Also, it looked like Gibson was not touched or out of bounds, so the officials blew the whistle when he should have been able to get up and run. That was the same drive Wallace caught the TD pass on, I think, so in the end we still got 7.

Someone should have asked Philbin why he took the penalty there. Only thing I can imagine why would be if the official said it wasn't a clean catch. Looked good, but they did not show a replay closeup of Gibson going through the catch.

 

I wondered why he took that penalty instead of the catch and the yards unless he thought it might be challenged and ruled incomplete.

 

It didn't look like they even asked him if he wanted to accept the penalty. And usually they don't bother asking if the result of the play is obviously better for the team. And I didn't see any official signal if it was a completed catch. That whole sequence was bizarre and the only thing I can think of is they ruled it was no catch or the refs just simply ****ed up and spotted it wrong and the team missed it.

 

If you listen to the audio they are saying there was a whistle that stopped the play. Not sure when or ho that changes things, but you can hear someone (sounds like on the sideline) saying that.

 

Sounds like you can hear Gibson saying nobody touched him, as he was walking back from the end zone.

 

Normal treatment.

 

I'm guessing they ruled him down at the 25 or 26.

 

Assumptions everywhere. Mic was out...whistle wrongly blown. I don't see philbin accept or decline anything.

Just looks like a ref mess up.

CK is trying to push this on twitter.

This is a reach to attack or blame philbin, IMO

 

I've watched the play on NFL Rewind. I've watched it on Coaches Tape.

It's crystal clear. Brandon Gibson caught a 15 yard ball on 2nd & 15 and Philbin accepted the 5 yard penalty rather than the 15 yard catch. He asked the officials for an explanation as to why they whistled Gibson down when he wasn't touched, they explained that it was an inadvertent whistle, and he accepted the penalty without thinking about whether a 15 yard catch would be preferable to a 5 yard penalty (which it was).

No excuse for this. It's not a "reach". It is about as clear-cut as you're going to get.

Additionally there was a play heading into halftime against the Patriots. It was 3rd & 3 at Miami's 27 yard line with 15 seconds left in the half. Tom Brady throws a pass to Kenbrell Thompkins in the end zone and misses him. Thompkins was flagged for offensive pass interference which should have been a 10 yard penalty putting the Patriots at 3rd & 13 from the 37 yard line with only 10 seconds left on the clock.

Instead, Philbin declined the penalty.

Why? Because he was afraid the Patriots might throw a 37 yard touchdown on the one play they would take before they had Gostkowski kick an unlikely 54 yard field goal.

 

*shrugs* "I wanted Mike McCoy" - Jeff Ireland

 

It was. This team simply can't catch a break. And by 'catch a break' I mean 'not get totally screwed over by a quick whistle or some other nonsense in every freaking game.'

 

Your 2nd paragraph is an assumption... All of it

 

The decision was between: keeping the catch for 3rd and 4 on Buffalo 27, or accepting the penalty for 1st and 10 on Buff 33. This is a no brainer, you go with 1st and 10. We scored a TD on this drive.

 

It looked like a complete pass. The NFL gamebook called it a complete pass. Every camera angle looked like a complete pass. The official that came to mark off where the yardage was acted as if it were a complete pass though he didn't make that two handed clutching gesture because they ruled immediately the holding penalty.

If the officials ruled it incomplete they could have challenged it certainly. If it were ruled down a yard shy of the sticks that also could have been challenged because the video evidence showed clearly that Gibson caught it at the sticks.

I think in all reality there was a misunderstanding where they were explaining to Philbin why the play did not continue and they said there was an accidental whistle. He may have understood this to mean that there was an accidental whistle BEFORE the catch, making the possibility of a 15 yard completed pass unavailable to him. But in reality you can see that the official that threw the flag didn't reach up and put his whistle in his mouth until Gibson came down with it. You can't blow a whistle that isn't in your mouth. The other official on that sideline, same thing.

 

It wasn't going to be 3rd & 4.

Watch the video. Don't analyze by looking at numbers on a PDF file that were recorded incorrectly.

 

So the argument is, Philbin should have thrown in a flag to challenge the spot and he would've clearly won because Gibson had the first down at <23 yard line?

 

No.

The player caught the ball at the 23 yard line. The official that is going to mark the ball is going up to the 23 yard line to mark it. They MAY have ruled it short by half a yard, at most. We don't get to find that out because they go on to declare the illegal contact penalty before the officials mark the ball.

At worst it's third down and half a yard. And yes that also could have been challenged since I think the video showed Gibson was beyond the sticks when he caught the football.

 

Yes, I looked at it, you are right on both counts. It looked liked the line judge was going to mark him just short. (obviously he was ruled short.) And it looked like Gibson had the first down, but it's not clear, the catch is near the marker.

I think, the last thing you want to do there is 3rd and short.
First thing you want to do is challenge, to see where you're at. Second accept the penalty and get the first down.

So, I agree in this, Philbin could have thrown a flag. I don't agree with taking the 3rd and short over 1st and 10.

Bottom line, we scored on this drive, so 1st and 10 worked.

 

And to challenge the spot, Philbin would have to decline the penalty, and then live with the ruling, right? And then possibly end up in 3rd and short rather then 1st and 10. That's a tough choice to make. I would not do it.

 

He was 5 of 6 from 50+ last year. He was 2 for 2 the year before. Unlikely you say?

 

Oh, that is an easy question...it is always better to blame Philbin for everything possible. :shifty:

If this was such a controversial play, I wonder why none of the media dudes questioned him about it, when he was talking questions from them on Monday.

 

I call Bull**** that the catch was good enough for a first down. If that were the case the refs wouldn't have even asked him if he wanted to accept. WTF kind of sense does that make?

 

I don't think its correct to risk losing a timeout and challenge to gain 4 or 5 yards, especially when it comes to spotting the ball. The refs don't like changing spots.

 

Anyway, I'm sure he was majorly distracted in trying to get an explanation of why the whistle was blown, I know that's what I was concentrating on at the time. He doesn't have the same luxury of time that we have sitting on our couches with our PVRs. So the refs ****ed us over several times on that play. They blew the whistle for no reason, costing us a TD. And if what your saying is correct it was a horrible spot of the ball. And the inadvertent whistle was a wrench in the system that cost us the time to be able to think about the spot of the ball and if was worth challenging.

 

Couldn't JP have declined and asked for a measurement? If short, Miami would then have the option to accept? I'm almost positive the NFL made that a rule...

 

According to the play by play it was a 2nd and 15 and the pass was documented as an 11 yard gain. Its unreal that the refs blew the whistle for no reason and screwed us by 5 yards on the spot ON THE SAME PLAY!! Inadvertent whistles are rare. And missing the spot by yards, let alone 4 or 5 yards is rare too.

 

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deleted my in correct comment

 

If it were a 16 yard gain they would not have bothered to ask if he wanted to accept the penalty. They do have the liberty to assume when the decision is clear. You don't see refs asking if the coach wants to accept a penalty when the result of the play was a TD for instance. Nothing about any of this makes any sense.