Ineligible receiver downfield

Refs are calling this like going 1 MPH over the speed limit.

RunTheBall":3tts8mbr said:

Refs are calling this like going 1 MPH over the speed limit.

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Yeah they were ticky tacky as hell. Gotta keep the games close ya know!

Those were pretty lame. As long as the man doesn't interfere with anyone's route or the defenders ability to cover a route, ie setting picks, they should just keep the laundry in their pockets. There wasn't anyone near Bailey iirc, no bearing on the play whatsoever. He might as well have been on a desert island...

CANHawk":2b2jvul0 said:

Those were pretty lame. As long as the man doesn't interfere with anyone's route or the defenders ability to cover a route, ie setting picks, they should just keep the laundry in their pockets. There wasn't anyone near Bailey iirc, no bearing on the play whatsoever. He might as well have been on a desert island...

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That's not the sole reason they call the play. Seeing an OL downfield keys defenders that the play is going to be a run. So seeing an OL downfield and the ball being thrown could be quite confusing.

But I agree with OP. Most those calls were tick tacky

Couple things I think are worth noting:

1. These were fouls. We can complain all we like, but they are legit
2. Seattle (and by that I mean Carroll teams), are notorious for playing very aggressively as close to the line of legality as possible. These illegal man downfield calls are just one example of many. As fans, we have to take the good with the bad here. The numerous occurrences where we don't get called can have an unnoticed impact on our successful plays. Seattle very much wants to find where the line is and play as close to it as possible. And you can undeniably see that intent when you hear Carroll answer questions about officiating.

In short, it's part of this team's DNA. We are aggressive. Aggressive teams get called more frequently because they intentionally flirt with illegality as a matter of course. From an impassionate viewpoint we should all expect to get flagged more as a result. The reality is, we don't really get called for these kinds of infractions to the disproportionate degree we should rightly expect.

Ultimately, we need to play with smarter aggression. The Bailey illegal man downfield call was entirely avoidable. It was a mental error. Not unlike the Carpenter unnecessary roughness call in Washington. It was avoidable. Although agreeably ticky tack in nature -- these are avoidable calls.

I would caution too, that we only have illegal man downfield called twice on us. This last game. And that's on backups (Bailey/Gilliam). It's not an epidemic here. But considering the attention paid the non called (rightly) instance against Green Bay on Sweezy, it's understandable that we might think it's an issue. Honestly I would bet that we extend up to the 1 yard line regularly. It's the sign of a savvy OL unit playing well. Anonymously well.

This week's penalties -- well it's a broken record at this point.

9 Seahawks penalties
5 Raiders penalties

3 unforced pre snap penalties for Seattle
0 unforced pre snap penalties for Oakland

Final subjective penalty count: Seattle 6: Oakland 5. Pretty dead even

Literally, this is every game this season now. And we're just dwarfing the false start penalties of our opponents at home now. 8 motion/false starts to just 2. In fact we have exactly twice as many false starts at home than our opponents total (home or away).

Sports Hernia":yq4urilw said:

RunTheBall":yq4urilw said:

Refs are calling this like going 1 MPH over the speed limit.

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Yeah they were ticky tacky as hell. Gotta keep the games close ya know!

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Ticky tack is judgement calls like holding, PI, etc.

Illegal man down field is very cut and dry,

[on any given pass play only eligible receivers can cross the line of scrimmage before either A) a pass crosses the line, or B) a defender touches the ball. The exception is on a forward pass that doesn't cross the line of scrimmage (like a screen or shovel pass)

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Both times the lineman were past the line before the ball was passed.........easy call.