Lions-49ers Championship observations

[FredFan7]

R 34 Clete Blakeman
U 20 Barry Anderson
DJ 8 Dana McKenzie
LJ 59 Rusty Baynes
FJ 90 Anthony Flemming
SJ 125 Chad Hill
BJ 27 Grantis Bell
RO Chad Adams
RA RA Gerald Frye
ALT R Shawn Hochuli
ALT U Carl Paganelli
ALT DJ Frank LeBlanc
ALT LJ Mark Stewart
ALT FJ Mearl Robinson
ALT SJ Dominique Pender
ALT BJ Todd Prukop
ALT RO Bob Hubbell

[FredFan7]

Interested to see Flemming, Hill and Bell work. 14-years of combined experience.

[FredFan7]

Lions tackle Penei Sewell reported as an eligible player on the first play of the Lions drive at the end of the 2nd quarter. He remained in the game, so before every play he must re-report as eligible to referee Clete Blakeman. The way to effectively communicate the eligibility is to say "I'm reporting eligible" or "Number 58 reporting eligible" and sweep with hands in front of the uniform numbers. Blakeman then informs the defense and announces this status.


Sewell cannot un-report during the drive unless there is a stoppage for a the administration of a foul, a team timeout, the 2-minute warning, or the expiration of the quarter. (Also included are kicks, changes of possession, touchdowns, and replay reviews.) Without the intervening stoppage, Sewell would have to withdraw from the game for a down.


When the 2-minute warning hit, Sewell returned to his normal tackle position without having to sit out for a down. This is much cleaner when this happens with clear communication to the referee and the defense, and does not place the referee in the position of making an interpretation.

[FredFan7]

Very quiet first half. (ducks head)

[FredFan7]

Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez gets an interception and a decent return for the Lions, but some of it is wiped out by an illegal blindside block penalty.


It was really unnecessary contact, but an illegal blindside is when there is forcible contact against the flow of the play. Specifically, this is defined as forcible contact that is administered in the direction of the blocker's end line. Since the interception was clean, the foul is assessed on the return and the Lions keep the ball.

[FredFan7]

Great work by Hill and Bell on the Detroit series with an incomplete pass and the punt near the goal line.

[tj888]

Chad Hill and Grantis Bell (Bell worked 5 NY6/CFP games in a row) worked several big NY6/CFP Bowls together when they were both with the SEC. Anthony Flemming worked the CFP National Championship Game. This is what happens when you hire good college officials.

[FredFan7]

On the long pass play to 49ers WR B. Aiyuk, BJ Grantis Bell threw a flag for a presumed DPI on the Lions. We will discuss the NFL's focus on "Move with Purpose" officating mechanics in the near future, but here was an example of where those mechanics can sometimes get officials in trouble. The deep pass play caught up to Bell quickly, and he had to judge if the contact by the defender was DPI or not in close proximity. If Bell had been positioned deeper, it would have been easier to determine that the Lions defender was making a play on the ball and that the contact was not a foul.


Fortunately, one of the two deep wings likely came in with that exact information and had the flag picked up. While the penalty would have been declined anyway because of Aiyuk's amazing catch, it was still good that the flag was picked up because the defender made a good defensive play on the ball and should not have been penalized for it.

[FredFan7]

Lions punter Jack Fox launched a 74 yard punt, and after bouncing once at the 49ers' 2-yard line, it was first touched by Lions special teamer Chase Lucas before touching in the end zone. However, at the time of this touching, Lucas had his left foot in the end zone and his right foot on the goal line. This puts the kick in the end zone, resulting in a touchback.


No body part can be touching on or inside the goal line while touching or possessing a scrimmage kick in order to down it in the field of play.

[tj888]

I think the officials did a superb job. As a Lions fan though, I want Dan Campbell fired for his stupid decisions.

[FredFan7]

Grades:

R 34 Clete Blakeman: 3.95 - a typically efficient, well run game. The game was better with Blakeman on it.
U 20 Barry Anderson: 3.95 - hustle, poise, good calls and worked with players on the field
DJ 8 Dana McKenzie: 3.9 - typically solid game. Handled his sidelines well
LJ 59 Rusty Baynes: 3.9 - See McKenzie
FJ 90 Anthony Flemming: 3.95 - awesome game deep
SJ 125 Chad Hill: 4.0 - Amazing calls in the secondary (see below)
BJ 27 Grantis Bell: - 4.0 - See Hill

Crew: 3.95

At halftime, it looked like Clete Blakeman's crew was going to simply babysit the second half as the Lions lead and the 49ers were going nowhere fast.


Instead, the crew had to officiate a furious comeback by the 49ers and a stunning, bitter defeat for the Detriot Lions.


We've come to the point where we expect a Blakeman playoff crew to call an efficient game, and so it was here. Umpire Barry Anderson showed hustle in getting the ball ready for play and keeping tempers under control.


I need to give special mention to field judge Anthony Flemming, back judge Grantis Bell and side judge Chad Hill. The three had a combined 14-years of experience and I was interested to see how they did. They called a spectacular game. Hill and Bell combined on one Detroit series on ruling a tight pass incomplete and ruling a punt right at the goal line a touchback. Flemming was solid all game. Challenge met and expectations exceeded.


Again, the alternates were everywhere - helping keep players separated on out of bounds plays and helping relay information from the field to the sidelines.


I fully expect Blakeman to make it back to the Super Bowl and to see Hill, Bell and Flemming in the Super Bowl - maybe next year?


The crew had a great game and proved worthy of this historic assignment.

[bigorange1]

Jan 28, 2024 21:57:22 GMT -5 tj888 said:

I think the officials did a superb job. As a Lions fan though, I want Dan Campbell fired for his stupid decisions.

Campbell's decisions helped get the Lions to this game, today those decisions were suspect.  He (conservatively) elected to forego a minimum of 6 points.  Looking at the final score, I'll bet he wants those two 4th down decisions back.  Oh well, he's got 6 months to think about it.

[zebrablog]

Jan 28, 2024 21:05:06 GMT -5 tj888 said:

Chad Hill and Grantis Bell (Bell worked 5 NY6/CFP games in a row) worked several big NY6/CFP Bowls together when they were both with the SEC. Anthony Flemming worked the CFP National Championship Game. This is what happens when you hire good college officials.

This is an excellent point and I have to get something in my notes about the consecutive strings from college into the NFL, with the caveat of the rookie year. 

[mike]

Jan 28, 2024 21:05:06 GMT -5 tj888 said:

Chad Hill and Grantis Bell (Bell worked 5 NY6/CFP games in a row) worked several big NY6/CFP Bowls together when they were both with the SEC. Anthony Flemming worked the CFP National Championship Game. This is what happens when you hire good college officials.

I have been saying this for awhile. While there are exceptions (see Terry Killens), the NFL really should stick to the officials who are consistently getting NY6/CFP assignments/Matches between Top 25 teams when determining who to hire. For conferences that do not receive those assignments it should be the officials who consistently get the conference's top bowl game. These are the highest profile games for the conferences and if people like Bill Carollo don't want certain officials in those spots why should the NFL be looking at them?