The ineligible package...

ausbacker said:

If it wins the Patriots the Super Bowl, they should scheme more of it. Hell, give me WR to WR TDs whilst you're at it.

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Harbaugh is such a moron. How can you claim to be a special teams coordinator and also claim to have never seen a formation like this before? Back in high-school when I still wanted to be a head coach, I'd draw up the most ridiculous formations imaginable just to push the limits of the game. But this simp is just mad his players weren't clever enough to sniff out the kink. Bet you Seattle would've known better.

And it's about time McDaniels channels his inner Charlie Weis when it comes to these cute plays. As long as he's not calling those dumbassed fake double reverse screens.

unoriginal said:

The Pats put four OL on the field (think Kline came off and Connolly moved to center, Wendell RG, no LG) with two tight ends (Hoomanawanui is the "LT" on the short side of the unbalanced line) and Vereen is in the slot on the line, covered by the outside receiver (LaFell) who is also on the line. Vereen declares himself an ineligible receiver (which he has to, as he has an eligible number, 34) at the last possible moment, so the defense hopefully isn't fully aware and someone decides to cover him.

The person who covers Vereen is the guy who should be covering Hoomanawanui, so he hopefully is either uncovered (which is what happened) or the free safety comes down to get him and Brady gets Cover Zero and can pick his poison.

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Good breakdown, have to dispute that one point though. I don't get why its being perpetuated that the pats waited for the last second so that they could gain an advantage. The second the huddle ended, even a few seconds before actually, Vereen went straight to the referee and told him he was ineligible. The ref then pointed him out and informed the defense.

I think the initial article stated that pats waited till the last moment and everyone has latched onto that and declared it as us "breaking the rules once again". Really this just came down to a screw up / miscommunication by ravens defenders on the field.

LaFell claims Josh McD drew up the whole thing on the sidelines, and that the team had never seen or practiced it before.

Was it something they practiced?

“It was something they just drew up in the dirt on the sideline and we went out there and executed it,” said LaFell.

Are you serious?

“I’m dead serious,” he said.

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http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...ots_offense_simply_found_creative_ways_to_win

DaBruinz said:

It gave the Pats the correct number of ineligible receivers on the field prior to the start of the play.

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Personally, I think every player on the field should be eligible. Let the defense go back to the days where they could wrestle with a receiver (pre-2004 rules), but let every member of the offense be eligible. The defense would have to account for them, but the tradeoff would be they get to play more physical like in years past.

Imagine having a guy like Solder eligible? Suggs comes powering off the edge, Solder gives him a big shove wide but then just slips out for a few yards, a quick little completion but no defenders around him for a nice 8-yard pickup.

I realize it would radically change the game, but why should certain players NOT be eligible to catch a pass? Why shouldn't you be able to throw to any guy on your team that you want? Granted, I'd rather not be throwing too many passes to Wendell, but the fact is you *could* if you wanted to. It keeps the defense more honest.

unoriginal said:

------------------- #47 #77 #63 #62 #77 ------------------ #34 ---------#19
#11-------------------------#12------------#87-------------------#80-------

Is how I think it looked, not sure on all the numbers. Rules state that 7 players need to be on the line, and only the end players can be eligible receivers. Vereen looks like a receiver but actually is a lineman. Hoomanawanui looks like an LT but actually is a TE. It's kind of like an Emory & Henry formation right mixed with tackle eligible left.

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Right. There is no rule on how close your offensive linemen need to stand to each other. Vereen was simply an unorthodox offensive lineman standing an unorthodox distance away from the next offensive lineman. Hooman was simply a tight end, per usual. The line was just shifted over the the right (the unbalanced line concept).

Weird, but perfectly legal. And the ref DID announce who was eligible and who was not.

unoriginal said:

declares himself an ineligible receiver at the last possible moment

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That's a phrasing we should be wary of. IIRC, Vereen declared to the refs before going to the line, and the Patriots were in a hurry-up. He didn't get into fomation and then suddenly wave that he's not eligible. So:

1. Before getting into the formation, he declares ineligibility
2. The ref signals as such
3. Offense gets into formation and is SET
4. Offense snaps the ball

If the formation is legal, then Harbaugh has NO leg to stand on that the Offense must "wait" until the defense figures out what kind of call to make. Are they going to claim when they line up Gronk in the backfield that the O must "wait" until the D figures out how they wish to defend it??

Hopefully this is the last thing I'll say... is Harbaugh going to whine that his Offense couldn't figure out the D formation during the pre-snap read, and the should be given time to do so?

ivanvamp said:

Personally, I think every player on the field should be eligible. Let the defense go back to the days where they could wrestle with a receiver (pre-2004 rules), but let every member of the offense be eligible. The defense would have to account for them, but the tradeoff would be they get to play more physical like in years past.

Imagine having a guy like Solder eligible? Suggs comes powering off the edge, Solder gives him a big shove wide but then just slips out for a few yards, a quick little completion but no defenders around him for a nice 8-yard pickup.

I realize it would radically change the game, but why should certain players NOT be eligible to catch a pass? Why shouldn't you be able to throw to any guy on your team that you want? Granted, I'd rather not be throwing too many passes to Wendell, but the fact is you *could* if you wanted to. It keeps the defense more honest.

