We have an expert in physics defending Wilson's pass

[Tech_God]

Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) | Twitter

 

[chf]

Nice find. And yeah, the commentators using the yard markers as reference points weren't taking into consideration momentum and deceleration.

 

[Uhsplit]

If you drop a football out of the window of a `57 Chevy going 60mph, the ball won't fall straight to the ground from the drop. It will travel past the drop point.

 

[uwdawgfan]

Dunno, when i watch replay Wilson clearly pitches ball backwards. Isnt that then considered a lateral , not a forward pass? I wonder if it would have been over turned?

 

[dkmightyhammer]

Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) | Twitter

lol. I just posted this in the game thread.

Now the league just needs to make a rule change to allow for Galilean Transformation during a lateral.

 

[MrS]

I think a review would have stood simply because when you watch it LOOKS like a lateral.

But by the spirit and letter of the law, it went forward

 

[chf]

Depends on how you interpret 'letter and spirit.'

the pitch was backward if you take into consideration the two MOVING elements (Wilson and Davis)

the pitch was forward if you only take into consideration the non moving elements (the yard markers).

 

[Dolemite censored]

Dunno, when i watch replay Wilson clearly pitches ball backwards. Isnt that then considered a lateral , not a forward pass? I wonder if it would have been over turned?

It probably would have been overturned based on the point of release and the point at which the ball was caught.

 

[chf]

It probably would have been overturned based on the point of release and the point at which the ball was caught.

Which is the wrong way to look at it, if you're taking physics into account. See:

 

[Cave_Johnson]

It probably would have been overturned based on the point of release and the point at which the ball was caught.

Yeah, it's really cut and dry when you get down to it. Ball left his hand at the Seattle 47 and was caught at the Seattle 48.

Nobody is ever going to call that a forward pass in real time, but if that had been reviewed it was a clear flag.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Also:

What the fuck Neil? Get off twitter and start working on my flying car.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

And just because I can't help it, let's play Jaden Smith or Neil deGrass Tyson.

"Sometimes I wonder if common sense is actually uncommon in the land. Maybe it's a rare commodity to be cultivated & cherished."

"We need to stop teaching the youth about the past and encourage them to change the future."

Good luck.

 

[MrS]

Depends on how you interpret 'letter and spirit.'

the pitch was backward if you take into consideration the two MOVING elements (Wilson and Davis)

the pitch was forward if you only take into consideration the non moving elements (the yard markers).

If wilson hadnt stopped and kept running ya it would look even more like a backward pass. However, it did in fact travel forward.

 

[MrS]

And just because I can't help it, let's play Jaden Smith or Neil deGrass Tyson.

"Sometimes I wonder if common sense is actually uncommon in the land. Maybe it's a rare commodity to be cultivated & cherished."

"We need to stop teaching the youth about the past and encourage them to change the future."

Good luck.

People give him far too much credit. Education and scientific knowledge does not erase ones inherent stupidity.

 

[TheDayMan]

The problem with his explanation is the field is the reference point, not the players.

 

[chf]

If wilson hadnt stopped and kept running ya it would look even more like a backward pass. However, it did in fact travel forward.

Not in relation to the two players involved though.

Wilson let go of the ball while he was moving. Him stopping after it left his hand had no bearing on whether the pass went 'backwards' or not.

 

[MrS]

No but visually its less convincing than if he had kept running full speed.

 

[Screamin12th]

by the letter of the law in the NFL Rule book yeah it was a forward pass. Had it been challenged it would have been over turned and the Hawks punt. But the thing is it looked so very much legal when it happened it allowed the Hawks to get off the next play.

No matter who you are, when you saw that play you were like Yep that went backwards lol. You saw the slow motion and said oh uh wait a minute thats real close but was it or wasn't It ? then we had to see it a couple times and by then the next play was started. So in the stats book it goes as a lateral and that's how it will now live on in History. Bout time we caught a break this season, i mean think about it lol.

 

[chf]

sadly the Eagle was going to rapidly decelerate him regardless.

 

[chf]

by the letter of the law in the NFL Rule book yeah it was a forward pass. Had it been challenged it would have been over turned and the Hawks punt. But the thing is it looked so very much legal when it happened it allowed the Hawks to get off the next play.

No matter who you are, when you saw that play you were like Yep that went backwards lol. You saw the slow motion and said oh uh wait a minute thats real close but was it or wasn't It ? then we had to see it a couple times and by then the next play was started. So in the stats book it goes as a lateral and that's how it will now live on in History. Bout time we caught a break this season, i mean think about it lol.

Courtesy USA today:

It is a forward pass if:

a. the ball initially moves forward (to a point nearer the opponent’s goal line) after leaving the passer’s hand(s); or

b. the ball first touches the ground, a player, an official, or anything else at a point that is nearer the opponent’s goal line than the point at which the ball leaves the passer’s hand(s).

c. When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his hand starts a forward pass.

So Snuggles was correct. The poorly written verbiage of the rule relies on the yard markers. Not sure how they'd re-write it, something to the effect of the positioning of the lateraler and laterallee.