Deadskins wrote:DarthMonk wrote:
Actually, this was an extended brain fart. The refs bailed out Kirk on the play before when he also failed to spike the ball.
2:00 1st and goal at the 10. 2 time outs remaining.
We JUST miss Garcon on a fade. Took 4 seconds.
Fast forward.
00:29 1st and 10 at our 29. Zero timeouts remaining.
22 yard out to D Jax.
00:23 1st and 10 at Eagles 49. Zero timeouts remaining.
25 yard out to Garcon.
00:17 1st and 10 at Eagles 24. Zero timeouts remaining.
12 yard crossing route to Reed. Goes down inbounds. Philly interferes with spotting of ball. Called for delay. Clock stops.
COUSINS' BRAIN FART FORMING.
00:06 1st and goal at 6. Zero timeouts remaining.
Refs spot ball and tell Cousins and the Rib to wait for their signal. Refs back out. Just before whistle, Cousins begins barking. Just after whistle, ball is snapped. Cousins just stands there and commentator says "You can't snap it and stand there, though." Ref bails out Cousins by re-spotting ball and saying wait for my signal. Cousins holds ref's head as if consoling a confused child. Kelly calls time out. Call is explained to Kelly. He is pissed but can do nothing.
Cousins takes snap and KNEELS!!!???
Cousins tries to throw ball to ref twice as if clock were not running (confused timer actually stopped it for a few seconds). Cousins suddenly realizes he should have spiked (or thrown the fade he evidently called in the huddle) and goes through spiking motion a few times ... then he tries to run. Too late, bro ... you already kneeled.
I have two questions here:
From the rulebook:
If the action is by the defense, the play clock will be reset to 40 seconds, and the game clock will start on the ready signal,
unless the offense chooses to have the clock start on the snap.
1) Why did we not elect to start the play on the snap?
2) What the hell did Gruden say to Kirk during the TO?
To me, this falls on Gruden. Either he should have just kicked the FG, or instructed Kirk to throw the fade, or throw it away if he didn't think there was a play. There should have been clear instructions that Kirk needed to pop up, and throw the ball immediately, as there were only six seconds remaining and we still wanted to be able to kick if the pass was incomplete.
You seem to be appealing to a part of the rule book that addresses a foul that attempts to conserve time:
Section 7 Actions to Conserve Time
ILLEGAL ACTS
Article 1A team is not permitted to conserve time inside of one minute of either half by committing any of the
following acts:
(a) a foul by either team that prevents the snap (i.e., false start, encroachment, etc.)
(b) intentional grounding;
(c) an illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage;
(d) throwing a backward pass out of bounds;
(e) spiking or throwing the ball in the field of play after a down has ended, except after a touchdown; or
(f) any other intentional foul that causes the clock to stop.
Penalty: For Illegally Conserving Time: Loss of five yards unless a larger distance penalty is
applicable.
When actions referred to above are committed by the offensive team while time is in, officials will run
10 seconds off the game clock before permitting the ball to be put in play on the ready-for-play
signal. The game clock will start on the ready-for-play signal. If the offensive team has timeouts
remaining, it will have the option of using a timeout in lieu of a 10-second runoff, in which case
the game clock will start on the snap after the timeout. The defense always has the option to
decline the 10-second runoff and have the yardage penalty enforced, but if the yardage penalty
is declined, the 10-second runoff is also declined.
If the action is by the defense, the play clock will be reset to 40 seconds, and the game clock will
start on the ready signal, unless the offense chooses to have the clock start on the snap. If the
defense has timeouts remaining, it will have the option of using a timeout in lieu of the game
clock being started.
The Eagles did not delay the game to conserve time. A player batted the ball out of Reed's hand in an attempt to BURN TIME.
Here are the rules that apply:
Eagle bats ball from Reed's hand then ...
