First, the video:
If you're looking for it, it's not hard to see at all. Peyton immediately knows it's a pick and starts making a path to intercept Porter, who spent most of the run changing hands, apparently because he couldn't decide which hand to use to showboat with. (To Mrs. Money's everlasting credit, during the replay she says, "Stop switching hands!" And no, she wasn't referring to me. Pervs.)
So here it is frame by frame.
As Porter cuts back and easily makes the lumbering Peyton overrun his intended destination, Smith puts two hands on Peyton's number 18 and leaaaaannnns....
Peyton is heading face-first towards the turf, with Smith attempting to turn left, instinctively trying to distance himself from Manning, whose fall is usually a telltale sign of a block in the back.
Peyton crashes to the ground like a tree and the party is on.
I noticed this in the CBS replay.... in the background as Porter is celebrating, you can see Peyton get up and begin to half-heartedly throw his arms up as if to ask, "Didn't anyone see that?" But he had to know nobody was going to stop the party.And that brings me to my point -- while I'm fine with the outcome as I wanted to see a Saints victory, it's sort of crappy that a play that could be used as a textbook definition of clipping went completely uncalled because the officials were, what? Just as overcome by the moment as the rest of us? Simms didn't see it, Nantz didn't see it. Or if they did, they chose not to call the officials out about it.
(Had this happened to Tom Brady, Pats fans everywhere would be organizing a protest of the game and demanding the NFL play it over again.)
How might that have changed the game, though? The Saints then have the ball on their own side of the field and the Indy defense is amped with three minutes left to hold them and get the ball back to Peyton. I know, I know, it's over and believe me, I'm certainly not a Colts apologist -- understand that. I just find this to be an interesting tidbit. While so many people are talking about how Drew Brees signing with the Saints altered their history, it's interesting to think about how much a correct call could have altered this Super Bowl.
22 comments:
You think the Colts D would have been more amped than the Saints O? No way. Brees would have easily run out that clock time just like they had been doing all second half. Remember how well they had kept Manning off the field to that point.
"(Had this happened to Tom Brady, Pats fans everywhere would be organizing a protest of the game and demanding the NFL play it over again.)"
And whether or not it's what you were intending you are doing this. You can't make a whole article complaining about a missed clip and how it could have changed the game and then say "you're not a Colts apologist" and have people take it in a different way.
Sure I can. It would indeed have changed the game. I'm a Giants fan and a Drew Brees fan... I don't mind the Colts, but I certainly wanted the Saints to win. That's the fact. That does not preclude me from noticing when a call is blown.
This is actually what it's like to be impartial.
That would be a 50/50 call. He cant clearly see the numbers/name on Mannings back. He starts contact on the front of the side of Manning. Then Manning continues to run and it becomes Smith pushing the back.
“Blocking in the back is a block against an opponent when the initial contact is in the opponent’s back, inside the
shoulders and below the helmet and above the waist, and not against a player who is a runner or pretending to be a
runner”
Also, it's just an observation. See, I write for a site that is basically a whole bunch of opinion columns lumped together... so we put forth opinions and observations. Some are completely nonsensical and idiotic, some are legit, some are analytical, others are whimsical.
I noticed this and was discussing it with a friend and decided, hey, I have an outlet to share this observation with others.
Worse than that was the blown call on the 2 pt conversion. Stampede Blue talked about that yesterday. Even Bill Simmons said it was a blown call.
I'm not saying the call should have been made, I'm saying you're placing way too much importance on it. The Offense is who gets fired up after a pick not the intercepted teams defense, that's just how it is. If anything the Colts D would feel let-down.
Again the Saints had kept Manning off the field the whole second half with sustained drives. There's no reason to believethat was going to change.
On a side-note, to be honest I don't come here for impartial observation, and I doubt many people do. This is a Purdue fan-site I come here to see the world in black and gold tinted glasses. I don't think this article gets posted here if it doesn't happen to the "hometown" team.
Yeah, it there should have been a flag. But the Saints still would have won.
