Week 3 Officiating Issues

[Bobref]

Weird free kick stuff happened last week … and a couple of our crews were not quite equal to the task. What will happen this week? Post your questions, observations, etc., right here. But keep in mind this is a “No Whine Zone.” You can commiserate with your fellow fans about how the guys in stripes done your team wrong back in the thread on the game itself. This thread is for questions, answers, and discussion. Have at it! And good luck to the 3rd team on the field tonight.

[Maynard111]

4th and short 1 quarterback lines up in a pistol formation, steps forward, take the snap and easily passes line to gain. 
Officials flagged then for illegal procedure.
Coaches argued, unsuccessfully, that the QB was just going under center to take the snap.

[Irishman]

9 minutes ago, Maynard111 said:

4th and short 1 quarterback lines up in a pistol formation, steps forward, take the snap and easily passes line to gain. 
Officials flagged then for illegal procedure.
Coaches argued, unsuccessfully, that the QB was just going under center to take the snap.

Going to guess he was not set under center for a second before the snap. Since he is moving toward the line of scrimmage, he must be set for a second before the ball can be snapped. It's a judgment call by the officials as to whether he was set long enough or not. 

[Bobref]

1 hour ago, Maynard111 said:

4th and short 1 quarterback lines up in a pistol formation, steps forward, take the snap and easily passes line to gain. 
Officials flagged then for illegal procedure.
Coaches argued, unsuccessfully, that the QB was just going under center to take the snap.

 

1 hour ago, Irishman said:

Going to guess he was not set under center for a second before the snap. Since he is moving toward the line of scrimmage, he must be set for a second before the ball can be snapped. It's a judgment call by the officials as to whether he was set long enough or not. 

This is actually a fairly common scenario, and the tip-off is that it was a QB sneak. By not coming set before the ball was snapped, the QB gets a rolling start … which is an unfair advantage. This is a foul.

The more interesting question from the officials’ standpoint is: exactly what foul is it? The talk about stopping for 1 second is significant, but perhaps not for the reason you think. The QB was, in effect, in motion at the snap. His motion was illegal because it was forward. Even if he actually came to a brief stop, but not for a second, he would be considered to still be in motion. So, the proper call is illegal motion, not illegal shift, a live ball foul at the snap. Play continues until the down is over. But …

There is also a school of thought out there with the philosophy that we don’t want to run unnecessary plays or replay downs. So, if you can call something a pre-snap dead ball foul — like false start — that is preferable. Proponents of that philosophy — including the rebel group’s leading proponent @JustRules — might call this a false start, on the theory that the QB’s movement was the “start” of the play, but the ball had not been snapped.