There were a couple of calls by the officials in today's game that the TV color guy, Brian Billick, criticized. I think he was wrong both times. I want to know what others think.

1. Intentional grounding on Rodgers. Billick had it completely wrong on this one because he said that Rodgers should not have been called for intentional grounding because he was inside the tackle box. But the opposite is true: It is when a QB is OUTSIDE the tackle box that he can't be guilty of intentional grounding. I thought this was a brain fart on Billick's part, but he repeated it later in the game. So apparently this ex-coach does not know the rule. It was still a picky call because there was a receiver in the area, but on the other hand, it was obvious that Rodgers had no intention of completing the pass. It was a debatable call but not a blown call.

2. The refs stopping play after an offside infraction by the 49ers, not giving the Packers a "free play." I'm not sure of the rule here, but I suspect they blew the whistle because a Packer player (I think it was Bulaga) jumped early when the defender jumped offside. It was still a penalty on the 49ers because they jumped offside first, but I'm guessing that the play can't continue when an offensive player moves early. It wouldn't be legitimate. At that point the play becomes too much of a mess to continue.

For what it's worth (not much), Brian Billick is fast becoming one of my least favorite announcers.

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Greg, Billick had other criticisms of the intentional grounding call, which I do believe was erroneous. He pointed out that the ball went beyond the line of scrimmage and that there were two receivers in the area. He was wrong to say it shouldn't have been called because Rodgers was inside the tackle box. Perhaps he meant to say "in spite of the fact that Rodgers was in the tackle box" but in the heat of the moment simply misspoke. I know if I had to make up commentary on the fly I would probably stumble over my words quite often.

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I agree.. he was incorrect on the tackle box issue.

But on the first call.. he wasn't in dire position of giving up the sack, threw the ball past the line of scrimmage and out of bounds.. the first on should not have been a penalty.

The second one was intention grounding and the officials botched it.. make up call.. possibly.


But you are correct on Billick.. he had his wires crossed as far as inside or outside the tackle box.

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Yeah, I agreed with Billick that the non-call on that later play was weird because it looked more like intentional grounding than the first one. Possibly they gave Rodgers credit for being outside of the tackle box because he did take maybe one step to the side. But the ball was thrown farther from any receivers than the first one was.

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But he didn't misspeak. He was just plain wrong. He used it to support his position. And he said the same thing again later. His partner should've corrected him.

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as for the offsides, one was correctly blown dead because the DL had a clear shot at Rodgers.

As for the groundings, in both instances he was inside of the tackle box, thus was subject to an I.G. penalty...so you're right that Billick seemed a little confused...however, Billick was right on the criteria that should have trumped all on the 1st I.G. Rodgers threw in the vicinity of 2 wrs.

With that said, my green and gold glasses were probably influencing me to think the pass was closer to the wrs than it really was.

it's pretty sad when i was (somewhat) happy i didn't get the game this week. the announcers are seriously ruinin my enjoyment.

Why not just mute them and be done with it? Then you can have a conversation and no one's yelling at you to shut up. 😉

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IMO the first grounding shouldn't have been called. Yes he was on the edge of the tackle box but he threw the ball away over 2 WR and down field. If they want to consider this grounding, so should every time the ball is just chucked out the back of the endzone.

The blown dead play really was corrrect. It wasn't a quick whistle, it was a slow snap. Had they gotten the ball away quicker it wouldn't have been blown dead.

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I believe Clifton jumped a split second before the ball was snapped, so the call was correct.

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