Welcome to Art of Officiating’s “Weekly Dozen”, comprising plays through September 20th. These videos are from Colorado games, so I’ll reference the Colorado 5-person mechanics manual and Colorado rules interpretations and modifications. Please consult your state’s mechanics manual and rules interpretations if I say something that doesn’t match what you do in your state. I’ve collected more than a dozen clips for this week’s video and want to incorporate a few theme discussions.
1 – We’ll start this week’s video with a few formation issues. As Team A breaks the huddle, let’s focus on A0, the player closest to the head linesman. He approaches the line and indicates to the linesman he is in the backfield. The line judge is punching back to indicate his widest receiver is in the backfield. The linesman waves his arm twice to indicate the two widest players on his side are in the backfield. There are three additional players in the backfield; so there are a total of 5 Team A players in the backfield.
Illegal formation is a foul at the snap. It’s not in the Colorado mechanics manual, but one method a wing can use to visually indicate to the opposite wing I will throw a flag at the snap is to demonstratively tap the flag on his belt. That is a clear way to tell the opposite wing, “I have more than four players in the backfield, I’m going to sky my flag at the snap.” The punch line is we want a flag from both wings for an illegal formation.
We only get one flag, but I like how the linesman skies his flag. I often see wings that just pull the flag out of their belts and drop it on the ground. In my opinion, that provides almost no value. We throw a flag so players, coaches, fans, and our crewmates can see we have a foul. If we just toss it on the ground from chest or waist level, we’re not creating the intended effect. Sky the flag high enough for others to see it.
We do have a forward progress spot. The linesman must clearly mark the spot and then ensure the umpire or wing takes the spot before reporting the foul to the referee. The coach will undoubtedly decline the penalty for the illegal formation foul and take the result of the play. The spot where the flag landed doesn’t matter, so the wing doesn’t need to reposition it.
This is a running play, so Team A could legally put as many players on the line as they’d like, but hypothetically, let’s say this turned into a passing play with the ball crossing the neutral zone. How can Team A maximize the number of eligible receivers? In our hypothetical passing play, which player should have been on the line? A0 on the left side of the formation, or A5 on the right side?
To answer that question, look for the position of the tight end. In most passing play formations with a tight end on the line, the player to the outside of the tight end will be in the backfield. The player outside the ineligible linemen will be on the line.
That’s why observing pregame warmups is so important. Don’t just stand around visiting. Look at formations and try to remember player numbers. A44 is the tight end, so look for his position when he comes to the line. If he’s on my side as a wing, I look to see if he’s uncovered or covered. If he’s covered, I’m anticipating a running play. Or, if it’s a passing play, we need to make sure he doesn’t range beyond the expanded neutral zone. If he’s uncovered, I need to determine if he’s my key on a passing play and then I need to make sure a linebacker does not hold him as he begins his passing route.
2 – We have at least three fouls on this play, but only one is flagged.
There are five players in the backfield. If they don’t fix this at the snap, that’s the first foul.
A5 goes in motion. Rule 7-2-7 says A5’s motion cannot be toward his opponent’s goal line. We want to give as much grace as possible, but his motion is on the A-25, and he’s on the A-26 when the ball is snapped. That’s too much to ignore. The linesman can shut this down as a false start, or the line judge can flag this as illegal motion. (In Colorado, if an offensive player goes in motion, the wing he is moving away from has responsibility, even though the player may subsequently change direction. I know that’s different than in some states.)
Let’s now look at this matchup between A0 and B25. I see obvious restriction by B25 as A0 attempts to move back toward the ball. If that restriction exclusively happens before the quarterback releases the ball, the foul would be holding. If the restriction also occurs while the ball is in the air, it is now defensive pass interference. I think we also see playing through the receiver.
Once again, and we saw this in the last Weekly Dozen video, let’s get the coaches out of the restricted area. Our presnap routines must include looking in the coaches’ area to ensure it’s clear. If we see coaches in that 2-yard area, we need to call to the coaches to move back.
3 – This is a swinging gate formation. Our swinging gate positioning and movement must be reviewed in the locker room pregame.
In Colorado, when Team A lines up in the swinging gate, the wings remain on the line of scrimmage. If Team A is in a scrimmage kick formation, the umpire backs up under the upright opposite the back judge.
We’ve stated many times in previous videos, trick plays must be perfect. A13 shifts to the right side. Does his head or foot break the imaginary plane through the waist of the snapper? I think it does. He’s a lineman.
A31 snaps the ball and runs into the end zone. He is ineligible because he wasn’t at the end of the scrimmage line at the snap.
