The first Thanksgiving Day game featured a controversial second-quarter timeout that apparently was not called by Packers coach Matt LaFleur before a false start that would have made fourth and one from the Detroit two into fourth and six from the Detroit seven.
After the game, referee Ron Torbert told pool reporter Colton Pouncy, “We recognized the timeout called, and that the timeout was called before the false start.”
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That’s obvious (and thus largely useless), given that the Packers were given the timeout — and given that the false-start foul was not enforced.
The bigger question is whether the timeout was actually called before the false start. It appears that it wasn’t, unless the official on the sideline heard LaFleur at a time when: (1) LaFleur had his mouth covered with his play sheet; and (2) the Lions’ home crowd was making extra noise before the fourth-down play.
Appearing on Sunday’s NFL GameDay Morning, NFL Officiating & Rules Analyst Walt Anderson provided something more than a summary of what everyone witnessed.
“It is one of those situations where the coach, he can either verbally request it, or he can visually request it with a signal,” Anderson said. “But he’s on the sideline, and we do allow them to, you know, to signal from the sideline or come down the field. The official on the sideline here. Now, the three officials in the middle, they saw the false start. They’ve got their flag, they end up blowing their whistles. Now, here comes the side judge in, and they’re talking, and what the side judge is telling them is, I had the coach coming down the sideline, signaling time out. And so you’re out there on the field, and I’ve been there, done this. You’re trying to figure out what came first. Was it the false start or was it the signal? And unfortunately, the rules do not allow the officials to ask for or to use instant replay to be able to tell them. They’ve got to try to figure this out on their own. And for many, many years, when in doubt, the league wants the timeout to be granted.”
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While it took a little bit for him to get there, Anderson eventually provided the most important information. First, instant replay can’t be used to ascertain whether the timeout preceded the false start. Second, the NFL wants the officials to resolve any doubt in favor of granting the timeout.
Implicit in Anderson’s explanation is that it’s entirely possible the timeout was requested after the false start. But that doesn’t matter, because replay isn’t available and because the league wants the officials to err on the side of granting the timeout.
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