? ? ? ? ? WHAT DID I MISS? ? ? ? ?

[TarheelKen]

I have watched Sunday's game against the Cowboys twice and realize that there were quite a few "questionable" calls/no-calls by the officials. However, there was one that really has me stumped and I would appreciate it if anyone who still has a copy of the game could checks out this play and let me know what you think. Here's the situation . . .

1) 4th quarter;
2) ~4:30 left in the game;
3) ball's on the Dallas 26;
4) handoff to Bradshaw and he's tackled on is down on the 21 ... appears to land on the yellow line indicating the first down marker;
5) line judge on the Dallas sideline runs in and spots the ball on the 24 yard lined.

My question is "Why"? Why did he mark the ball approximately 3 - 4 yards short of where AB was downed? What did I miss? The announcers did not say anything about it. No one on the Giants' sideline appeared to complain or protest. (Based on the amount of time remaining in the game, it was a challengeable situation. I'd appreciate it if someone would give me a clarification. Thanks.

[bELIeve_in_Giants]

I didn't think he was 3-4 yards short, but it looked like a bad spot and I was hoping they would challenge.

[Captain Chaos]

Bad spot and could not be challenged.

[stormblue]

yeah , they said the defense can challenge if it was originally called a first down
but the offense can't challenge a short spot.
weird rule huh ?

[TarheelKen]

Bad spot and could not be challenged.

Why couldn't it be challenged?

[stormblue]

Why couldn't it be challenged?

like i said , the rule does not work both ways.
only the defense can challenge a first down spot.
the offense can demand a chain measurement at the spot but they can not challenge the spot itself.
weird rule

[Drez]

I didn't think he was 3-4 yards short, but it looked like a bad spot and I was hoping they would challenge.

You can only challenge a spot when the play results in a first down.

I think he was short, but only by a few inches not feet.

[Rusty192]

You can only challenge a spot when the play results in a first down.

I think he was short, but only by a few inches not feet.

Regardless of if he was really short or not (the view was obstructed by one of the players) I kept wondering why Bradshaw didn't just lunge with the ball some more. He was on top of one of the defenders and could have stretched the ball a bit more with no risk of having it stripped.


eh, weird course of events.

[TarheelKen]

Thank you everyone. I didn't realize that, by rule, the offense couldn't challenge the spot. Yes, that is a weird rule!

[rainierjef]

You can only challenge a spot when the play results in a first down.

I think he was short, but only by a few inches not feet.

I just looked at it again and I think he was short as well, not by what the judge marked it but by inches.