Buccaneers at Lions divisional playoff observations

[FredFan7]

Enjoy the game! This is Mark Perlman's retirement game.

R 52 Bill Vinovich
U 49 Alex Moore
DJ 68 Tom Stephan
LJ 9 Mark Perlman
FJ 57 Joe Blubaugh
SJ 86 Jimmy Buchanan
BJ 88 Brad Freeman
RO Mark Butterworth
RA Julie Johnson
ALT R Brad Rogers
ALT U Mark Pellis
ALT LJ Kevin Codey
ALT FJ Jeff Shears
ALT BJ Grantis Bell

[FredFan7]

Bill Vinovich's crew is in a early groove. We think back judge Brad Freeman called this defensive holding foul on Calijah Kancey. Kancey held the offensive lineman hoping to free up an unblocked linebacker to make the play on the ball.


It is rare to see a defensive holding call on a lineman, and kudos to the official who threw this flag.

[zebrablog]

Regarding the legal blindside block on the 1st quarter punt return...

[russ]

Good OPI call against #88 of TB who made contact with the defender attempting to cover the RB. Didn’t see who threw the flag.

[FredFan7]

Jan 21, 2024 15:51:02 GMT -5 russ said:

Good OPI call against #88 of TB who made contact with the defender attempting to cover the RB. Didn’t see who threw the flag.

Bucs TE Cade Otton was flagged for offensive pass interference for clearing out Lions LB Alex Anzalone on a crossing route that sprung Bucs RB Chase Edmonds for a near first down. While the contact may not have looked significant, it did take Anzalone out of the play, even if he wasn't the primary defender for Edmonds. The contact occurred three yards beyond the LOS and Anzalone is entitled to his spot on the field, which Otton clearly went into and through. This contact warranted a flag.

[FredFan7]

On the touchdown, Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin does create interference to allow Cade Otton to get a path to the end zone. But in this case, it is not a foul because this is a legal pick within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage. Offensive pass interference cannot occur unless it is beyond 1 yard.

Side judge Jimmy Buchanan sees the interference, but does not have the angle to determine how far downfield it is. Now, he has a touchdown catch but it would be clunky to throw up a touchdown signal and then take it back in a conference. It is cleaner to drop the flag and have a discussion with down judge Tom Stephan on the location of the interference.

[FredFan7]

Jared Goff connects with receiver Josh Reynolds for 25 yards, but the play is called back for a chop block penalty.


A chop block is when a player -- typically a lineman -- is engaged high and low by two players. The high part of the block does not require contact, just that there is engagement. This type of chop block is a lure block.


There is not much contact upstairs when running back David Montgomery delivers the low block, but this is enough to leave the opponent unprotected from the low block. This is an illegal chop block and is a great pickup by the crew.

[FredFan7]

Baker Mayfield keeps the play alive and flings a pass toward the sideline and Cade Otton.


Otton does a great job keeping his feet inbounds and line judge Mark Perlman is on the spot with a great call.


Great plays make for great calls.

[FredFan7]

Lions cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu was flagged for defensive holding while covering Bucs tight end Cade Otton. While Detroit fans groaned at a flag that was seemingly thrown for defensive pass interference, a second look at the replay showed that the contact was early, and Melifonwu grabbed hold of Otton's jersey at the shoulder, creating a material restriction during the route.


Down judge Tom Stephan made the call from the line of scrimmage. This was a textbook call for defensive holding at the top of the route that impacted the tight end's path to the ball.

[FredFan7]

A pass by Baker Mayfield is ruled incomplete and there was not intentional grounding because a receiver was in the area. Additionally, the pass reached the line of scrimmage while Mayfield was out of the pocket, so grounding is not a consideration.


Replays showed that Mayfield's calf was touching the ground before he released the pass. It was a close call to get in real time, and in fact, this is mechanically recommended when it is this close. The replay official can reverse an incomplete pass to down by contact, but down by contact cannot be reviewed to add an additional action other than a fumble recovery.


Had this been challenged, this would have been ruled down at the 23-yard line for an 11-yard loss.


The reason why the challenge system exists is for plays like this. Rather than stopping the game, the coach makes the determination whether it is worth a challenge, Even the Lions coaching staff was not convinced that they would get a favorable result in review and ultimately passed.

[russ]

Good no call on a potential DPI during TB’s 2 point conversion. While Detroit defender wasn’t really playing the ball he also didn’t make enough contact to hinder the play. Would have probably been Blubaugh’s call.

[FredFan7]

Grades

R 52 Bill Vinovich: 3.95 - He's still one of the league's best and ran a smooth game
U 49 Alex Moore: 3.85 - Excellent first playoff game. Good calls and I predict he'll be a white hat some day
DJ 68 Tom Stephan: 3.92 - Great catch on that defensive hold. He and Buchanan made a good team
LJ 9 Mark Perlman: 3.9 - Solid retirement game. The NFL will miss him
FJ 57 Joe Blubaugh: 3.92 - Good DPI no-call on the conversion. Solid game
SJ 86 Jimmy Buchanan: 3.9 - Alert and good calls all game. Good flag pick-up on an OPI
BJ 88 Brad Freeman: 3.94 - Awesome game with (we think) a rare and good defensive holding call.

Crew: 3.91 - The officials made the calls that were there and used good judgement in not throwing a flag on other calls. The crew rose to the occasion and called a great game.

[exhockeyref]

Lots of big calls in this game, most (all?) of which were on point. The crew was really good start to finish.

[rs]

It's possible that Mark Perlman could have another game, so this might not be a retirement game yet.