So he’s guilty of being ineligible downfield, and he’s guilty of illegal touching.
Let’s say we had a flag on this play for those two fouls and let’s say A31 caught the pass. Rule 8-3-4 says if during a successful try, a loss of down foul by A occurs, there is no score and no replay. Rule 10-1-6 says, illegal touching of a forward pass by an ineligible includes loss of the right to replay the down.
The pass was incomplete, so the outcome was the same.
4 – I’m now going to share a series of 5 consecutive plays from the same game. The crew worked together well to properly adjudicate each event.
It starts with a roughing the passer foul on a play that resulted in a touchdown by Team A. B5’s foul was not a timing problem. B5 wrapped up A4 immediately after he released the pass. The slam to the turf is the action that drew a flag from the referee and the umpire.
Team A scored a touchdown and Team A’s head coach elected to enforce the penalty for B5’s foul on the subsequent kickoff. We can find that option in Rule 8-2-2.
Team K snaps the ball on the R-3. Following the successful kick, the umpire observes R66 throw an uppercut punch to the gut of left tackle K54’s unmentionables. R66 makes a beeline toward his sideline. The officiating crew disqualified R66 from the game.
Team K’s head coach now gets a second choice. Rule 8-3-5 says he can choose to enforce the penalty for R66’s foul half the distance to the goal and replay the down, or he can accept the result of the play and enforce the penalty from the succeeding spot. The coach chose the latter.
15 yards plus 15 yards equals thirty yards. Thirty yards in advance of the K-40 is the R-30.
Notice the linesman and line judge are both on Team K’s restraining line. It’s optional to place the umpire, who is out of the picture on the R-10 on the press box side, on the R-30 opposite the back judge.
K4 drives the ball directly into the ground and it goes in the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee. This is a pop-up kick and the ball is immediately dead. The referee recognizes the foul and blows his whistle and throws a flag. I communicated with the back judge. He said he tossed his flag to back up the referee.
If you see a foul, toss your flag. Don’t throw a flag because a crewmate throws his flag and you want to add another flag to back up the call. Since the referee killed the play and tossed his flag, it’s okay to leave your flag in your pocket.
What do you think of this block? I think it’s unnecessary. One may argue it was close enough to the referee’s whistle that R58 didn’t have time to hold up. That’s a valid opinion. I do think it’s above the shoulders. As I’ve said in previous videos, I’m trying to be more aware of helmet to helmet hits or hits above the shoulders.
After enforcing the penalty for the pop-up kick, we now have a second free kick, this time from the R-35. The umpire is now positioned on Team K’s restraining line.
This time, the ball goes out of bounds on the R-6. I’d like the umpire to stay focused on the players behind the ball. The line judge and referee can handle the ball out of bounds. There are still quite a few players located upfield that need to be observed.
Let’s systematically talk through the kick out of bounds.
K7 blocks R11 in the back. Is that block a foul? Rule 9-3-5b says a player shall not block an opponent in the back except when attempting to reach a runner or catch or recover a loose ball which he may legally touch or possess. By rule, K7 may block R11 in the back to recover the free kick.
It looks like a Team K player touched the ball before it went out of bounds untouched by R11. It doesn’t matter if it touched a Team K player first or not. It’s a foul in both cases.
Team R has three penalty enforcement options. The first is to move Team K back 5 yards and rekick. The second is to add 5 yards to the succeeding spot…they will snap the ball from the R-11. Team R will never select the third option, but it’s worth mentioning. Team R has the option to take the ball at the inbounds spot 25 yards beyond the previous spot. This would place the ball on the R-10.
Therefore, the coach has two options: Have Team K free kick the ball from the R-40 or take the ball on the R-11.
They chose the former. On the third consecutive free kick, K4 boots the ball through the end zone.
This sequence of five clips reinforces the requirement to carefully study the Rules Book, especially the rules covering fouls on scoring plays, and fouls during free and scrimmage kicks.
5 – Speaking of free kicks, the free kick is the perfect opportunity for headhunters to pick out a target to punish. That’s why we need to remind ourselves to look off ball if the runner is not our responsibility. Following the kick, the line judge needs to move 10-15 yards downfield. This will put him in a good place to view blocks in the typical free kick contact zone.
R58 lines up K51 and delivers a blindside block. If he uses his hands, this is not a foul.
R58 says, I got away with it once, let’s try it again. This was not flagged.
The umpire locks in on a matchup between R80 and K21. I don’t like this flag for holding. There may be restriction, but it’s not at the point of attack. The runner is at the opposite side of the field. It’s not a takedown or a completely heinous hold, so I think we need to leave that alone.
