Rams Notebook: NFL admits game officials goofed

[RamWraith]

By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/17/2006

It's small consolation to the Rams now, but the NFL has admitted it made a mistake in keeping the clock running on a reception by Isaac Bruce late in the first half against Chicago.

Bruce caught a pass from Marc Bulger for a 24-yard gain, and rolled out of bounds untouched at the Chicago 23 to stop the clock. About 35 seconds remained in the half, with the Rams trailing 14-13.

One official in referee Jeff Triplette's crew originally signaled to stop the clock. But for some reason, the clock started running again. The Rams not only lost about 15 seconds — which would have given them time to run another play or two — they lost a down when Bulger had to spike the ball on the next play to stop the clock.

"The official indicated that the clock was stopped, based on his signal," coach Scott Linehan said. "So we were stopped there temporarily, but the other official said (Bruce) didn't get out. They failed to tell us, which cost us some critical time there. ... We had already told the offense to huddle because they had stopped the clock with the signal."



That play was one of several sent to the NFL office by the Rams for review. In this case, the league said it blew the call and the clock should have stopped.

The half ended with Jeff Wilkins missing on a 48-yard field-goal try.

About a minute before the Bruce play, the Rams also came out on the short end of another disputed play — again in a situation in which they would have been poised to score a go-ahead touchdown.

"That's how it's been all year for us," linebacker Dexter Coakley said. "It seems like we've been on the losing end of a lot of calls. We're not making excuses."

With some help from defensive end Leonard Little, a blitzing Coakley appeared to force a Rex Grossman fumble with 1 minute 45 seconds to play in the half. Safety Oshiomogho Atogwe recovered and returned the ball to the Chicago 28. But a booth review reversed the call, and the play was ruled an incomplete pass. The Rams thought they had a case on two levels:

— It appeared that the contact by Coakley caused the throwing arm of Grossman to go forward.

— Even if officials ruled that Grossman's arm was going forward on its own, the ball actually went backwards, making it a fumble, not an incomplete pass.

"When we hit him, his arm kind of went forward," defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. "It wasn't like he was trying to throw the ball. Then, the ball came out. It was a nice rush (by Coakley and Little), but we're not getting any breaks right now. The teams that are winning get those breaks."

The Rams also sent that play to the NFL office for review, but the league stood by the "incomplete pass" call.

Local line

— Linebacker Robert Thomas, a first-round pick by the Rams in 2002, has appeared in all 13 games for the Raiders as a backup on defense and on special teams.

Thomas has 20 tackles and one fumble recovery this season. Thomas started 32 games for the Rams from 2002 through '04, then was traded to Green Bay before the 2005 season.

— Ritenour High product James Adkisson is a reserve tight end for Oakland. He has appeared in four games — his first action as an NFL player. He caught his first NFL pass, a 9-yard reception, against San Francisco on Oct. 8. He went to college at South Carolina.

[laram0]

Oh great, this is all I need to read! Now I'm all agitated again!:x

Grossman fumbled!!!:x

[UtterBlitz]

Sometimes I wonder why I watch football when the rules are so easily manipulated and some teams get lots of breaks.

[dgr828]

Seems like the Rams have been jobbed by the refs all year.
The milk has been spilled, there's no use in crying now

[jkramsfan]

Seems like the Rams have been jobbed by the refs all year.
The milk has been spilled, there's no use in crying now

i agree, it doesnt do us much good now,i don't even know why they bother saying that,what they should do is fine the damn offical and sit him 1 game and then maybe they would get there act together,the overall officating this season hasn't been very good for anybody.

[Nick]

It's small consolation to the Rams now, but the NFL has admitted it made a mistake in keeping the clock running on a reception by Isaac Bruce late in the first half against Chicago.

This was a mistake even high school officials would have got right. Jeff Triplette's crew needs to take a week off or so to review the rulebook.

[Varg6]

NFL admits officials hate the Rams.

[RamOfDenmark]

I kinda hate to complain about this since we lost the game and anyone complaining after a loss is easily dismissed as a crybaby. But the call was wrong, heck lots of calls were wrong, this week, and all year, for us and for lots of other teams. Whether we won or lost doesn't, or shouldn't, take anything away from the actual argument. Surely it must be possible to do something about the officiating, full-time referees and performance-based pay sounds good to me, you have to give them some strong incentives to not mess up.