“Technically, what Belichick suggested is legal. [Referee Bill] Vinovich OK’d it. But the key to the plan was what Belichick did not say. He did not say he would hurry up his offense when he declared certain receivers ineligible, giving the Ravens no time to adjust to the tactic. The Ravens barely had time to see who was eligible before the ball was snapped. The officials couldn’t even get into proper position. They allowed the ball to be snapped too quickly.”
This is simply false. I was at the game; I presume Rosenberg was not. Had Rosenberg actually been at this game and known what he was talking about, he would not have written this inaccurate description of what took place. (Oh, who am I kidding? He would have written the inaccurate description no matter what.)
Despite John Harbaugh’s complaints, and despite Rosenberg’s assessment, the Patriots did not run a hurry-up on the drive when they swapped out a lineman for a running back or tight end. Instead, Josh Kline jogged to the sidelines, and Shane Vereen jogged on. Vereen approached the referee, declared himself ineligible, the referees announced it, the Patriots huddled and then went to the line. The ineligible receiver had been announced; the Ravens weren’t smart enough to leave him alone. Instead, they left Michael Hoomanawanui (a very eligible receiver) wide open. The play was so successful that the Patriots ran it two more times — once with Hoomanawanui as the ineligible guy, and once more with Vereen.
On the second time Vereen was used as the ineligible receiver, Vinovich actually announced, “Number 34 has been declared ineligible. Do not cover number 34.” The referee actually told the defense which player they shouldn’t cover. Yet the Ravens still covered him!
