10-Second Runoff

[rhickok1109]

Was anyone else surprised by that automatic 10-second runoff that ended the Falcons-Lions game Sunday?

I was watching the game, hoping for a Falcon victory (because I'm a Packer fan), and I switched it off as soon as Golden Tate apparently scored the winning TD. Later, watching the Packers against the Bengals, I saw "Atlanta 30, Detroit 26" as a final on the scoreboard and wondered how they could have made such a bad mistake.

Eventually, I found out that I was making the mistake and that the Falcons had indeed won after it was ruled that Tate hadn't crossed the goal line and there was an automatic 10-second runoff because the clock had stopped for the review.

Has any other NFL game ever ended that way?

[ChrisBabcock]

I saw this and was confused/surprised as well. Was the 10 second runoff because they had to review? Therefore if he was clearly short of the endzone and no need for a review, there would be no runoff and the Lions have time for another play. To sum up, the Lions got screwed for getting too close to the endzone without scoring. Seems like this rule needs to be revisited in the offseason.

[TanksAndSpartans]

There were 8 seconds left and the Lions had no timeouts so they would have had to rush to the line to get another play off. Just to play devil's advocate, imagine the play was ruled a TD on the field with 1 second left and then overturned - should the Lions get another play? Had it been ruled correctly on the field time would have expired in the 1 second case. I actually don't think the ending was ideal either, but I'm not in the camp it has to change. Maybe a 5 second run off? Maybe you just treat it as an officials timeout?

[falconfan58]

When the Lions "scored" that late TD,I was watching it and said review it,and it was obvious he didn't get in before his knee hit the ground.But I didn't know about the 10 second runoff of the clock.But it's kinda doubtful they would have got lined up and ran a play in 8 seconds.The linemen were too far to get lined up in time,they couldn't spike the ball and they were out of timeouts.The only reason they were in the game was 3 turnovers,and Atlanta's inability to get a late first down.But they won.Ive seen them find ways to lose over the years.

[Reaser]

Not surprised but I thought it was a weak way to end a game. The runoff makes sense because the clock would be running, I didn't and don't like that it's 10-seconds though. Arbitrary number picked because "10" looks better than 7, 8 or 9 which would work just as well if not better. Teams that know what they're doing can get up and spike the ball quickly, definitely doesn't always take 10 seconds. Then again, in this specific case the Lions could have thought they scored, hesitated and had he been ruled short on the field and the clock continued to run been standing around or not got a snap off so it's fair in that way and it's fair in that the rules were known in advance but it still is a weird way to end a game, at best. Just something that comes with replay, which I'm not a huge fan of though I also 'like' when calls are correct(ed). I'm more interested to see if/when it happens again.

[ChrisBabcock]

aha. I am understanding the logic behind this now. If the call was made correctly on the field to begin with, the clock would have kept running. Therefore, since the clock stopped because the original call dictated as such (the clock stops when a TD is scored), the "fair" way to resolve that is to have a runoff. I wonder if a better rule would be to have the 10 second runnoff with a clause that if that causes the clock to hit 0:00, one more untimed play is played.

[Jay Z]

aha. I am understanding the logic behind this now. If the call was made correctly on the field to begin with, the clock would have kept running. Therefore, since the clock stopped because the original call dictated as such (the clock stops when a TD is scored), the "fair" way to resolve that is to have a runoff. I wonder if a better rule would be to have the 10 second runnoff with a clause that if that causes the clock to hit 0:00, one more untimed play is played.

So if there was one second left you'd give the O an extra play? That doesn't seem fair either.

I did not see the play live and was expecting something else. What a weird play, how do you complete that pass and not get in the end zone. The Lions executed poorly, no one to blame but themselves. The Falcons didn't really defense the play all that well either, it looked like Stafford had Galladay, the receiver doing the pick, for an easy TD as well. Then a goofy end to the game from the refs.

To me football has had goofy rules since Day One. I don't mind them as long as they make sense. But that play was a lot weirder than I was expecting.

[JohnBowen]

Have to have the ten second runoff. Team would have had to scramble to line in order to get snap off. They had zero timeouts remaining. By the time Tate would have gotten up and started back to an alignment the clock would have already been at less than 5 seconds. Basically, Detroit was a timeout short. Kind of funny that 2 Lions vs. Falcons game in last 5 years have had quirky (uncommon moreso) rules/endings. Remember that in a London game, Detroit missed a fg but had a penalty on themselves that led toma second chance.....which they made to win the game? That was one where victory was taken from the deserving team.

[rhickok1109]

FWIW, a commenter (probably a Detroit fan) on NFL.com pointed out that Lions had got a play off in 8 seconds after a 27-yard gain earlier in that drive.

[Jay Z]

FWIW, a commenter (probably a Detroit fan) on NFL.com pointed out that Lions had got a play off in 8 seconds after a 27-yard gain earlier in that drive.

What is the ruling on first downs or some other stoppage? I don't remember the officials bringing out the chains too much in the last seconds. Do they just make a ruling? So say the lions have 4th and 10 at the Falcons 11. They run a play that gets them to the 1 yard line. The officials need to know if the 1st down is made, so then they need to stop the clock to measure, but they need to do a 10 second runoff there as well?

I suppose I do sympathize that even though the Lions executed poorly, the officials stopping the clock is a neutral stop and not one for an offensive injury or penalty, so the runoff shouldn't occur.