Falsely accused

NFL's replay rule, not Brady, dropped the ball

Three days later and this Tom Brady fumble thing has long since been beaten to within an inch of its life. I'm not here to deliver that fatal flog, and I'm not here to join that unanimous nationwide chorus of "it's a stupid rule but it's the rule and the refs got it right." (I agree with the chorus, I just don't feel like singing.) You'll hear plenty more about that play this week, and you'll hear it (and see it) again and again on your TV screens this Sunday afternoon while the back-from-the-dead Patriots are taking a whupping in Pittsburgh.

The thing that no one's talking about, the thing that gets me all in a lather, is the sinister subplot to this mess. Do you realize that if Brady's botch had occurred 14 seconds earlier -- with 2:01 left in the game rather than with 1:47 to go -- the play never would have been reviewed? The call would have gone the other way. The Raiders would be steeling themselves for the next round. Folks in Boston and Beverly would be calling for Bledsoe.

That's because with more than two minutes to go it is up to one of the teams -- in this case, the Patriots -- to ask for a review, and, amazingly, they would not have been allowed to.

Each team gets two chances to go upstairs in a game, not including the last two minutes of each half when that decision is left up to the officials. If a team asks for a replay review and the play in question is not overturned (i.e., the call on the field stands), the club loses a timeout. The Patriots had no timeouts remaining when Saturday's fateful play occurred, and when you have no timeouts left, you can't ask for a replay.

Got that -- you're not allowed to ask for a replay. That means, in theory, that once you've used your timeouts, you could get jobbed by a blatantly missed call, one that otherwise would certainly be reversed by a replay system firmly in place, and yet you'd have no recourse to fight it.

How dumb is that? How stupid is it that the NFL caps the number of times you can have review?

This is justice for some of the people some of the time. Imagine if you could only ask two questions per class in school. Imagine if you could only return two of the wrong-sized sweaters you got for Christmas.

It's inane, is what it is. Either do away with replay altogether and leave the game susceptible to the flaws of the refs on the field (I'd have no problem with that) or let teams ask for an unlimited number of replays (I'd have no problem with that, either). You can't be half-assed about this, though. As any player or coach will be happy to point out, half-ass is not going to cut it in this league.

I know what you're thinking. If you allow unlimited replays, it'll get out of hand. Coaches will be going upstairs after every play. One o'clock games will end at midnight.

Avoiding that abuse would be simple. If a team calls for a replay and is wrong, it gets a 15-yard penalty. Call it a personal foul against the fans for wasting their time. Fifteen yards is serious real estate in football, so coaches won't be calling for replays on a whim. They'll fight when they feel righteous.

New England coach Bill Belichick says he "knew as soon as he saw the replay" that the ref would call Brady's elbow wag an incomplete pass. Indeed, he sent his offense back onto the field while the officials were still deliberating. That means that had the play occurred with 2:01 left and Belichick had been allowed to, he would have certainly asked for a replay.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello admits that the rule everyone's screaming about this week -- the one that determined that Brady's arm was in a passing motion -- "is a controversial rule." From where I sit, it's not so controversial as all that. Whether a quarterback is in the act of throwing will always be a judgment call; if the rule says he has to tuck the football to complete his throwing motion (as the rule is today) that seems as sensible a parameter as any.

The regulation that the NFL really needs to address this offseason is the one that limits the number of times a team is allowed to try and get a play right. The good news is that the two-per-team rule hasn't hurt anybody this playoff season, but it's time for the league to do away with the rule before it does.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Kostya Kennedy takes sides every Tuesday at CNNSI.com. The thoughts expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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