicheck led Patriots abide by in the name of good sportsmanship). I suppose the only way to stop this is for other teams to ignore the unwritten rules when they play the Patriots. For example, it is not illegal to attempt to pummel the winning QB when he goes into the victory formation if you can get to him before he kneels. Or for the defensive linemen to fire out instead of going through the motions. But in the spirit of the game, teams don't do that to each other. But it is the kind of thing the genius Belicheck will try and then say, or more appropriately, mumble, that it is not illegal.
TG
From SI.com...........
It is customary for coaches to run usual trick plays past the league office during the week, to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. Belichick didn’t do that. Right before the game, he told referee Bill Vinovich he would declare certain players as ineligible receivers. This put Vinovich in the difficult position of deciding, with no notice, if he should tell the great Bill Belichick he was trying something illegal.
Technically, what Belichick suggested is legal. Vinovich OK’d it. But the key to the plan was what Belichick did not say. He did not say he would hurry up his offense when he declared certain receivers ineligible, giving the Ravens no time to adjust to the tactic. The Ravens barely had time to see who was eligible before the ball was snapped. The officials couldn’t even get into proper position. They allowed the ball to be snapped too quickly.
That was the whole point of the tactic. It was a circumvention of the rules. Look at it this way: Sometimes an offense goes to a no-huddle, hurry-up offense, hoping to wear out defensive players. But if the offense substitutes, the offense can’t hurry so much. The defense gets a chance to substitute, too. It’s only fair, right?
Well, that’s what the Patriots avoided against Baltimore. They switched their eligible receivers and gave Baltimore no time to adjust. The league officiating office might have sniffed this out with a few days’ notice, but Belichick counted on his ability to confuse and probably intimidate Vinovich.
TG
From SI.com...........
It is customary for coaches to run usual trick plays past the league office during the week, to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. Belichick didn’t do that. Right before the game, he told referee Bill Vinovich he would declare certain players as ineligible receivers. This put Vinovich in the difficult position of deciding, with no notice, if he should tell the great Bill Belichick he was trying something illegal.
Technically, what Belichick suggested is legal. Vinovich OK’d it. But the key to the plan was what Belichick did not say. He did not say he would hurry up his offense when he declared certain receivers ineligible, giving the Ravens no time to adjust to the tactic. The Ravens barely had time to see who was eligible before the ball was snapped. The officials couldn’t even get into proper position. They allowed the ball to be snapped too quickly.
That was the whole point of the tactic. It was a circumvention of the rules. Look at it this way: Sometimes an offense goes to a no-huddle, hurry-up offense, hoping to wear out defensive players. But if the offense substitutes, the offense can’t hurry so much. The defense gets a chance to substitute, too. It’s only fair, right?
Well, that’s what the Patriots avoided against Baltimore. They switched their eligible receivers and gave Baltimore no time to adjust. The league officiating office might have sniffed this out with a few days’ notice, but Belichick counted on his ability to confuse and probably intimidate Vinovich.
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