Worst Calls of the Year - 2003

If At First You Don't Succeed

In overtime, Tampa Bay's Simeon Rice was called for "leaping" on a missed Vanderjagt field goal.  "What is That?" "That's an unbelievable call!" exclaimed ABC's Al Michaels.  Replay clearly shows Rice jumping without the aid of any teammates and landing up against a fellow teammate.  According to the rule, it's illegal if a player is "clearly running forward and leaping in an obvious attempt to block a field goal, or try-kick after touchdown and landing on players"  

In no way was any illicit behavior or intent even remotely visible.  Did Rice land up against a teammate?  Yes.  Did Rice land on top a teammate in an attempt to gain height to block the kick?  Absolutely not.  Yet, the refs on the field (backed by league officials), believe Vanderjagt deserved a second kick to win the game.  It unbelievable how often NFL refs see things differently from the rest of the world.  

To add insult to injury, the NFL has admitted that game officials made a critical error late in the Oct. 6 Monday night game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts.

With 3:37 left in the fourth quarter and the Bucs leading 35-21, Colts placekicker Mike Vanderjagt's onside kick sailed airborne and was caught by Colts safety Idrees Bashir at the Indianapolis 42.  The Colts took advantage, driving 58 yards for a touchdown and eventually became the first team in league history to rally from 21 points behind in the final four minutes of regulation. They won 38-35 in overtime.  Mike Pereira, the NFL's director of officiating, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday that the game's officials failed to apply Rule 10, Section 1, Article 4, which says that on that type of an onside kick, the receiving team must be given the chance to catch the ball if the ball does not touch the ground.  A kicking team is allowed to recover an onside kick providing the ball has traveled 10 yards and has hit the ground.  Vanderjagt's kick did not hit the ground, and so the Colts should have been penalized 15 yards from the spot of the foul for interfereing with the Buc's right to catch the ball, according to the NFL.  That penalty would have given Tampa Bay the ball at the Indianapolis 27 yard line, the paper reported.

Rules?  What Rules?

Shouldn't those who officiate know the rules they expect others to follow?  As the Associated Press reported..."On Monday, the NFL, in a statement issued by director of officiating Mike Pereira, admitted its refereeing crew made an "administrative error" by not restarting the clock after a penalty flag was waived off on Seattle's final possession in regulation.

The situation was this: Seattle led 41-38 with less than a minute left. After a second-down play, Baltimore called what appeared to be its final timeout at the same time officials threw a flag on Seattle for illegally placing Floyd Womack, an extra offensive lineman, in the tight end's spot. The flag was waved off, however, when another official noted the player had properly reported into the game as an eligible receiver. Baltimore was not charged with a timeout. However, instead of starting the clock as Seattle contended they should have, the officials kept it stopped. On third down, Seattle was stopped inches short of a first-down, and Baltimore used its final timeout. Matt Hasselbeck then was stopped on a fourth-down quarterback sneak seconds later, turning the ball over to the Ravens with 39 seconds left.

Seattle coach Mike Holmgren protested the earlier stoppage to White and his crew, but to no avail.
"Quite frankly, we were playing to knock the clock down to 13 seconds, which would have been the time left on the clock when we went for the quarterback sneak," Holmgren told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "They would have had 13 seconds with no timeouts. It would have been difficult for them to get the job done, but we were the victim of a rule.""

Baltimore was able to get into field goal range, tie the game, then win in overtime.  A critical loss for the Seahawks who now trail the Rams by a game in the division.  To add insult to injury, the flag NEVER should have been thrown because Womack legally reported as eligible.  Yet another example of NFL Refs blowing a call and directly effecting the outcome of a game, and perhaps a playoff spot.

Ever hear of Pass Interference?

Much like the Patriots, the 49ers are one of those teams which seems to get crucial breaks from the officials on a regular basis.  Their 39-38 playoff win over the Giants was no exception.  Leading by a point with 6 seconds left, NY lined up for a winning 41 yard field goal.  Holder Matt Allen was unable to control the bad snap; thus, passed the ball downfield incomplete as time expired.  From the Associated Press..."Mike Pereira, the NFL's director of officiating, informed the Giants and San Francisco 49ers on Monday that a defensive pass interference penalty should have been called on the final play of Sunday's game, which would have allowed the Giants to attempt a potential winning field goal...No pass interference was called on the play and Giants guard Tam Hopkins was flagged for illegally running downfield on the pass attempt. If interference had been called, then the game could not have ended due to offsetting penalties and the Giants could have attempted the field goal.  "It was pass interference. It was clearly pass interference," (Giants Coach) Fassel said. "How they missed that, I do not know. It is very disappointing."  Pereira admitted that Fassel was right since Seubert had reported to the officiating crew prior to the game as an eligible receiver on field goal attempts and was clearly pushed by Okeafor.'' I cannot say I'm surprised.  Seems like every year in the playoffs, the officials are blowing calls that clearly effect the outcome of games.