As for the 2-point conversion...As a mostly impartial observer (just a Brees fan), I thought it was the right call. And Bill Simmons actually did not say that it was a blown call - he said he's seen that call go both ways.
manning wasn't going to tackle him, therefore it's a mute point.
all this rhetoric is based on the presumption that that was a block in the back.
but i dont see it. the initial contact is at peyton's front and side, and as he turns the contact resumes in his back and he falls. he either fell because he's a QB and not supposed to be tackling players, or fell from changing directions while being blocked (with initial contact from the front).
its not a flag, and still a moot point since the INT still stands.
your other points about peyton getting up and complaining to the refs... that's taking "a picture says 10000 words" to the literal extreme. in the video, he just got up and pointed quickly. no idea to whom or what. all the replays of his reaction afterwards prove nothing that he might've been arguing a call.
Wasn't there also a block in the back not called on Harrison's Int-TD last year? It seems to be a hard thing to call. Last years definitely would have affected the outcome, as it was the end of the half.
Jason -- I hope you're kidding with your "mute" usage.
Purx -- Respectfully, sir, you're wrong. I am NOT a Colts homer... not a fan at all. From the northeast, grew up a Giants fan and always have been. Now live in Houston and pull for the Texans when I see them, which includes against Indy. Trust me, this is just an observation I felt like sharing. Nothing more.
Re the two-point conversion -- COMPLETELY the right call. Had possession, broke the plane, eventually had the ball kicked away. I thought it was crystal clear the moment I saw the first replay.
Delaware Hawk, dasMetzger - Don't see what your talking about when you say he initiated contact on the front of Manning. I couldn't see it.
I don't like when people say "it wouldn't have mattered." Unless you have special powers, you don't know how the game would have turned out. Any suggestions is just pure speculation. Doesn't matter if its Ray Lewis or Peyton Manning, a block in the back is a block in the back.
I almost feel the NFL turns a blind eye to blocking penalties like the NBA does with 3-seconds and traveling.
Jason- so now officials are supposed to make penalty calls based on the capability of the player who's being inflicted? Huh...that's a new wrinkle to the game.
That was a clip...and J's no Colts apologist. I know the rule...so did the officials who swallowed their whistles.
Hey Delaware Hawk - where do you live? I'm in Wilmington most weeks on business. It would be cool to hang with some other Boiler Alums during hoops season.
Peyton Manning is an evil football robot - he never seems to be having fun, he is only concerned with executing perfectly. It was a bad read and a bad throw, Peyton (and Drew) showed their timidness in diving for 1 yard on separate occasions during this game. I don't think Manning would have made the tackle in this instance.
In a league where nipping the qb's shoestrings (depending on the team) is a personal foul, is letting an immobile quarterback be pushed to the ground a penalty, I personally don't think so. It doesn't excuse the pass that Manning threw, or the fact that the Saints would have scored/killed out the clock even if a flag was thrown.
Matt -- agreed. My point here was only to raise that one play as a missed call.
I just think you are adding some fuel to the whiny colts fan fire from Stampede Blew. I play it frame by frame and I see Smith initiating contact on Peyton's right arm or right shoulder. Not directly on his back between the shoulders like the rule is written.
Plenty of calls or noncalls have gone the Colts way as well. I want to see an analysis of when Mark Sanchez getting pancaked in the back 5 seconds after handing the ball off in the Jets playoff loss. Wouldn't have mattered in that game and this call didn't matter either.
Oh well, Polian will just change the rules to outlaw interceptions just like he got the rules changed after the Patriots kept eliminating them.
Don't know what rulebook you are looking at but straight from the NFL http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/useofhands
"Blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent in a manner that restricts his movement as the play develops."
Don't see anything about having to be between the shoulders.
And also J is not the only one who notice the missed call http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/08/did-saints-benefit-from-an-illegal-block-in-the-back/
Oh, and ask Kyle Orton how quickly a game that you think is over can turn around.
It looked clean to me. Their not going to call it an illegal block if the block occurs between the defender (Manning) and the ball carrier (Porter), which looks like happened. You can't get the refs to call it just by turning around and showing your back to the blocker. He can still block you with your back turned towards the ball carrier.
Good no-call.
I hate it when I do that. It should be "They're" and not "Their" in the second sentence. Sorry.
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