Oh, and you may have noticed, we have a two-fer on this play. R15 blindside blocks K3 and the referee throws a flag.
The penalty for the blindside block was enforced half the distance to the goal from the spot of the foul.
6 – Let’s go back to the game that has provided outstanding teaching points.
The ball is snapped from the A-41. The line judge throws a flag for holding on A15. I’m not sure this screams enough to warrant a flag, but we now have one on the field.
B4 rips the ball out of A30’s grasp before he hits the ground. The line judge starts to come onto the field. There is no reason to close down on these players. We are conditioned to move onto the field when the ball is dead. But when the players are at the numbers, we shouldn’t move closer. We need to maintain a cushion to the players so we can watch them get up and separate.
B11 picks up the ball and begins to run. Behind the play, A15 drives B4 into the ground.
As an aside, the home team’s #4 plays a part in each of these clips. He was the quarterback who was roughed to start the sequence of plays. He was the kicker during the try and the subsequent free kicks. And now he is the player who gets fouled on this play. Okay, back to the clip.
Here are a series of teaching points that follow the fumble and scoop.
The line judge needs to hustle down the sideline and follow the runner. The back judge is responsible for looking at the players behind the play. We don’t see a flag from the back judge, which is troublesome, but that’s not the point. The line judge has a responsibility to track the runner, B11. He is not responsible to stand at the spot of the fumble recovery.
Who judges if or where B11 goes out of bounds? I think the referee made a best guess.
Next, the line judge needs to bring two flags onto the field. It’s rare, but we need to be prepared to throw two flags on a single play. It’s not a correct mechanic to throw our hat to indicate a foul.
Next, the line judge needs to be precise when he reports his two fouls to the referee. He needs to tell the referee the holding foul was prior to Team B’s possession, and the unnecessary roughness foul was after Team B’s possession. Team B will decline the penalty for the holding foul, and will enforce the penalty for the personal foul from the end of the run.
Finally, take a look at B13’s uniform. The good ‘ol play card on the belt trick. That’s sometimes hard to detect. When we see it, we send that player off to get it fixed. We don’t flag the player or the coach.
7 – Here are a few quick clips to remind us it is a facemask foul when a player grasps the helmet opening. Great job by both line judges to recognize and flag this foul.
The runner is downed on the A-22. Notice the linesman does a great job mirroring the forward progress spot when the line judge has to leave that spot to deal with the action at the A-15.
The line judge and referee chose not to flag A15 for throwing B2 to the ground. A15 and B2 were spinning each other at the tail end of the play and A15 got the best of that action. I could support a flag on that play.
8 – This formation is unbalanced to the linesman’s side. The linesman’s passing play initial responsibility or key is A15.
On passing plays, with 5-person mechanics, wings need to remain on the line of scrimmage until their keys move more than 10 yards downfield.
A15 cuts toward the sideline only 2 yards downfield, and the linesman is already 3 yards downfield. He’s 7 yards downfield before he stops.
B26 shoves A15 in the back before A5 releases the ball. This is illegal use of hands, but it is undetected because the linesman is not focused on his passing play key.
This is a pretty obvious foul to miss, emphasizing the need to recognize passing play keys before the snap, stay on the line of scrimmage, and anticipate fouls.
9 – Here’s an interesting play to close out the Weekly Dozen. Team K is attempting a field goal from the R-28.
Rule 9-2-3b says a defensive player may not use his hands to add momentum to the charge of a teammate who is on the line of scrimmage. This is similar to Rule 9-1, Helping the Runner, but it’s related to defensive players. It’s hard to see what happens after the snap, but the umpire needs to focus on this player if he sees his hands on his teammate’s backside. If the umpire flags R0 for this foul, it would not meet PSK enforcement criteria as the foul is in the expanded neutral zone. The 10-yard penalty would be enforced from the previous spot.
But the umpire did not toss a flag, so let’s continue.
The kick is low and is blocked at the line of scrimmage. R5 picks up the ball. Kudos to the officiating crew! They all realized the ball was still live. There was no reason to kill this play. Eventually, enough people yelled at R5 to get him running.
Would you have flagged K1 for a Horsecollar tackle? It appears he grabbed the back of the jersey or the nameplate area and pulled the runner sideward to the ground.
The kicking game can provide all kinds of surprises.
That’s your weekly dozen for games through September 20, 2025. Thanks for watching!
If you encounter any interesting plays during your season, I’d love to see them. You can send them to me at contact@artofofficiating.com.