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STFU

OMFG if the commissioner gets wind of this it will be a fantasy football bonanza and football as we know it will be gone forever, with special drafts just for OL. The boys in mommy's basement at PFF will pee themselves in anticipation and Nate Solder will become a hot commodity.


So shut yo mouth boy and start deleting that post

Several things about this play:

• No it won't be the Wildcat. Going forward, the refs will stand over the ball and let the defense adjust whenever a eligible player reports ineligible taking away the advantage of the play. Odds are good that after the year, the rules committee will close the loophole.
• I love how many in the national media are turning this into the Pats cheating by following the rules. The Pats found a loophole in the rules and exploited it. It is good strategy, not cheating. It isn't the Pats' fault that refs didn't give the Ravens enough time to adjust.

Fencer said:

LaFell claims Josh McD drew up the whole thing on the sidelines, and that the team had never seen or practiced it before.



http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...ots_offense_simply_found_creative_ways_to_win

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Jeez! McDaniels sucks!

Oh wait...

The best part is that it was based upon the premise that the Ravens would be too stupid to figure it out.

Not like that's a reach or anything but hey, just sayin.

Rob0729 said:

Several things about this play:

• No it won't be the Wildcat. Going forward, the refs will stand over the ball and let the defense adjust whenever a eligible player reports ineligible taking away the advantage of the play. Odds are good that after the year, the rules committee will close the loophole.
• I love how many in the national media are turning this into the Pats cheating by following the rules. The Pats found a loophole in the rules and exploited it. It is good strategy, not cheating. It isn't the Pats' fault that refs didn't give the Ravens enough time to adjust.

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Nor is it the Pats fault that Harbaugh or the Ravens defence, on realising that they were unprepared, didn't do the simple thing and call a timeout. Problem over.

Harbaugh says:

Now I just want to see the Swinging Gate formation used to win the SB.

Fencer said:

LaFell claims Josh McD drew up the whole thing on the sidelines, and that the team had never seen or practiced it before.



http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...ots_offense_simply_found_creative_ways_to_win

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I'm calling BS on this. Does anyone really think the entire offense was able to draw this up on the fly? Patriots players don't expose their practice details to the media like that. Sounds like LaFell is just playing with the media on this.

Belichick always speaks of "situational football," and last night was the ultimate case of situational football. Down late in the game to a physical team with a dominant front 7 and weak DBs, down one offensive lineman, how are you going to move the chains? Keep the opponent from knowing who is eligible. I bet they've been sitting on this one for some time now.

Yet another reason why Belichick is the GOAT.

I love how Harbaugh said after the game that even the refs didn't know what was going on. Of course they did - if there was any confusion on the refs part, we would have seen a flag fly on each of those plays, because the wide receiver on the right is covering up the slot guy (Vereen). Since all the refs knew that Vereen was an ineligible receiver, no flag, legal formation.

Apparently only the Ravens couldn't figure it out

And yeah, if true, it's pretty impressive that the play was schemed up on the sideline in the 2nd half.

Rob0729 said:

• I love how many in the national media are turning this into the Pats cheating by following the rules. The Pats found a loophole in the rules and exploited it. It is good strategy, not cheating. It isn't the Pats' fault that refs didn't give the Ravens enough time to adjust.

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So when Dan Marino fakes a spike, then throws a TD, it makes him a hero and seals his legacy, but when McDaniels draws something up in the dirt - to COUNTER THE FACT THAT THE RAVENS WERE OVERBALANCING THEIR LINE TO THE RIGHT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A PATS' INJURY...it's cheating.

This is no different than putting in a Wildcat, abusing the rules on hitting QBs by getting sprinters who can throw, direct-snapping to an RB...it's play-action on legal steroids.

Rob0729 said:

Odds are good that after the year, the rules committee will close the loophole.

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What's the loophole? God forbid the refs must get permission from the defense to let the O snap the ball after every formation shift to ensure the defense is comfortable with the look.

BSR said:

Can lineman take laterals?

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Yes, anybody can - just like in the old, old (rugby) days. That is why Andy mentioned it.

mikey m said:

Good breakdown, have to dispute that one point though. I don't get why its being perpetuated that the pats waited for the last second so that they could gain an advantage. The second the huddle ended, even a few seconds before actually, Vereen went straight to the referee and told him he was ineligible. The ref then pointed him out and informed the defense.

I think the initial article stated that pats waited till the last moment and everyone has latched onto that and declared it as us "breaking the rules once again". Really this just came down to a screw up / miscommunication by ravens defenders on the field.

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Agreed. This isn't unfair. The rule regarding allowing the defense to line-up applies to substitutions, not formations. Teams have coaches watching substitutions, but the Ravens brain trust didn't notice Hooman coming in for Kline, or at least didn't know what to make of it. They probably assumed the Pats screwed-up and were going to have to call a TO, and then the Pats were able to hit them with the hurry-up with that unusual personnel grouping and changing who the ineligible player was play-to-play. A TO would have been smarter than an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Fencer said:

LaFell claims Josh McD drew up the whole thing on the sidelines, and that the team had never seen or practiced it before.

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If that's true, it's mind-boggling. I mean, Vereen was even waving to Brady in the classic "ooh, me, I'm open!" style.