I think if the ball came down and touched the player while he was in bounds the ball is live and in play until it goes OB or recovered. If it touched the player while he was OB its an automatic penalty at the 40.
It was ruled that it touched the player while coming down. So it should have been in play. But it also wasn't ruled a penalty. So I think the refs thought the ball was in play but caught the player on its way up, by then he was OB so they marked it right there.
However I think its a moot point because the refs called it OB and ruled the play dead and unreviewable. I don't see a case where it could have been reviewable unless the linesman doesn't blow the whistle. I think the Eagles caught a break because if the linesman didn't blow the whistle the ball would have been ours.
But then again there has to be enough evidence to overturn the ruling which I don't see clearly. But if it was our ball A. Reid would have been the one to challenge and overturn the call instead of Whiz. So it would have been our call.
On the pass interference play. The penalty could have been called and there would have been nothing we could do about it. I don't think pass interference plays are reviewable since they are judgement plays.
OK, this is a little confusing. There is a part in the movie The Caine Mutiny where Humphrey Bogart's character says that there is "the right way, the wrong way, the Navy way, and my way." Well, in this case, there is what the line judge thought happened, what was called, what should have been called, and what actually happened.
What the line judge thought happened was that Abiamiri touched the ball as it was coming down and that the ball landed out of bounds. The ball is then dead, and the play over. From that point on, nothing can be reviewed because the play is dead, and, presumably, players play to the whistle.
What the replay shows is that the ball may or may not have touched Abiamiri on the way down, but it clearly landed inbounds when it touched the ground. The ball then bounced with a backspin back onto the field, where it may or may not have grazed Abiamiri again.
One thing seems pretty clear, and that is the ball did not ever land out of bounds. So let's build that into our assumptions -- the ball stayed inbounds. So, the questions are how many times, if any, did Abiamiri touch the ball, and when did he touch it. If he touched it the first time but not the second, it should have been Cardinals ball at the 26. If he touched it the second time but not the first, it should have been Eagles ball at the 40. If he touched it both times, God help us all, because I think that the Eagles should have gotten the ball at the 26 -- which is exactly what happened. Despite the fact that the officiating crew totally screwed the pooch, the right end result might have occurred.
OK, this is way too much thinking for this late at night. Good night.
