HD video of the Blocked FG against the JESTS

Frankly, it does seem strange the ref did that. Is this a common courtesy from the refs on FGs? If it is, why? Shouldn't the ref let Hightower screw up, and call the penalty? Isn't that how it works with every other penalty?

How would we react if the Jets had 12 men on the field, and a ref gently pushed one off the field to help the Jets avoid a penalty? We would be rightly be PISSED. Once the QB / kicker has started his snap count, the refs should stay out of it and call appropriate penalties, no?

We should stay objective. That is, we shouldn't say "Oh, it's no big deal" just because it may have helped us. Next time it might help the wrong team.

Understandably, they are discussing refgate at the jets board:
http://www.jetsinsider.com/forums/threads/268594-Amazing-proof-the-refs-cheated-for-the-Patriots

What is the penalty for violating that rule about lining up at the snapper's pads? Is it 5 yards?

Hightower was going to shift into a legal position when the rest of the line shifted just before the snap. That play mas made to try and get the offense to jump and then confuse the blockers. By the time the ball was snapped, Hightower would have been back from the line in a legal position.

Refs tell receivers if they're lined up incorrectly and they've moved defensive players out of the way on FGs before, it's just something they do.

Remember lining up over the long snapper is a safety thing too so moving a player from that position falls under an officials duty of care.

Big-T said:

Refs tell receivers if they're lined up incorrectly and they've moved defensive players out of the way on FGs before, it's just something they do.

Remember lining up over the long snapper is a safety thing too so moving a player from that position falls under an officials duty of care.

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Anyone have video/discussion of this from before this game?

Also, if this is a safety issue, then call a penalty like they do with every other unsafe practice.

Just sayin', it seems strange...

FreeTedWilliams said:

Hightower was going to shift into a legal position when the rest of the line shifted just before the snap. That play mas made to try and get the offense to jump and then confuse the blockers. By the time the ball was snapped, Hightower would have been back from the line in a legal position.

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This seems very reasonable, a nice interpretation. But I am still left wondering why did the ref interfere with our defensive formation?

Official response by the NFL is the umpire is instructed to get players away from the LS, someone on a PC will probably copy and paste the tweet.

Blandino has added they do it with receivers too, nothing to see here move along...

Jets fans are rightfully ma about this. However if they blame it as the reason they lost the game they crazy. They lost for a bunch of reasons. As posters here have mentioned it is not the refs place to do as he dd. But they have done it before as well as "helping" some of which was no doubt to the Jets benefit.

Also we do not know if Hightower would have moved himself before the snap or not. It APPEARS like he would which makes the whole argument pointless but we wil never know. Just like we will never know if the Jets kicker would have made that kick.

Here is the truth. If he makes that kick no one ever brings this up. The had a chance to win and failed to win. That is entirely on the Jets. What the refs did or didn't do did not cause the kick to be blocked.

Also, am I the only one that thinks Geno Smith kind of looks like the main pirate in "Captain Phillips"?

Volin's twitter feed has some examples of where the refs do exactly the same thing.

The Jets fans have no right at all to be upset with what the ref did. It happens every single game. Those of you stating that its "odd", have you honestly never seen this happen before? This conspiracy theory crap with this team is so damn ridiculous that our fans are beginning to buy into it.

And Hightower's role in the blocked kick was exactly........?

He was five yards behind the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. Hightower wasn't setting up to rush the kicker. He was playing a safety role in case the play fell apart and somebody started running with the ball.

If they want to complain about this, they're insane. It looked to me like the ref moved him so the ref would have a clear line of sight to the snap.

My suggestion for the name of this catastrophic miscarriage of justice is "Nothing-Gate!"

The rule is he can't be one yard or less in front of the LS. He was at least 4 yards away. It looked to me like he was calling the line stunt and knew that he couldn't be over the center when it mattered. As others have also pointed out, the refs do this all the time and did it at least twice this past weekend.

goheels22002 said:

And Hightower's role in the blocked kick was exactly........?

He was five yards behind the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. Hightower wasn't setting up to rush the kicker. He was playing a safety role in case the play fell apart and somebody started running with the ball.

If they want to complain about this, they're insane. It looked to me like the ref moved him so the ref would have a clear line of sight to the snap.

My suggestion for the name of this catastrophic miscarriage of justice is "Nothing-Gate!"

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holyredeemer said:

The Jets fans have no right at all to be upset with what the ref did. It happens every single game. Those of you stating that its "odd", have you honestly never seen this happen before? This conspiracy theory crap with this team is so damn ridiculous that our fans are beginning to buy into it.

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Even if the ref did something improper, after what happened last year in the Meadowlands we can call it even. Karma....

thenepatsrule said:

http://gfycat.com/QueasyFlippantFerret

Our D needs to be better from here on though, can't win with this kind of an effort on D

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Our offense didn't help a lot. Three and outs played a BIG part in tiring out the defense.

Looks like excellent Special Teams Coaching to me; the line shift right before the snap seems to have thrown off the Jets' blocking scheme. And, it's another argument as to why "Icing" the kicker can actually give the Kicking Team a chance to coach up its own players to watch out for just that sort of move.

groganbootleg said:

The rule is he can't be one yard or less in front of the LS. He was at least 4 yards away. It looked to me like he was calling the line stunt and knew that he couldn't be over the center when it mattered. As others have also pointed out, the refs do this all the time and did it at least twice this past weekend.

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So basically the ref came very close to screwing up the Patriots' calls by distracting Hightower ..

Thanks for the video. Great quality.

The announcers made a big point of saying that Folk (a pretty good kicker) had started the ball on a low, driving line because of the distance (2 yards over his career long).

Has any technical whiz looked at the limited flight and trajectory of the ball and taken a view on whether it would have had the distance? There's probably not enough to work with given how briefly the ball was actually in the air, but I remember that after a Folk FG earlier in the game, the Network had a graphic and some sort of analytic package that showed the ball would have gone 58 yards based on where it hit the net.

BobDigital said:

As posters here have mentioned it is not the refs place to do as he dd.

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Except the NFL Head of Officiating (Dean Blandino) has put procedures in place that it is the ref's place to do it.

BobDigital said:

Here is the truth. If he makes that kick no one ever brings this up.

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Which is why most people didn't notice this before, even though it happens all the time.

holyredeemer said:

It happens every single game. Those of you stating that its "odd", have you honestly never seen this happen before?

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I have never seen it before, and I did find it odd. Not sure what is hard to understand, or particularly conspiratorial in tone, about either proposition. That said, given the fallout, it seems a common practice. So that's good.

Big-T said:

Official response by the NFL is the umpire is instructed to get players away from the LS, someone on a PC will probably copy and paste the tweet.

Blandino has added they do it with receivers too, nothing to see here move along...

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Dan Blandino explained on NFL AM that it's standard officiating mechanic to move a player away from lining up over the LS due to safety. They don't want it to happen at all.(Even though Hightower would have moved back after the line shift) I remember Bruschi saying it's a really good rule with regards to safety to not having anyone line up over the LS.