Delay Flag AFTER Spike - Get it Fixed

[Dan T.]

For the second week in a row, the Redskins offense suffered a delay of game penalty AFTER a spiking the ball to stop the clock. Last night it almost cost the Redskins a touchdown -- and me a 56" Hi-Def TV.

Lining up to spike the ball takes about, what? 8 to 10 seconds? Shouldn't the coaches already be figuring out what to call on second down? So they have a head start on the 2nd down play call, but STILL can't get it in on time.

To me, this is the one blemish on an otherwise triumphant night. The error is compounded especially because we saw the SAME THING happen the week before. What is causing this? Indecisiveness among the coaches? Miscommunication? More important, how does it get fixed?

[Guest Dave959]

I heard it mentioned briefly on the radio this morning that the communications mysteriously equipment went dead so Campbell couldn't hear the play that was called...

[Dan T.]

I heard it mentioned briefly on the radio this morning that the communications mysteriously equipment went dead so Campbell couldn't hear the play that was called...

If true, that gets the coaches off the hook. And the timing of such a radio failure is VERY interesting, in light of all the stories of technological shenanigans coming up in the wake of the Belichick cheating fiasco.

Did anybody else hear this?

[Dan T.]

So nobody else is concerned about this? Two weeks in a row?

Or nobody even wants to say "Just shut up and enjoy the win!"?

[BGFollower]

TV coverages sucked when it came to the clock so It was hard to see for sure. I'd be interested in opinions from anyone at the game but it seemed that clocked ticked mighty fast after that spike. Almost like they never reset it....

[Guest Dave959]

If true, that gets the coaches off the hook. And the timing of such a radio failure is VERY interesting, in light of all the stories of technological shenanigans coming up in the wake of the Belichick cheating fiasco.

Did anybody else hear this?

This is all I could find on it so far....

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070918_Time-outs_and_confusion_reign.html

"Campbell downed the ball to stop the clock with 14 seconds remaining, setting up second and goal. But the Redskins' bench was late - very late - getting him the next play; Campbell gestured as if he couldn't hear the play call in his helmet. Whatever the reason, the Redskins didn't break their huddle until there were just four seconds left on the play clock."

[SkinInsite]

Yeah our coaches needs to get better at getting the plays in to Campbell early. I really hate it when the skins break huddle with 10secs left on the play clock and everyone is scrambling.

[rdsknfan]

If true, that gets the coaches off the hook. And the timing of such a radio failure is VERY interesting, in light of all the stories of technological shenanigans coming up in the wake of the Belichick cheating fiasco.

Did anybody else hear this?

I don't know about the headset, but IMO it does not get the coaches off of the hook. They know that headsets can fail....so why is there not a play design for such occurence. "So if your radio goes out, just run play XXX until we get it straightened out".

[bobzmuda]

The officials deserve blame on that as well. ARE was presumably tackled in-bounds, but the officials didn't wind the clock (by making that windmilling motion), as they're supposed to do on tackles outside the numbers. The clock operator thought ARE was OOB based on the dead-ball signal, so he stopped the clock for a second before realizing the officials weren't going to wind the clock.

From the coaches' perspective, ARE looks OOB, and the clock stops. They start preparing for a play. Then the clock starts again without warning. Then they have to adjust and get the spike order in to Campbell who's waiting for a play and get the FG unit ready.

[Dan T.]

The officials deserve blame on that as well. ARE was presumably tackled in-bounds, but the officials didn't wind the clock (by making that windmilling motion), as they're supposed to do on tackles outside the numbers. The clock operator thought ARE was OOB based on the dead-ball signal, so he stopped the clock for a second before realizing the officials weren't going to wind the clock.

From the coaches' perspective, ARE looks OOB, and the clock stops. They start preparing for a play. Then the clock starts again without warning. Then they have to adjust and get the spike order in to Campbell who's waiting for a play and get the FG unit ready.

Fair enough. There was some confusion as to whether ARE was tackled in bounds or OOB. Because it was so close, the refs should have handled that better.

IT still doesn't explain the delay penalty AFTER the spike. With second and goal from the one with 14 seconds left, field goal shouldn't even come into the equation yet.

[terpfan]

This, Campbell's missed deep ball to Moss, and the Thomas injury really stick out in my mind. I'm definitely happy about the win... but there things are really bugging me.

[timitim]

I completely agree that this is a problem. After the second week in a row this has become a major problem and it lies with the coaching staff mainly. You have to know what your going to do in this situation and be prepared for it which we were obviously not.

We got very lucky with that throw to Cooley in the end zone cause before that delay of game we had 2 yards to the end zone before the penalties started rollin in.

[Guest Dave959]

We got very lucky with that throw to Cooley in the end zone cause before that delay of game we had 2 yards to the end zone before the penalties started rollin in.

It was a perfectly thrown pass and a good catch...where's the luck in that?

[The Waterboy]

Thanks for the link -- Eagles' numbers say it all: 0-2 By Bob Brookover

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER. Some interesting quotes by the Inquiring Staff Writer:

"We put up a lot of points last year," tight end L.J. Smith said. "I don't know what it is. I'm sure Coach Reid doesn't know exactly what it is, either. I'm sure when we look at the film, we'll see a lot of problems." --- Maybe it could be that this is not the 5-11 Redskins from last year?

"Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell, who outplayed McNabb,..." --- an accident or a trend ; the Inquiring Staff Writer doesn't dare say.

"The Eagles, however, had to settle for a field goal. McNabb could not find his receivers in the red zone." --- Because of the trees? The sun was in his eyes? Anything but the outstanding play of Redskin defenders?

