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Vikings tripping penalty….legit or not?
By Dagger | October 27, 2009
You asked for it, you got it.
The angle used to review this play during the telecast looks innocent enough. No real reason to call a penalty. The side angle….the one we saw during the live game action looks worse. Why? Well watch the video below and take a look at Dugan’s right leg. The side view shows the foot/leg elevating a bit to get a piece of Harrison. The “endzone camera” view that the announcers on FOX looked at kind of hides the real “tripping motion”.
A tough call either way. Not shocked it was called and I would not have been shocked had it been let go. If anything, the Football Gods owe James Harrison about 100 more calls…legit or not.
One more thing to note here is watch where the penalty flag is thrown from. It gets thrown from the opposite side of the field….a view that none of us have access to. For all we know the trip looks more (or less) legit from that refs angle than any we get to see in this clip.
Topics: NFL, Sports, Steelers | 32 Comments »
October 27th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Yea it's a trip, there was intent for sure.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
the blocker leads with his shoulder… the defender jumps up into the air towards his own right and the blocker doesn't even lift his leg to try to 'go after him'.
if this is considered intent for tripping then there is no more such thing as a cross block in the nfl
i won't speak to the intent of the refs who called it but if you had ten nfl offensive line coaches review this play and make a call on it they would all say that it was not only not a trip but they would say that it is exactly how they teach the cross block to their line.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Anybody who sees intent on that has two a$$ sphincters for eyes. There was no leg extension other than a bad block and role. The angle of the official throwing the flag was more than likely shielded from seeing the actual play as Favre and/or Loadholt was blocking his vantage point and the flag was thrown based on the odd diving action of the blitzing backer. Perception is not always reality and this happens to be one of those cases. Chalk it up to stuff happens.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
yes, in the sense that stuff happened against steelers too. I'm fairly certain that crappy calls were called equally on both sides. this was a legit steelers win.
when you call as many screen plays and as many short wr passes that favre did all day-an as a result padded his stats…you're going to get fumbles, strips, and interceptions. it happens. its a matter of when.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Also, look at the guys ankle. why did it come up? theres no need for that ankle to come up at all. ok so its a textbook block, but he fell, he knew he fell and then raised his leg to impede harrison. i cannot imagine why a player would ever normally raise his ankle up in the air. it snot like he was diving down. he dove forward. theres no way a guy that big needs to bring his ankle up for leverage or any other reason. its not even a part of normal behavior.
when you raise your ankle like that you increase the chance of injuring your knee when ti falls to the ground. its pretty obvious that the tight end realized he made a mistake and fell and then rasied his leg to slow down harrison. to me thats a good call.
its sorta like what william gay did when he go tknocked down by AP. he raised his leg up to slow him down-but failed….and it was the opposite direction(he was facing up)…here its the same concept but the TE is facing down and raising his ankle. hence-tripping.
October 28th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I see a trip there clearly, when he is rolling he is raising his right leg in a unnecessary/suspect way.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
exactly
October 28th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Lets see… game winning drive…
Vikes. BIG first down… oops, refs can't see a clear catch on the sidelines 'thank god for replay'
Vikes. Touchdown! oops, refs now can see a trip that every football educated eye that reviews says was at BEST totally suspect and in reality was just plain wrong.
So… 14 points swing. Another great asterisk in the steelers win catagory.
Everyone in football, except for blinded inexperienced steel sucking lemmings, knows this was a superior outing by the Vike's.
Ponder this. If the Vikes were really beat this sunday, how come every educated commentator thinks they are more legit than ever? I'll answer it for you folks who still actually think that was a trip. It's because everyone without a terrible towel over their eye's could see who won that game.
One last thing… of all the games in all the NFL over the last few weeks why is everyone talking about this one call???? because it IS a call that made a difference. yea… stuff happens… but this one was one of those that never should have and when it did it resulted in the wrong team getting the win. That is why everyone is talking about it.
Hello!
For all you steel lovers… the jury is no longer out on this one… take your medicine like a real football player would. When those towo player meet face to face the steeler will give the vike a nod and say 'yea bro… that sucked'
It was a horrible call.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
lol you are such a whiny fool. That catch was ridiculously close and to insinuate that the refs are cheating for the Steelers in that case is laughable. They reviewed it and got it right. Stuff like that happens ALL THE TIME. It's funny, cause Merril Hoge was talking about this play, as a former back who was asked to block like this, that backs know you cannot raise your legs…and he did..People still talk about it because it was a unique call that we don't see often. It's just like the tuck rule. Fools like you will scream bloody murder at the ref, but the ref made the right call for the rule.
