Discussing "The pick". What if..

varjao said:

What if Butler take a knee in the endzone?

That would presumably result in a touchback and the ball in the 20 yard line. Game over.

BUT, he actually caught the ball outside of the endzone and got carried back to the EZ by the impact on the Seattle receiver, if the referees call the play like he caught outside of the endzone and then came back, it would be a safety and Seattle's ball. Under the current circumstances I believe it's 95% of chances they would make this wrong call.

Very critical and difficult call.

I think Butler didn't think about any of that and just played with instincts, anyway, THANK GOD he jumped to the 2 yard line.

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varjao said:

What if Butler take a knee in the endzone?

That would presumably result in a touchback and the ball in the 20 yard line. Game over.

BUT, he actually caught the ball outside of the endzone and got carried back to the EZ by the impact on the Seattle receiver, if the referees call the play like he caught outside of the endzone and then came back, it would be a safety and Seattle's ball. Under the current circumstances I believe it's 95% of chances they would make this wrong call.

Very critical and difficult call.

I think Butler didn't think about any of that and just played with instincts, anyway, THANK GOD he jumped to the 2 yard line.

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Horace's Ivories said:

Ive seen "the pick" around 642 times and it still is hard to fathom how Butler explodes through the ball to make it.

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PATSYLICIOUS said:

He did the right thing. Can't take a chance on the refs making the right call vs calling it a safety.

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Gumby said:

HOWEVER, the likelihood of NFL referees making a correct possibly game-deciding call that just happens to be in favor of a team name beginning with p and ending with s is about 3%. So just as well he ran two yds.

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XLIX said:

The situation you describe is actually not considered a touchback. I see one of 2 possible rulings, each giving the Patriots the ball at the 1 yard line, which (1) being IMHO the more likely call:

(1) Even though he caught it on the 1 yard line, the impetus of the ball and player momentum is what moved the ball into the end zone. (Yes Butler runs forward to make the INT, but his momentum shifts directions at the point of contact with the WR). Assuming he subsequently got tackled in the end zone (or took a knee), then when such a thing happens on an interception, the correct call is the defending team is awarded possession of the ball at the spot of the interception.

(2) It could maybe be ruled that he caught the ball and became a runner right away, then got bounced backwards into the end zone. In such a case, like any other runner, he should be awarded forward progress to the spot of the 1 yard line.

The way I see it, the proper call would have been to give the Patriots the ball at around the 1 yard line no matter how you look at it.

EDIT: I am also assuming the referee rules he made the interception at the 1 yard line. However, it looks to me like he never actually gained possession of the ball with both feet down and makes a football move until after he is back in the end zone. So yes, in that case, I think it would be a touchback.

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XLIX said:

The situation you describe is actually not considered a touchback. I see one of 2 possible rulings, each giving the Patriots the ball at the 1 yard line, which (1) being IMHO the more likely call:

(1) Even though he caught it on the 1 yard line, the impetus of the ball and player momentum is what moved the ball into the end zone. (Yes Butler runs forward to make the INT, but his momentum shifts directions at the point of contact with the WR). Assuming he subsequently got tackled in the end zone (or took a knee), then when such a thing happens on an interception, the correct call is the defending team is awarded possession of the ball at the spot of the interception.

(2) It could maybe be ruled that he caught the ball and became a runner right away, then got bounced backwards into the end zone. In such a case, like any other runner, he should be awarded forward progress to the spot of the 1 yard line.

The way I see it, the proper call would have been to give the Patriots the ball at around the 1 yard line no matter how you look at it.

EDIT: I am also assuming the referee rules he made the interception at the 1 yard line. However, it looks to me like he never actually gained possession of the ball with both feet down and makes a football move until after he is back in the end zone. So yes, in that case, I think it would be a touchback.

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Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

It looks like Hightower also gave Malcolm a shove on the hip to make sure that he went down and didn't try to dance around and fumble.

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Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

It looks like Hightower also gave Malcolm a shove on the hip to make sure that he went down and didn't try to dance around and fumble.

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varjao said:

What if Butler take a knee in the endzone?

That would presumably result in a touchback and the ball in the 20 yard line. Game over.

BUT, he actually caught the ball outside of the endzone and got carried back to the EZ by the impact on the Seattle receiver, if the referees call the play like he caught outside of the endzone and then came back, it would be a safety and Seattle's ball. Under the current circumstances I believe it's 95% of chances they would make this wrong call.

Very critical and difficult call.

I think Butler didn't think about any of that and just played with instincts, anyway, THANK GOD he jumped to the 2 yard line.

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Concussion Protocol said:

Man, if Malcolm doesn't squeeze that ball, this would be the worst 6 months in recent Boston sports history. Excruciating SB loss (again), ridiculous investigation and penalty for air not missing from balls, Bruins collapse, Red Sox fall out of the race by the All-Star break, Sandoval is flogging his dolphin to IG photos during games, Celtics are now stuck in NBA purgatory. Wow.

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