Tremendous call by Stritesky. Replay showed recovery.
Running back Wayne Gallman runs for a clinching first down...and then fumbles.
A predictably wild pile up happens.
But, umpire Bruce Stritesky saw Gallman recover the fumble in real time, and informs referee Brad Allen, while the rest of the officials dig to the bottom of the pile.
Just as Stritesky informs Allen of his call, the officials saw the Cowboys with the ball and signaled Dallas ball.
The shame besides the missed OPI I thought on the Lawrence sack of Jones he got the facemask and may have been assisted by the other DL pulling OG out of the way and the crackback that I mentioned earlier. Not to mention the unchallenged “catch.”
Stritesky has been one of my favorite U’s this year and I would not object to him getting his first on-field Super Bowl assignment.
Lions defensive back Tracy Walker was flagged for an apparent roughing the passer on Kirk Cousins on a 4th and goal at the goal line that would've resulted in a turnover on downs. In the tackle, there's nothing to suggest that the play met the criteria for roughing the passer as Walker didn't even really land with all his body weight on him and looks like he just finishing the tackle. Nonetheless, the refs will err on the side of safety if the play is in question.
Giants just had a drive killed by a questionable crackback call. Not sure who threw the flag.
An illegal crackback was called on Giants receiver Sterling Shepard.
There are many elements to a crackback block, but the basic elements are that an offensive player (1) is lined up in certain backfield or flexed positions, (2) is within 5 yards of either side of the line of scrimmage, (3) moving toward the spot of where the snap occurred, and (4) administers one of a list of severe blocks.
Shepard was in motion toward the snap, so he is one of the offensive players that would be subject to the crackback rule. He administers a low block which is one of the blocks that is enumerated. However, Shepard is moving in a north-south direction when he administers the block, so he is not moving toward the snap location. Therefore, this was incorrectly called as an illegal crackback.
It does raise the antenna to see a man in motion to administer a low block. However, it is important to work through all the pieces, and to pick up the flag if necessary if it doesn't complete the puzzle.
