Tical21":2hseqcmn said:
Obviously we need a wider shot, but I am thinking that Simon doesn't even lay a hand on the guy until the ball is in the air. Two thoughts. First, it just looks like it shouldn't be legal. The interpretation of the rule could certainly support the argument that it is a bad call. But it just doesn't look right.
Second, and this is usually a downfield PI argument, but Simon doesn't need to do it. If he never touches the guy, that ball gets thrown into Simon's lap for a touchdown. Is that what the refs are going for?
The way I see it, it was within five yards or at least close enough to be given the benefit of the doubt. I never played WR but I did play OL, and I can tell you that lineman know they can go about 2-3 yards downfield before they get called for illegal man downfield. Can you imagine if they called that penalty to the letter of the law? You'd have an illegal man downfield every third or fourth pass. Some lineman would whiff on a cut block and be a foot past the LoS, or the DL would chuck him past the line, etc. The refs afford a "cushion" on rules like that for a reason.
I assume the 5 yard rule is the same way. 5 yards probably means more like 7 yards in terms of actual enforcement so as to avoid bad calls. At least until now.
Regarding the contact, I didn't see a hold and I didn't see the WR appear to be diverted. Simon just kind of put his hand up to keep his bearings. Like you said, Simon is watching the QB, and you can't watch the WR and the QB at the same time hence the hand to "feel" where the WR is going. If they make basic "touching" illegal I would say that is incredibly unfair to DBs.
Not really sure what Simon can learn there. If he doesn't have a hand on the WR but still wants to spy the QB, he risks losing track of the WR and giving up a TD. He's basically just using his sense of sight and sense of touch in tandem to track two players simultaneously. Nothing illegal about it, IMO.