While Ref Admits Blunder, NFL Says Joe Staley Should Not Have Been Penalized
In what can only be described as an odd sequence of events, NFL referee Bill Leavy admitted he incorrectly enforced the rules on offsetting dead-ball penalties in Sunday's Packers-49ers game: a personal foul call on linebacker Clay Matthews for hitting quarterback Colin Kaepernick out of bounds and an unsportsmanlike penalty on offensive lineman Joe Staley for retaliating.
According to USA Today, Leavy said, "The down should have counted. The penalties were both dead ball, and they should have offset at the spot where the runner went out of bounds. And it would have been fourth down."
As it was enforced, the third-and-6 down was replayed and the 49ers went on to score a touchdown.
First of all, it's hard to believe Leavy commented at all after the game. That is not common practice for officials of any sport.
On Sunday, the NFL reportedly said Staley should not have been flagged, according to ProFootballTalk.com:
The NFL now says it was the Packers, not the 49ers, who benefitted from the officials’ mistake on the play, because Staley shouldn’t have been flagged in the first place. The league office reviewed the play and determined that while Matthews was rightly called for a late hit on 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the official who threw the flag on Staley for getting in Matthews’ face after running over to protect Kaepernick should not have done so.
This comes as very curious. Personally, I'm not sure when the NFL ever got in the business of commenting on unsportsmanlike penalties.
Rather conveniently, it lets the officials off the hook in their improper enforcement of the offsetting penalties.
#PACKERSmicroblog
Comments (15)
September 09, 2013 at 04:30 pm
Well, it's not completely true that they 'let them off the hook'. Bill Leavy was downgraded by the league. That means anything from fines to not being able to work top level (high paying) match-ups and playoffs.
September 09, 2013 at 04:41 pm
I think this is a BS cop-out by the league.
In the warped world the league operates in it makes more sense to admit that two errors were made, and thus negating the effect of the primary error, in order to avoid further scrutiny and questions about the integrity of the game.
September 09, 2013 at 04:45 pm
Yup, this is horseshit. The league trying to maintain integrity with the bookmakers, plain and simple.
September 09, 2013 at 05:14 pm
The good news is we get screwed equally by the "real" refs & the replacements.
September 09, 2013 at 05:23 pm
..
September 09, 2013 at 05:37 pm
So the NFL assessed from film that the ref on the field in the middle of the scrum erred in his effort to restore order to the game?
Duly noted.
And, oh how convenient that it happens to offset a clear-cut misapplication of the rules. Must by a coinkydink
September 09, 2013 at 05:51 pm
Exactly. With only poor camera angles of the scrum, which happened off the field in an area normally not televised, they were able to determine that it was ok for a lineman not involved in the play to rough up a linebacker that had made an athletic effort to stop a notoriously elusive QB.
September 09, 2013 at 06:55 pm
Staley already stated he overreacted and was charged with emotion, so the NFL's opinion on this is wrong. Just trying to cover up their mess is all
September 09, 2013 at 07:15 pm
It's OK to claim that the dog ate your homework if shouldn't have been assigned any.
September 09, 2013 at 07:22 pm
Yup. Good job NFL. for getting another F'd up call more F'd up...
Either way the NFL needs to admit that the ruling on the field was enforced wrong. Even if there wasn't supposed to be a penalty on Staley, the flag was thrown on him, and it should have been enforced the right way.
Pretty much feels like the NFL doesn't want more wrath from Packer fans after their replacements cost the Packers a game last year...
September 09, 2013 at 09:37 pm
The NFL really likes the Kapernick story and the like seeing San Fran relevant. The Packers are loved/hated by many and therefore make a great "foil" to the new heroes of the league.
September 10, 2013 at 08:21 am
Interesting thought. I've had a sneaking suspicion for some time now that the league is secretly thrilled when its incompetent officials misapply the rules at crucial moments (Bill Leavy in the 2005 Super Bowl, Lance Easley in the Fail Mary game last year, Bill Leavy again on Sunday et al.) and rile up fans of the aggrieved team.
Perhaps Roger Gooddell has been looking towards more of a sports entertainment type of business model in which dramatic storylines and a corrupt heel of a commissioner (a la Vince McMahon) become more important than actual athletic competition.
God I hope I'm just being paranoid here...
September 10, 2013 at 05:40 am
Honestly all that matters to me is that it was a 4 point swing in a 6 point game. It wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game so does it really matter? I was told by a wise coach of mine 25 years ago that referees are going to make mistakes and that we as players need to make enough plays to overcome that.
September 10, 2013 at 08:32 am
A four point swing in what was a three point game until the last 30 seconds. That makes a huge difference in the strategy of both teams.
September 10, 2013 at 08:42 am
I agree that players have to overcome ref's mistakes. However, we have no idea how the outcome would have been affected if what they called was enforced correctly.
That would have meant the Packers went into half likely with a 14-10 lead. That changes the game. Maybe they still lose in the end, but that definitely changed the game.
Now I will say after seeing a replay of it last night. McMillan should have tackled Boldin short of the 1st down marker anyways. But either way that play shouldn't have happened based on how the refs messed it up.