The non-call on 4th down

[nickzz]

It was only a foot past his outstretched arms. He could have easily caught it without the hold. The ball barely landed out of bounds, so he definitely could have got his feet in bounds.

Also, catchability doesn't matter all that much on a holding call.

agree with both of these.

the refs were letting them battle all night until the 4th quarter when they made a pretty big PI call on SF. if they made that call they should have made this one as well.

[nickzz]

If no one else said it, if they had thrown a flag for holding, it would have resulted in a safety as well which is what happened anyway. The Ravens were just smart to hold since they had nothing to lose.

if they threw the flag the clock would have stopped and the 9ers would have had time for a return + a hail mary. doesn't matter if the ravens were smart, the refs should have called that.

[Inimicus]

if they threw the flag the clock would have stopped and the 9ers would have had time for a return + a hail mary. doesn't matter if the ravens were smart, the refs should have called that.

Holding calls never stop the clock. The play is always allowed to come to its normal conclusion and then the penalty is dealt with. The fact that occurred in the end zone makes no difference.

For example: A team is backed up on their own 2. QB takes the snap and drops back to throw. RG commits a hold while in the end zone and the ref throws the flag. QB throws a bad pass that picked and returned for a pick 6. If the hold stopped play the pick 6 would be nullified and the D would have no opportunity to refuse the penalty.

The fact that it was the last seconds of the game and the Ravens were using that rule to their advantage doesnt mean it was not the right way for the refs to handle the play.

[rayzor]

The no-call that I still can't believe no one is talking about was on the Punter Safety. When the announcers were saying, "Strange the 49ers are letting him run around back there," I was screaming in the bar, "That's because they're being held!" And on the replay you could clearly see, a 49er after the punter being held in a full on bear hug from behind by a Raven. Here is the video:

That was easily the most flagrant hold I've ever seen in any NFL game. I mean a fuggin' bear hug? Right in the middle of where the action was taking place. This wasn't on the opposite sideline, it was next to the ball carrier. Still, no call.

I guess no one cares because it was a million to one shot the 49ers could pull it out at that point anyway. But that missed call was the difference between the 49ers having to return the free kick for a touchdown or getting a return and a hail mary with the time left.

This was the ridiculous 4th down no-call of the game in my opinion.

wow that was horrible. and right in front of that bear hug was ravens #37 just tackling 49ers #27.

[Doc Holiday]

Should it have been a penalty?

Why or why not?

that single play by itself would be considered a bad no call, but when you consider on the previous drive where the Ravens score a FG if they had called the roughing the passer call like they should have on the 49'ers as well the Ravens would have been up 2 scores thus effectively ending the game.

Basically the only reason that play was relevant was because a a bad call the other way a the previous series.

Ravens fans aren't bitching about that one though because they won the game.

[Doc Holiday]

wow that was horrible. and right in front of that bear hug was ravens #37 just tackling 49ers #27.

Holding is not a dead ball call, it doesnt stop the game like a faults start or illegal motion ect.

it was intentional holding by design with the Ravens, basically they would have only called the holding call after the play ended and considering if they had called the holding the play would have resulted in a safety with no change to the outcome of the play or time of the game.

does it seem like a bad missed call by the refs? yup but it didn't matter if it was called or not and in reality it was a can't lose brilliant call by the Ravens coaching staff. just brilliant.

John taught Jim a thing or two yesterday

[toldozer]

San fran should have known exactly where the pressure was coming from and been able to pick up the blitz. Terrible play call.

[Darknight]

Wow....what do you guys have against the 49ers really? If that was the Panthers playing in the Super Bowl last night against the Ravens and Jimmy Smith mugged Steve Smith like that.....come on now....many of you same people saying that it was a good no call would STILL be going ballistic right now and you know it. Many of you that are defending this play should not because you guys would be crying about it to just like 49ers fans are doing right now. That's being hypocritical.

[Zaximus]

It was easily a hold on the defense. When a defensive player has a handful of the receiver's jersey, and is "holding", that usually means, it's holding.

[toldozer]

Doesn't change the fact that the play call was not good. Actually the last 3 plays were bad.

[Razeyfingers]

. . . . misread, disregard

[rayzor]

John taught Jim a thing or two yesterday

i suspect that's not the first time that's happened with those two.

not unexpected that a guy with the amount of success john has had would be able to outcoach jim who, while still doing great for being just a 2nd year HC at the pro level, would be getting outcoached by guys who have been around longer.

just like a team like the ravens who have been successful for years and used to high profile games and bigger stages would be more ready and able to handle a game of that magnitude better than jim's project in it's second year.

just like a QB with only 10 starts to his name in his second year in the league would have been outplayed by a defense that has had success for years and ended up beating two sure fire HoF QBs to get to the superbowl.

[FireMarshallBill]

It would have been a safety either way, i don't know why this is so hard to comprehend. It would have ran same amount of time off the clock whether it was flagged or not. People are bitching about a completely irrelevant non-call.

it looks so damn obvious because it was done on purpose, because these guys have forgotten more about football than most fans will ever learn, apparently.

[Darknight]

Doesn't change the fact that Smith held Crabtree and got away with it.