The Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs went at it during “Sunday Night Football,” which ended with a resounding 30-17 victory for the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Early in the game, the Lions seemed to pull of a beautiful, 1-yard trick play for a touchdown on the opening drive. On fourth-and-goal, Lions quarterback Jared Goff put the team into a Wildcat formation, and running back David Montgomery took the snap and quickly threw the ball to Goff.
From there, Goff caught the ball on his second try and ran into the end zone for what looked like a go-ahead touchdown and an impressive trick play. But the score was nullified with an illegal motion penalty.
The officials talked about it and ruled that Goff didn’t pause after motioning out from under center. He just ran to the goal, which, according to the rules, is illegal motion.
After the game, Goff said that “he and many coaches had never heard of the rule that nullified his TD catch. He was under the impression that he would be fine as long as he didn’t put his hands under center,” according to Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News.
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“I’ve never heard this, because of how close I was to the center, that declares I’m the quarterback,” he said, per Bianchi. “If that is the rule, I guess we need to do a little more research.”
NBC’s rules analyst Terry McAulay explained the nuances of the incident during the game broadcast, and Lions fans were obviously confused and upset.
“He takes a position behind the center. He’s got to step back and pause for a second and establish as a back before he goes in motion,” McAulay said. “He didn’t. He stayed in motion.”
McAulay’s analysis appears in Rule 7, Section 4, Article 2, Item 3 of the NFL’s official rulebook.
“It is legal for a T-Formation Quarterback to go in motion, whether he has placed his hands under center, on his knees, or on the body of the center,” the rulebook states. “However, it is a false start if the action is quick and abrupt. If the player fails to come to a complete stop for at least one full second prior to the ball being snapped, it is illegal motion.”
So, even though the refs got it right, the whole chain of events was a confusing turn of events.
