A GREAT SUPER BOWL.......but...

[Ralph Damren]

A game for the ages, but a couple of rules questions you ,who are more learned ,can help me with......

(1) Horsecollar flag on KC, but the runner (SF's QB) didn't go down. was that part of the "Don't breathe on the QB"rule ?

(2) IG flag on KC, enforced 10 from previous spot & LOD, isn't that a spot foul in NFL ?

(3) In a couple of push/shove/whatever situations, officials with black jackets came onto the field to restore peace. Were they chain crew, alternates or what ?

[riffraft]

A game for the ages, but a couple of rules questions you ,who are more learned ,can help me with......

(1) Horsecollar flag on KC, but the runner (SF's QB) didn't go down. was that part of the "Don't breathe on the QB"rule ?

(2) IG flag on KC, enforced 10 from previous spot & LOD, isn't that a spot foul in NFL ?

(3) In a couple of push/shove/whatever situations, officials with black jackets came onto the field to restore peace. Were they chain crew, alternates or what ?

Don't know about the first 2 but the on the 3rd, they had all 7 alternate officials on the sidelines to help with communication with the coaches and to help control potential incidents

[Kalle]

A game for the ages, but a couple of rules questions you ,who are more learned ,can help me with......

(1) Horsecollar flag on KC, but the runner (SF's QB) didn't go down. was that part of the "Don't breathe on the QB"rule ?

(2) IG flag on KC, enforced 10 from previous spot & LOD, isn't that a spot foul in NFL ?

(3) In a couple of push/shove/whatever situations, officials with black jackets came onto the field to restore peace. Were they chain crew, alternates or what ?

Not an NFL official but these are pretty clearly written in the rule book.

1) NFL considers the horse-collar foul to be so injury prone that it is not a requirement that the runner is immediately pulled down, only that his knees buckle (like they did in the game). Good call. Interestingly this is one of the few differences the IFAF rules has compared to the NCAA rules, we use the NFL version.

2) NFL has a pretty complicated penalty rule for the ING:
"Penalty: For intentional grounding:
(a) loss of down and 10 yards from the previous spot; or
(b) loss of down at the spot of the pass if the spot is more than 10 yards from the previous spot or more than half the distance to the goal line; or
(c) a safety if the passer’s entire body and the ball are in his end zone when the ball is thrown. See 4-7 for actions to conserve time inside two minutes of either half."

[Ralph Damren]

Thanks, Kalle and Riffraft, for the insight. I sincerely doubt that we'll ever ask our chain crews to aid us in breaking up fights, although in state champ games we invite all athletic directors to have sidlline passes and they usually encircle the field as sorta a sentry...just in case.

[TampaSteve]

On the topic of the horse collar, the intent is basically to prevent a tackler from pulling down on the runner and bucking his knees and the tackler falling against the back of the knees. 
Anyone notice over the past few yrs that tacklers, to avoid the call, are still doing this technique, but from the side? - i.e. grabbing the shirt from the side and falling down against the legs..still buckling the knees?
Just my opinion - I'm guessing this will be updated/modified in the next few yrs

It seemed also that OT rule for SB was different vs the rest of the season.
I thought I remember that NFL OT says that if team with first possession scores a TD then it's game over, but I read on espn today, that team2 still gets a possession. 
Which seems bizarre to play under one set of rules all season only to change the game for the SB.

[ElvisLives]

On the topic of the horse collar, the intent is basically to prevent a tackler from pulling down on the runner and bucking his knees and the tackler falling against the back of the knees. 
Anyone notice over the past few yrs that tacklers, to avoid the call, are still doing this technique, but from the side? - i.e. grabbing the shirt from the side and falling down against the legs..still buckling the knees?
Just my opinion - I'm guessing this will be updated/modified in the next few yrs

It seemed also that OT rule for SB was different vs the rest of the season.
I thought I remember that NFL OT says that if team with first possession scores a TD then it's game over, but I read on espn today, that team2 still gets a possession. 
Which seems bizarre to play under one set of rules all season only to change the game for the SB.

Not just Super Bowl - all playoffs. Had lunch with my NFL referee buddy, and he confirmed that, in regular season, if the team first in possession scores a TD - game over. If they score a field goal, the opponent gets a possession to attempt to tie or win the game. If they tie, then it is sudden death, thereafter.
In Playoffs, both teams get at least one possession, regardless of what the first team in possession scores. As soon as both teams have had a possession, the first team to have the lead while they are in possession wins. Playoff overtime is, essentially, an entirely new game.  If the score remains tied, they will play as they would in regulation, changing ends of the field at the end of the period, etc. There might even be a very brief half-time, if they go that long. The clock is needed to obey timing rules that may come into play, should they get to those points in this extra game.

[Ralph Damren]

During the regular season ,I believe, the OT and game ends after ten minutes as a tie. In post -season you need to have a winner, hence after 15 minutes the 1st OT ends, end of field exchanged and off to 2nd OT. With that in mind, I could understand the rule of both teams having a possession. I recall in the Brady Era, for a couple of post-season OT's the Pats won the toss and after a bevy of completed passes ,the game would be over. Those events may have pushed the NFL to require both teams to have a possession.

[ElvisLives]

During the regular season ,I believe, the OT and game ends after ten minutes as a tie. In post -season you need to have a winner, hence after 15 minutes the 1st OT ends, end of field exchanged and off to 2nd OT. With that in mind, I could understand the rule of both teams having a possession. I recall in the Brady Era, for a couple of post-season OT's the Pats won the toss and after a bevy of completed passes ,the game would be over. Those events may have pushed the NFL to require both teams to have a possession.

Ralph, they aren’t just stand-alone overtime periods. They are actually game periods, like the first and second, or third and fourth. It they get to 2 minutes in the second or fourth periods, they would have a 2-minute notification, and the same rule changes that occur during last 2-minutes of the 2nd/4th periods of regulation play would apply. Yeah, a whole second game, but each team gets at least one possession. After both have had a possession (and still tied), then it is sudden death, as far as scoring. But, the clock runs exactly as it would in regulation play, and special timing rules would come into play, if those points in the game are reached.