Who called that timeout then? Didn't watch the jets game
Heres what happened:
Some blunders, such as the Butt Fumble, just happen without warning and without reason. The main characters in that drama were
Mark Sanchez and Brandon Moore's butt. Sunday's timeout fiasco for the
New York Jets included 10 seconds of build up and involved four principals: offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg,
Sheldon Richardson,
Geno Smith and Rex Ryan.
Here's a nearly second-by-second breakdown of what went wrong (and why) on the fourth-and-4 play from the
Green Bay Packers' 36-yard line with a little more than five minutes to play, which resulted in the touchdown that wasn't:
AP Photo/Mike Roemer
Sheldon Richardson (left), Rex Ryan and Marty Mornhinweg (far right) each deserve part of the blame for the New York Jets' timeout fiasco Sunday.
5:14 (13 seconds on play clock): Bilal Powell, lined up to the right of Smith in shotgun, raises his arms, confused. He's not sure if he's in the proper position.
5:12 (11 seconds): Following Smith's command, Powell moves to the quarterback's left.
5:10 (9 seconds): A cat-and-mouse game develops. Green Bay safety
Morgan Burnett, seeing Powell's shift, walks up to the line of scrimmage and positions himself outside right tackle
Breno Giacomini. Burnett is in blitz position, staring at an empty backfield on that side of the formation. The Packers have seven at the line of scrimmage, showing heavy blitz. Mornhinweg recognizes the situation and starts walking toward Ryan while trying to speak to him on the headset. Ryan can't hear him because he's on the defensive channel.
5:08 (7 seconds): Unable to speak to Ryan, Mornhinweg tries to get Ryan's attention by gesturing for a timeout, frantically. He makes the "timeout" gesture no fewer than nine times. Line judge Byron Boston briefly turns his head to his left, noticing Mornhinweg's antics. Boston ignores Mornhinweg, fully aware of the rule that only a head coach can call a timeout from the sideline, with one exception: The line judge, instructed not to turn his back to the field when the snap is imminent, can award a timeout if he believes the command comes from the head coach.
5:07 (6 seconds): Smith sees the shift in the Packers' defense and calmly points to Powell, instructing him to shift again. And so Powell does, flipping back to the right side of the quarterback.
5:06 (5 seconds): Mornhinweg, managing to keep his eyes on the field as he's gesturing, notices Smith has corrected the formation issue. Immediately, Mornhinweg changes his mind, motioning to call off the timeout. He extends both arms like a baseball umpire on a "safe" play. Ryan, standing six yards away from Mornhinweg at the Packers' 37, apparently sees none of this. His eyes are focused on the field. Simultaneously, Richardson -- only one yard to Ryan's right -- steps forward toward Boston.
5:05 (4 seconds): Richardson, only a few inches from Boston's right ear, leans in and calls the timeout.
5:04 (3 seconds): The ball is snapped, a split-secondbefore Boston blows his whistle and raises his arms to kill the play. A frame-by-frame review shows the shotgun snap is halfway to Smith when the play is blown dead. Technically, the play should've counted -- a 36-yard touchdown pass to
Jeremy Kerley. As it turns out, it's only a four-man rush by the Packers. Powell runs a pass route to the right sideline, drawing Burnett in coverage. What will never be known, however, is whether the Packers slacked off, knowing the play didn't count. Judging by the reaction, some players -- including safety
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the end zone -- knew there was no play.
"You know what? It really doesn’t matter now," Ryan said Monday.