P.S. it's a lame debate tactic to simply declare that every 'educated' or 'non blinded steel sucking lemming' is on your side on this. Because they're not. Shut up and go to a site that caters to your kind of crap.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
it may have been a horrible call (i don't think so), but you gotta admit, if favre didn't quit on both returns (at least our kicker made contact), it could have been a different outcome.
i was embarrassed by favre's lack of effort on both plays. you should be too.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Tell me oh wise one, how did the refs screw you guys out of 4 attempts from inside the 1 yrd line to score? Did the refs hold the Purple Jesus to 69 yrds rushing too? Did the refs put your D in a terrible soft zone at the end of the 1st half?
People are talking about it because cry babies like you keep crying foul. As others have said bad calls happen and they happen to everyone, good teams can over come it.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
And Merril Hodge played for who? I watched the game with Chuck Foreman on Sunday. He though it was a horrible call byt the official. I guess that cancels out Hodge's opinon. Regardless, it was a poor attempt at a cut block where the player launches his upper torso in a downward fashion and his lower torso came up as result. There is no way a person can infer intent to trip there. Movements by both the offensive and defensive player worked in concert for the official to mistakingly believe that a trip or trip attempt had occurred. Steelers won, Vikes could have just as easily won. I'm happy the team had the chance to win this one in the end but would much have preferred a W even if we needed a few flukey type plays to get it. We have already got 2 this year that were somewhat improbable so I guess it balances out.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Scoreboard…and 6 rings. Thanks for the laugh though
October 28th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
again, the whining. seriously….perhaps you should take the time to read what i analyzed. that tight end decided to RAISE HIS ANKLE UP. it is not a regular part of NORMAL MOVEMENT. it was AN ABNORMAL MOVE-because it was done INTENTIONALLY.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Ah, yes. There were indeed times during the game when I, a Steeler fan, was forced to admit to myself that the Vikings are indeed far superior to the Steelers. When a WIDE OPEN Mike Wallace caught Ben's pass and sailed into the end zone, I thought "Crap! There's no way in hell the Steelers can beat the mighty Vikings!" When Brett Favre FUMBLED THE BALL AWAY so that Woodley could sail for the touchdown, I thought "Man, I can't believe the Steelers are getting embarrassed like this." When Taylor let the ball SLIP THROUGH HIS HANDS so that Fox could catch it and sail to the endzone, I thought "These Vikings are truly an all-time great team for the ages!"
You're right, Pest, I mean Guest, I am truly humbled by the far FAR superior play of the Mighty Vikings that day.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:17 am
All aside…. Wasn't that a great game? When I think back on this season this will be a game I remember.
… yea… and then i'll remember that the steelers suck …
October 29th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
haha…you're trying to fan the flames? lame comments like that dont offend us. u know why? we have 6 superbowls and more players from our team who made the pro bowl and the hall of fame than any other team in the NFL in its history. you should say that to the browns. they'll really get pissed.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Answer me this clown: why did he roll? He rotates towards the end of his block…why? To get a better look at James Harrison jumping over him? Maybe he's been waiting all game to get a proper perspective on man nuts and he took the opportunity. His right leg most definitely comes up. You say he launched his upper body and as a result his lower body came up? You're an idiot. That would be proper analysis if the blocker were to be launching himself from say, a 5 foot tall box. He's not. Him throwing his upper body down does not automatically bring up his legs. Try it out for yourself if you don't believe me. And then stop whining about calls and accept your team's defeat like a man.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
"ok so its a textbook block, but he fell, he knew he fell and then raised his leg to impede harrison."
Its a cut block… The intent is to dive & impede the oncoming defender… You don't dive with the intent to stay on the ground, you dive with the intent of rolling and getting right back up…The roll is part of the intended motion and causes the legs to do what they do.
Harrison leaps/dives over him and is obviously in a position to not land on his feet well before Duggan's feet get anywhere near (if they hit at all) Harrison.
Its a horrible call leading to a 14 point swing… Vikings and their fans SHOULD be pissed… The refs blew it no question.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
You're both blind or morons…
October 29th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Only thing worse than being a sucky team, is being beat by a sucky team. HAHAHAHA!!!
Remember this:
The refs has nothing to do with AD being shut down ALL DAY.
The refs had nothing to do with Jared Allen's impotence
The refs had nothing to do with Favre's incompetence
The refs had nothing to do with Chester's butter fingers
The refs had nothing to do with Wallace being WIDE OPEN
The refs had nothing to do with Rashard's gaudy YPR average
Get my point?
