KSpan

Halfway through. I assume everyone has wondered, at some point or another, why we do this to ourselves.

But what about The Brand?

You either retain him as the guy of choice based on what you see this season (doesn't have to be wins per se, just solid ongoing progress like the offense showed in Atlanta) or you move on and select a coach. There can't be a 2-season 'tryout'.

Yup, and this is one of the primary barometers for Wilks. Wins are nice but did the team show steady improvement and development during his time? If so, it's perhaps even more impressive since his staff was not chosen by him and he seemingly had zero prep time before stepping into the role.

Point being that there was no misunderstanding of the rules in his case, the helmet was coming off regardless. Unfortunately, it was done in an area with risk of drawing a flag and that's what happened.

I remember Carolina getting skewered for taking a few sideline pictures and having fun back in 2015. Then this somehow became a thing in 2017 or so and now it's just annoying.

The debate will swirl around Moore but Stephen Sullivan took his helmet off as well, and it sure appeared to be within the boundaries. While I'm of the opinion Moore should have left his helmet on and that he's responsible for the outcome, I'm inconsistency in officiating is a huge pet peeve and it raises questions that Moore was flagged but Sullivan not for the same thing at the same time in the same place. Here's Sullivan during the play, lower left corner: And then during the celebration:

Something lost in all of this ayway is that Stephen Sullivan pretty clearly took his helmet off within the boundaries. He was, for whatever reason, playing in that final snap; the first shot is a bit blurry, but that's him in the lower left. The controversy about Moore will brew but Sullivan also appears to be in violation, even if it wasn't officially called.

Eh, he showed improvement once Pasqualoni came on board. While this year did technically fall somewhat under Rhule, I'm not giving him any credit since Brown regressed hard last year and it took actual NFL caoches to turn him around.

Amazing what having actual NFL coaching will do for a player.

Your statement is incorrect - he started taking his helmet off in the end zone, screenshot below. And where did I ever say anything about not being allowed to celebrate/show emotion?

You have nothing to support such a conclusion, and if you do then it would be interesting to see.

Exactly what I was going to respond with. Arm strength ain't everything, but it is a tremendous advantage.

We've seen the Teddy Bridgewater experiment firsthand and laughed as Brees failed year after year once his average at best arm strength wanted circa 2013. Have to have ample amounts of both.

The defense giving up 30 (plus the pick 6) deserves plenty of blame as well. Scoring 34 in the NFL should be a win.

I just don't have any sympathy here. He was in the process of taking it off in the end zone as soon as he stood up in the end zone and it came off in the white; if he's a yard closer to the goal line this is all a moot point since it would have been entirely in the end zone. Gotta be more disciplined than that, and I'm confident he and the team will (not so sure about the NFL though). It's not lost on me that the kicker missed a field goal earlier and should have made the kick anyway. This isn't on DJ exclusively by any means, and I daresay that the penalty was even fairly minor. An NFL kicker should make at least one of those two.

Please... DJ was not thinking about the field or wording of a rule when the helmet came off. This argument is ludicrous. Helmet stays on, flag doesn't get thrown. It's that simple and the team will learn from it. Hell, might make DJ even more fiery.

It's always been called this way, if inconsistently, and he sure wasn't thinking about a rule when he did it. Was a dumb thing to do and he lost the flag roulette. Is what it is. I'm a major DJ supporter. Guy just made a mistake that cost the team. It happens.

Diggs took his helmet off after he scored just like Moore and just like Cam last year. From the NFL rule book, screenshot below, this is a penalty, full stop. You are wrong.

Yeah, you're right. Sounds like that changed in 2019 in exactly the way you describe, as before that it was always applied on the kickoff.

It absolutely was a penalty and always has been since the rule was instituted. Hell, They even flagged Diggs for throwing his helmet after the Minnesota miracle vs the Saints but picked it up given the circumstances. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/15/stefon-diggs-helmet-throw-would-have-mattered-only-if-time-was-left-on-the-clock/ However, this article also states that the penalty would apply to the kickoff rather than the extra point try and that was my understanding as well, so the rule was either misapplied or the article was wrong.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, 2001 style, with another creative way to lose.

Seriously? Knew the dude was a pretentious douche but this is the first time I ever recall hearing something like this.