Section 4 Stopping the Game Clock
The game clock operator shall stop the game clock (timeout) upon a signal by any official or upon the
operator’s own positive knowledge:
(a) at the end of a down in which there is a free kick or fair-catch kick;
(b) when the kicking team recovers a scrimmage kick that has been touched by the receiving team
beyond the line of scrimmage;
(c) when the ball is out of bounds;
(d) when the ball is dead on or behind a goal line;
(e) at the end of a down during which a foul occurs;
(f) when a forward pass is incomplete;
(g) when the player who originally takes the snap is tackled behind the line of scrimmage;
Now refs spot ball and tell Cousins and Rib to wait for a whistle - not a whistle to start the game clock but a whistle that tells Kirk and Rib that the refs are ready and that they have 25 seconds to snap it.
25-SECOND PLAY CLOCK
Article 2 In the event of certain administrative stoppages or other delays, a team will have 25 seconds,
beginning with the Referee’s whistle, to put the ball in play by a snap or a kick. Such stoppages include,
but are not limited to, the following:
(a) a change of possession;
(b) a charged team timeout;
(c) the two-minute warning;
(d) the expiration of a period;
(e) a penalty enforcement;
As the refs back out Cousins starts barking before the whistle. Rib snaps just after whistle. Cousins stands there with the ball and the refs let him off the hook by telling him to wait for the whistle again. Kelly doesn't like it and calls time out. Now we are back to waiting for a whistle so we know when the 25 second play clock starts.
25-SECOND PLAY CLOCK
Article 2 In the event of certain administrative stoppages or other delays, a team will have 25 seconds,
beginning with the Referee’s whistle, to put the ball in play by a snap or a kick. Such stoppages include,
but are not limited to, the following:
(a) a change of possession;
(b) a charged team timeout;
Everything I've heard and seen SO FAR points to an extended brain fart by Cousins. Gruden says he called a fade to Garcon which took 4 seconds the last time we ran it. I think Kirk thought he had a time out. What I call a brain fart Kirk calls
a lapse in my decision-making
Jay Gruden, Kirk Cousins examine Redskins’ kneel-down blunder before halftime
Redskins Coach Jay Gruden attempted to clarify a strange situation to end the first half during the team’s 38-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles to clinch the NFC East on Saturday.
Up 16-10, the Redskins marched 65 yards in 23 seconds to receive a first and goal situation at the Eagles’ 6 yard line with six seconds left and no timeouts. Washington had time to take one shot in the end zone, so Gruden dialed up a fade route to wide receiver Pierre Garcon. If Garcon was covered, Cousins was supposed to throw the ball away into the back of the end zone and settle for the field goal.
He did neither, however. There was some confusion on the play, and Cousins instead took a knee. The clock expired and the Redskins didn’t score on the possession to end the first half.
“There’s six seconds left in the half, and if we kicked the field goal there, there’d be one second left or two seconds and we would’ve kicked off again,” Gruden said. “So the objective was we had time to throw one shot in the end zone. A fade to Pierre would’ve made sense. Kirk got the ball, didn’t like the look and I guess he thought we had a timeout. If there’s any confusion, the coach has to take full responsibility. That’s why I’m either making sure everybody is understanding what’s going on, how many timeouts we’ve got and the objective of the play. If there’s any confusion there, I’ve got to take the blame and correct it for next time.”
Cousins took a knee then got up to throw the ball at the ref until left tackle Trent Williams grabbed him in an attempt to line back up and spike the ball before the clock ran out. The Redskins could’ve gone into the locker room up by at least nine points in a pivotal game but the blunder didn’t cost them later in the game.
Cousins was 13 of 21 for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, and he put the game away on a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Garcon on — of all plays — a fade route. Cousins finished 31 of 46 for 365 yards, four touchdowns and a 120.3 quarterback rating.
“There was a lot of confusion with what the play call was,” Cousins said after the game. “For lack of a better word, I just had a lapse in my decision-making and instinctively took a knee when I should’ve thrown the ball away to stop the clock. We were fortunate it didn’t end up hurting us.”