October 30th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Hey if you watch the play at normal speed, the way James falls out of his jump it "looks" like he was tripped.That's what the ref reacted too. Anyway, the flag is thrown long before the reception or the TD was made. If the pass had been incomplete this would be a non-story. Face-it Viking fans your team lost this game because they couldn't get it in from 1 yard in 3 tries.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
LOL!! I think mister internet bully needs to step away from the keyboard for a few years and start posting again after it goes through puberty. Tool *L*
October 30th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
why u mad? cuz you lost? cuz you havnt had a superbowl ring in 30 million years? it must be frustrating. i'll bet it sucks being from such a crappy state like minnesotta. I'd hate my life too. its ok. let him vent guys. johnnyg must be so personally hurt by the loss that he's still posting here. its ok.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
If anything, I saw more of a chop block than a tripping.
October 31st, 2009 at 4:55 pm
You would think that eventually the steeler fans would start to call for the refs to shape up themselves. I mean really. At some point I would think it would be too much for even a steeler fan to have to go to bed with.
And dingbats… it's not whining when the board moderator brings up the subject because he wants a discussion about it. There is a place to discuss stuff like this and THIS IS ONE OF THEM. So, instead of calling for everyone who disagrees to shut up or stop whining or go away you should put up a valid argument instead. HA! Won't happen.
So, if the mod's on this site want a real discussion they should talk about a review system where every single call goes through a review to see if it is valid instead of these special circumstances bull crap that lets the ref's determine the outcome of a game. The replay booth ref ought to be able to call a review for every call called.
I guarantee that before the season is over there will be anther game turning call that the people hiding behind the prostitutes curtain will have to spend a week, or a whole offseason, defending instead of enjoying a valid victory.
Put your towels once through the laundry there star eyed pit suckers. No-one talks about the great steeler team of last week just like no-one talks about the great superbowl team of last year, just like no one talks about the great steeler team of 06. They are all buried in a pile of bull crap ref calls. But of course your mob infested state has nothing to do with any of that now does it.
So, maybe the steeler fans will eventually wake up and smell the coffee and just start rooting for another team because like the rest of the NFL they will start to just get tired of eating feasts of rotten meat.
Steeler fans are like a bunch of drunk, stoned, drop out high-schooler union children standing around a garbage fire trying to convince each other they are not a looser. They are the only ones who buy it. By the way… if all the NFL fans who no longer respected the steelers really went away, like you are asking, you'd just spend every weekend playing with yourself.
WHOOOP!!!
October 31st, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Ah yes – the personal insults on the internet. A favorite tactic for those who's intellectual positions are less than convincing.
Here's the only valid argument that matters – the ref called tripping. Nothing else matters. The refs will make mistakes in every game. A team can't complain about it or get too wrapped up in it, as that just takes the focus off of winning. To the Vikes, credit, they seemed to try to work through it during the game. Their fans, on the other hand, are still working on that concept…or at least one of them is. If the Vikings were up by 20, the call would not have mattered.
Now go away – you'll need the energy after the Vikes lose in Green Bay.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
The only thing that matters is 6 rings to 0. WHOOOP!!!
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
What did this weeks vikings game and last weeks vikings game have in common? The Vikings played the superior game both weeks.
Having battled the Pack for years I can hardly remember a game that was completely overshadowed by insane officiating. It has been a long fought rivalry that both teams love to love and love to hate. Football! Year after year of hard fought battles and mutual love/hate respect. Yea Baby!
Enter the steel (don't look too close at what the refs are doing behind the) curtain and this decade is game after game after game of crappy one sided ref's calls connected to all your big game win's.
Again, I would think you fan's yourself would start to ride some officiating A$$ in Pittsburgh considering the ref's and whomever is behind them has taken what was once a proud, hard fighting, football tradition and totally dumped on it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Dude, have fun with the rest of your season. we got all of your points.
But on a side not, I in particular do not want to ride any man's a–, let alone a ref's, stripes don't do it for me. But I am sure there are people that would fine that enjoyable.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Nope. You are not allowed to pull the internet bully card. I believe the phrase was "blinded inexperienced steel sucking lemmings." Calling me an internet bully is not gonna fly. Gloves off, you came on to this site and brought awful analysis/logic, simple as that. Leave. Bye.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
What? There are no Vikings boards for you to post on? Go post with other fans that want to "ride some officiating a$$".