Clay caused a fumble from Kolb that wasn't counted as a sack. Looking at the play by play, it appears he gained a yard before being sacked.

Clay made a key stop on the final play for the Eagles by stuffing Michael Vick at the line of scrimmage.

Shouldn't that be a sack? The play by play shows the line of scrimmage didn't move.



I can't find the letter of the rule within the NFL rule book on what is a sack and also not sure why it wouldn't be a sack. Whether it's a designed run or not, that's a judgment call because they could have had a TE on the edge flanking out as the play was in Shotgun formation.


Your thoughts? Anyone know what I'm talking about and can prove that I'm wrong? Which, is likely, lol.

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Wikipedia to the rescue!

"To be considered a sack the quarterback must intend to throw a forward pass. If the play is designed for the quarterback to rush the ball, any loss is subtracted from the quarterback's rushing total. If the quarterback's intent is not obvious statisticians use certain criteria, such as the offensive line blocking scheme, to decide. Other unique situations where a loss reduces a quarterback's rushing total (not a sack) are "kneel downs" (used to run time off the game clock), and aborted plays, such as a fumbled snap that the quarterback falls on to maintain possession."

By the way, I'm guessing that the reason you can't find this in the NFL rule book is that it's not a rule. It is just something for the statisticians.

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What if he intends to throw a forward pass, the play breaks down, and he begins to run?

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That happens all the time, and it is always counted as a sack.

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What counts as forward progress? If his foot crosses the line but the ball never breaks the plane? What if the ball breaks the plane but no part of his body does? I know the forward progress rules are slightly different in college versus professional football, so I'm note sure of the precise details.

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The QB and the ball have to be entirely across the line of scrimmage for the forward pass to be illegal.

The Bears still don't understand that. On the Majkowski replay where they asterisk their program. His heel was still not across the line when he threw the ball. So it was a legal forward pass.

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So, then stats are judgment calls, guess I figured that much out already with other things.

I just don't see how anyone can intelligently say it's a run, because there could easily have been an option to pass out of the Shotgun formation. If the TE on the end wasn't able to shed his block, it then would give the appearance it's not a pass, even though it may have and could have been from the start.

I'm chalking it up as a third sack, cuz my stat totals are more important.

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It looked like a run to me from the moment Vick got the ball. If I can see it the experts will recognize that it was not a pass play.
Can't consider an unsuccessful QB Draw and pass play.
No sack. Sorry.

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agreed w/ wpr. Using your definitions zero any running play could be deemed a pass because at any point before the LOS the rb could theoretically pull up and chuck one to a wr/te.

Case in point, Tim Tebow's patented 'Jump-Pass'. What happens if he starts running forward, preparing to Jump-Pass, but prior to said pass, he is tackled. Is that a sack? IMO, it sure should be. The only problem is, who knew for sure that he was going to pass the ball? Only the team and coaches. This topic is extremely subjective. Which sucks for Matthews, but we know he's a beast, so it's ok.

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