It’s understandable if no one knew what was going on when Chris Jones was flagged for pushing a Patriots defender on the Jets’ overtime field goal. It was the first time the new rule was called this season.
Jones already admitted he did not know the rule, nor did he know what was going on when the flag was thrown. It appears Bill Belichick didn’t fully know the rule either.
Rule 913 states:Â Team B players cannot push teammates on the line of scrimmage into offensive formation.
“You can’t push from the second level, but I don’t think we did that,” Belichick said.
As stated above, the rule doesn’t say anything about a player from the second level. It’s possible the NFL was not clear when they informed teams about the new rule. But it’s understandable that a player does not know a new rule if his coach appeared to misinterpret it, as well. Belichick argued with referees after the flag was thrown.
To add to the confusion, NFL.com had previously written the rule wrong in a story on its website.
Photo of NFL story prior to 630 before phrase "not on the line of scrimmage at the snap" was edited out. pic.twitter.com/yWebD5UpMT
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) October 20, 2013
Check out a video of Belichick’s post-game press conference here.
