‘ The Buc Rule ’ : Tom Brady Benefits From Ref ’ s Ruling On Play Reminiscent Of Tuck Rule

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston BOSTON (CBS) — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Tom Brady benefited from a questionable decision regarding a fumble in the pocket. No, the stakes on Monday night were not quite what they were some 19 years ago on a snowy night in Foxboro, but when referee Jerome Boger quickly ruled that Brady’s arm was moving forward before losing the ball in his own end zone, every football fan’s mind immediately ventured back to the infamous Tuck Rule. In this instance, Brady dropped back to pass into his own end zone, desperately seeking to make something happen on a third-and-15 from the Tampa Bay 8-yard line. The Rams’ pass rush crowded his space in the rapidly shrinking pocket, and Morgan Fox reached out and grabbed Brady at the elbow. Brady tried to deliver his pass, but the ball dribbled out of the end zone. The Rams quickly recovered the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown, but referee Jerome Boger had immediately blown the play dead, ruling that it was an incomplete pass. The umpire, standing on the other side of the formation in the end zone, threw down his blue marker, indicating that he believed it was a fumble. In live motion, it looked like an obvious fumble, and officials have generally allowed those plays to be completed on the field before blowing the play dead. Yet Boger ruled quickly that it was an incomplete pass and not a fumble, thus killing the Rams’ chances of turning it into a touchdow...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: NFL Patriots Sports Syndicated Sports Jerome Boger Los Angeles Rams Michael Hurley Sports News Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady Source Type: news