http://www.nfl.com/videos/jacksonvil...ack-15-yd-loss

so they botched this call then

no, he didn't attempt to throw a forward pass, he attempted to throw a backward pass

Kudos to the refs for getting it right, but that rule seems flat out awful.

the rule seems consistent, at least to me.

if you try to throw the ball forward, but as your arm is moving forward, the ball slips out behind you, that's considered an incompletion. so by that logic, "intent" as far as what you were trying to do is what predominates

therefore, if you're trying to throw forward, but get hit and throw backward, it should still be a forward pass, since that was your intent.

watever u say

QB Forward pass rule seems fine and pretty clear to me. In reality it should happen so rarely it shouldn't really matter.

Yeah, it's rare. But a rule that says "if a pass goes backwards, it's a backwards pass" is a lot clearer and intuitive.

Imagine if, instead, Alex Smith was trying to throw a screen pass where the RB is even with him when he got hit. You then have to scrutinize whether or not it was an intended lateral or a barely forward pass.

Sure, and that would be fine too. It's a little like the force out rule (but a lot easier to decide).

How does a pass go backwards with the arm going forwards? Unless the ball is hit by the defender, in which case it's a batted forward pass. Is there video of this paly?

Imagine a case where the QB winds up to throw down field, begins to throw and is hit by the defender such that his body gets turned and his arm, and the ball, are now pointed backwards.

It would have to happen decently quickly to be viable, but apparently it did. That Jaguars play someone linked just seemed like Blaine lost his **** and threw the ball backwards. In no part of that throw did it seem like he was going down field.

hmmm, I guess that makes sense.

if defensive holding is an automatic 1st down the offensive holding should be automatic 4th down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfnGfO1FX4

shouldn't that have been an incomplete pass because of the intent to throw it forward?

Notsureifserious.jpg

Pretty much all NFL penalties except grounding are leveraged in favor of the offense because they aren't loss of down while there are a lot of automatic first down penalties. Because holding isn't a loss of down penalty its way better for the offense to hold than to give up a sack and that ignores that holding isn't always called. Offensive pass interference is also a joke- 10 yards vs. spot foul and auto first down for defensive pass interference. Pretty much any time a ball might get picked its correct to mug the defensive player. It is totally beyond me why OPI isn't a loss of down penalty. Really, I would need to be convinced holding shouldn't be a loss of down as well.

I agree and some crews are much worse than others. I don't know the guys by name but there is that 1 black head official with the moustache. If you ever get him prepare for a game of joke officiating.

Ronnie Brown meant to throw the ball forward, he got spun and ended up throwing possibly to the side or laterally. Therefore, by the rule in the 49ers/Cardinals game it should be incomplete.

wat

Either we're watching different replays or you're just ****ing with me.

In no part of Ronnie's throw did he ever go forward. He was being tackled, got spun around, went full ****** AND THEN cocked his arm and threw backwards.

If he'd began to throw forward, you'd have a point, but just being dumb enough to wind up and throw entirely behind you isn't something we need to protect against.

He's being twisted as he is tackled. He looks downfield brings his arm back and begins to go forward as he is being twisted and the throw changes direction from what would have been a forward pass to a backward one

Do you have another replay? In the one you linked, he's clearly pointing almost directly the wrong direction when he begins to bring his arm back (he's sitting on the defender at the time).

Well the ball comes out nearly sideways and he gets twisted between 45-90 degrees from the point where he starts the throw to when he releases it.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...trying-to-pass

But obv he wanted to throw out forward

so shouldn't it have been ruled incomplete then?

I guess I'm blind then. I just don't see it. He's obviously being twisted, and I doubt very much he wanted to throw the ball into the ground directly behind him, but at the same time, I never saw his arm going forward there (or going back while he's clearly pointed down field).

The rule doesn't care where he wanted to throw it, only where his body was throwing it.