re: The NFL's official explanation for Goff's fumble

Published 12 years ago on September 21, 2014

Rule:

quote:

---

If, after intentional forward movement of his hand, contact by an opponent materially affects the passer, causing the ball to go backward, it is a forward pass, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground, a player, an official, or anything else.

---

quote:

---

In Geno Smith’s case, the only reason the ball went backward was due to the defensive contact. Alex Smith was moving his arm slightly, but in an obvious forward passing motion when viewed on replay. Because the actions of the quarterbacks made the ball a forward pass, both plays were ruled incomplete passes in replay. With the repeal of the Tuck Rule in 2013, the end of a forward motion ends the intention to pass, and not tucking the ball into the body. The next issue for these plays involves intentional grounding, as it was argued that these passes were nowhere near an intended receiver. However, the rules allow the word intentional to have meaning — the actions of both Smiths were intended to be passes to an eligible receiver, and the intentional grounding rules give similar deference to the quarterback as Rule 8-1-1a does to make it incomplete. In this case, if there is no eligible target in the path of the intended pass, the referee can still call intentional grounding. Such a call is rarely made, though, because it is difficult to actually determine what would have happened without the defensive contact.

---

There are 2 separate discussions that are being conflated:

1. Was this a fumble or was the arm coming forward?
2. If it was a pass, was it a backwards pass?

If it's a pass (which I disagree with, but that's the ruling on the field), it can't be considered a backwards pass and won't be intentional grounding, due to the contact.

If it's not a pass, none of that matters b/c it's a fumble.

Those are the 2 options. I think it was a fumble and #1 is where the NFL made the mistake.