Did you really think the New England Patriots and New York Jets would walk away from their Week 7 showdown without some form of controversy?
Patriots defensive tackle Chris Jones blocked Jets kicker Nick Folk’s 58-yard field goal attempt as time expired Thursday night to seal New England’s 27-25 win at Gillette Stadium. It was a sweet moment for Jones, whose overtime penalty against the Jets in Week 7 last season cost the Patriots a victory.
But did the officials go too far in helping the Patriots avoid a penalty this time? That’s the question being tossed around in various crevices of the Internet.
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Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower approached the line of scrimmage and very briefly stood over Jets long snapper Tanner Purdum just before the ball was snapped on the final play. Dom Cosentino of NJ.com wrote following the game that this would have been, by rule, a five-yard penalty if the Jets snapped the ball with Hightower in that position. Instead, however, an official intervened and grabbed Hightower’s arm, causing the linebacker to quickly move.
“What happened Thursday night seemed to be active intervention on the part of an official to prevent what, by rule, should have been a penalty,” Cosentino wrote while comparing Thursday’s situation to Jones’ 2013 penalty. “Had Hightower stayed where he was, inside the shoulder pads of Purdum, Rule 9-1-3(a) calls for a five-yard penalty for illegal formation: ‘When Team A presents a punt, field-goal, or Try Kick formation, a Team B player, who is within one yard of the line of scrimmage, must have his entire body outside the snapper’s shoulder pads at the snap.’”
The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin also was a bit curious when the topic came up Friday morning.
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It’s time to chill out, though. Apparently, this happens quite frequently. Most fans just don’t realize it because it usually doesn’t coincide with a game-winning block.
“It is a standard officiating procedure that occurs regularly,” league spokesman Greg Aiello told NJ.com in an email. “In fact, it is on (vice president for officiating) Dean Blandino’s video that went to the teams (Thursday) and will be on the version of it that goes to the media today. That rule was adopted for player safety purposes, another good reason to help avoid violations in advance.”
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Either way, people are talking, which is to be expected from a Patriots-Jets game.