""Hopefully we can get it fixed," wide receiver Reggie Brown said. "We have to get rid of this taste that's in our mouth. It's a rancid, buttermilk, goat cheese, maggot-filled taste, and once we get rid of it, we'll be all right."

[Touchdown Redskins]

I don't know about the headset, but IMO it does not get the coaches off of the hook. They know that headsets can fail....so why is there not a play design for such occurence. "So if your radio goes out, just run play XXX until we get it straightened out".

Considering we had no timeouts in a critical situation with the clock winding down and a 2nd-year starting QB behind center, I would rather take the penalty than run some random play. What if that play were a run? Then we'd be run down the clock.

I've heard that the radio went dead, and that's why we sent the field goal unit on the field accidentally. In any case, we won, and we'll obviously get this fixed during the week.

[Dan T.]

Considering we had no timeouts in a critical situation with the clock winding down and a 2nd-year starting QB behind center, I would rather take the penalty than run some random play. What if that play were a run? Then we'd be run down the clock.

The clock wasn't winding down, it was stopped after a spike. Get a play called. And if not from the sidelines, c'mon, Campbell's smart enough to know not to call a run there.

... and we'll obviously get this fixed during the week.

That's what I said after it happened against the Dolphins. :doh:

[bedlamVR]

These things will tend to get better as time goes on the Campbell overthrow...how do you overthrow Moss streaking for the endzone of all people .....Gibbs teams always look better in December than September.

The goal line joke thous u think was trigured by the officals not keeping the clock or calling for a winding on the clock to make it obvious ARE was in bounds . Still it wa made worse by the coaches but thanks to Ried we got the go ahead TD ...

[laxpck]

I don't know about the headset, but IMO it does not get the coaches off of the hook. They know that headsets can fail....so why is there not a play design for such occurence. "So if your radio goes out, just run play XXX until we get it straightened out".

The headsets were out.

WTF are you talking about. Run some play until we get it straightened out?

With 11 seconds and No timeouts. JG did the right thing running his kicking team out there to get something out of the trip into the redzone.

I think Mike Tirico talked Charles Barkley into telling Andy Reid his son is a punk in jail and he should take a timeout. Then he did.

What an awful decision on Reid's part. Difference in the game

Hail!

[rdsknfan]

The clock wasn't winding down, it was stopped after a spike. Get a play called. And if not from the sidelines, c'mon, Campbell's smart enough to know not to call a run there.

That's what I said after it happened against the Dolphins. :doh:

Thanks Dan T. That was the response I was going to make, but you beat me too it. Of course you don't run the ball down at that point....but run a play and put the ball into one of the far side of the endzone where either our guy jumps and gets it or it goes out of bounds. I am just glad that we ended up with a TD anyway. I really do hope they figure something out for down the road, because you know this will happen again at some point.

[LoveMyLogeSeat]

This just in from the AP. Headline: Gibbs and staff human, not perfect.

More at next game. stay tuned.

[cozmikbuffalo]

For the second week in a row, the Redskins offense suffered a delay of game penalty AFTER a spiking the ball to stop the clock. Last night it almost cost the Redskins a touchdown -- and me a 56" Hi-Def TV.

Lining up to spike the ball takes about, what? 8 to 10 seconds? Shouldn't the coaches already be figuring out what to call on second down? So they have a head start on the 2nd down play call, but STILL can't get it in on time.

To me, this is the one blemish on an otherwise triumphant night. The error is compounded especially because we saw the SAME THING happen the week before. What is causing this? Indecisiveness among the coaches? Miscommunication? More important, how does it get fixed?

I am surprised nobody here or on the sportscast noticed that there never should have been an issue after Randal El caught that pass because he was tackled out of bounds and yet the clock kept running. Of course this happened because we were playing in Philly and they are crooked but , c'mon it was clear as a bell he was tackled out of bounds which should have stopped the clock at 22 seconds not 14.

[Dan T.]

The headsets were out.

WTF are you talking about. Run some play until we get it straightened out?

With 11 seconds and No timeouts. JG did the right thing running his kicking team out there to get something out of the trip into the redzone.

I think Mike Tirico talked Charles Barkley into telling Andy Reid his son is a punk in jail and he should take a timeout. Then he did.

What an awful decision on Reid's part. Difference in the game

Hail!

Wrong. There were 14 seconds left, and the clock was stopped with the spike. Second down at the 1 1/2 yard line. Time for one and maybe even TWO quick shots at the end zone, and still kick a field goal. But the delay of game penalty pushed them back to the 6 1/2 yard line. :doh:

[BKSkinsFan]

As excited as I was and still am over that win, our inability to finish things off can be hard to watch. I'm hoping after getting in the endzone twice, we will develop a better feel and more concise and confident approach with our personnel changes, play calling, and execution.

Just as our defense gets a swagger after playing well, I believe our offense can do the same as they get more comfortable playing together through all the different situations that arise during a game. I think Saunders called a great game last night, and it almost feels like our offense is like a little snowball rolling down the mountain getting bigger and gaining momentum.

We've shown we can run the ball, and our passing game attacks all areas of the field. As we continue our success in both areas, defenses will have to guess more on how we plan to attack them, which Saunders will be able to use to catch them off guard and keep them on their heels.

[Dan T.]

I am surprised nobody here or on the sportscast noticed that there never should have been an issue after Randal El caught that pass because he was tackled out of bounds and yet the clock kept running. Of course this happened because we were playing in Philly and they are crooked but , c'mon it was clear as a bell he was tackled out of bounds which should have stopped the clock at 22 seconds not 14.

It was real close, but on the replay it looked like his shoulder hit just inbounds.

[pjfootballer]

I think with all the confusion with him being in bounds or OOB, the play clock was started too quick. I thought, damn that was a quick clock. I say the play clock wasn't started right.