I don’t have strong opinions about football rules like I do about basketball. I think my nitpick with last night’s game is that a 5-yard penalty also came with a free 1st down. Clock management is so critical late in the game that 1st downs shouldn’t be given out easily. 🏈
Buck ( Richard ) @manton A great point -- if it wasn't an automatic first down, it would dramatically reduce the, understandable, uproar about a call like that. As it stands now, a very subjective ticky tack call basically decided the championship for the whole season. It's just not good like this.
Brian Webster @manton Defensive holding is basically just pass interference before the ball leaves the QBs hand. If the first down weren’t part of the penalty, then DBs could abuse it to basically never allow a receiver to beat them deep.
