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Late rulings still have Rams upset and puzzled
Rams head coach Scott Linehan talks with quarterback Marc Bulger on the sidelines of their game against the Big Red earlier this season.
Coach Scott Linehan's even-keel approach has contributed to the Rams' early-season success, particularly following a 2005 season in which turmoil was the status quo around Rams Park.
But even Linehan had a hard time keeping his cool in discussing the illegal-formation penalty against Seattle that did not result in a 10-second runoff at the end of Sunday's game.
"An illegal formation (penalty), if everybody is set, is not one of the 10-second runoff plays," Linehan said Monday. "It's a little confusing as to which ones are (subject to runoff), and which ones aren't."
The NFL rule on the subject reads as follows:
A team is not permitted to conserve time inside of one minute of either half by committing any of the following acts: fouls by either team that prevent the snap (i.e, false start, encroachment, etc.), intentional grounding, an illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage with the intent to conserve time, throwing a backward pass out of bounds with the intent to conserve time, and any other intentional foul that causes the clock to stop.
Of course, what constitutes an "intentional foul" becomes a matter of judgment by the officiating crew. For example, what would prevent a team from lining up in an illegal formation on purpose in an effort to stop the clock? If it were just one player, a yard or so behind the line, how would an official know if it were intentional or not?
It is gray areas such as that which concern Linehan about the NFL rulebook.
"We have kind of a running, updated rulebook in the NFL," Linehan said. "In college, you have a rulebook. But in the NFL, you have an amended rule book, where because of some play that's happened in the past, they adjust it because somebody jumps offsides on purpose to stop the clock.
"I think the integrity of the 10-second runoff is in question here. Because the whole idea is that you can't have an illegal play of any kind without any timeouts while the clock's running to ensure that you get a chance to get a (field goal).
"To be honest with you, if you really think it out, you could really save some time "" and I'm going to talk to the officials about this. If you have a long play now, what I would say is I think Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce should run up and snap the ball to each other.
"Everybody stands still, it's an illegal formation. Snap the ball and clock it. ... "
That drastic scenario obviously would fall in the category of "intentional fouls," and thus be subject to the runoff. But there are less drastic ways that could still have the desired effect of stopping the clock without a runoff.
"It might come up once a year, but that would certainly be a tool," Linehan said.
Linehan said his team plans to work on such a scenario.
Because there was no 10-second runoff in Sunday's game against Seattle, the clock was stopped with 4 seconds to play after Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck spiked the ball. On the next play, Josh Brown kicked a 54-yard field goal to end the game, giving Seattle a 30-28 victory.
After the game, Rams defensive end Leonard Little said he heard referee Ed Hochuli tell members of his officiating crew that there were two penalties on the play: a false start and an illegal formation. A false start would have resulted in a 10-second runoff, ending the game with the Rams up 28-27.
"Don't tell me that," Linehan said. "The only foul that was explained to me was the illegal formation, and that it wasn't one of the 10-second runoff fouls. There was never any explanation that there were two fouls. Obviously, we would have taken the one that ran off the clock if that was the case."
Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, could not be reached for comment Monday for clarification on if there was indeed a discussion among Hochuli's crew about false start and illegal formation penalties.
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Late rulings still have Rams upset and puzzled
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