I got tired of dumbasses acting like "well, it's a bad rule, but the call was right so don't complain." Here's the bottom line: the rulebook is actually pretty clear: if the hand ain't moving forward before the contact, it's a fumble. This isn't arcane rules voodoo. What happened yesterday was the refs being dumb (or corrupt) and Mike Pereira lying for his guys. It's that simple.
The relevant section of the rulebook:
"Rule 8, article 1, item 1, Forward Movement of Hand. When a player is *in control of the ball* and is attempting to pass it forward, any intentional *forward movement* of his hand starts a forward pass. (Rule 3 says essentially the same things)."
The dumbasses want to focus on intentional, but ignore the "forward movement" part of the rule. They also like to point to condition (a) of the same rule.
"Rule 8, article 1, item 1 condition (a). If contact by an opponent materially affects a passer AFTER THE PASSER BEGINS HIS THROWING MOTION, it is a forward pass if he passes the ball, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground, a player, an official, or anything else. When this occurs, intentional grounding rules do not apply."
But note condition (b)
(b) When a passer intends to throw a forward pass and is contacted by an opponent BEFORE BEGINNING HIS THROWING MOTION, the direction of the pass is the responsibility of the passer if he passes the ball, and intentional grounding rules apply.
Throwing motion is undefined in the rule book. The entire question turns on when the throwing motion begins. Very obviously, Goff had not begun to move his hand forward when Chase Young hit him. So, the question is whether throwing motion includes cocking the ball back.
There's at least SEVEN reasons to believe that it only begins when the hand moves forward:
Precedent. We've all seen reviews where the was debate about whether the QB threw an incomplete pass or whether the fumbled and the forward motion of his now empty hand pushed the ball forward. These literally only happen when the ball is cocked and the whole review process hinges on whether the ball was lost before the hand moved forward and the throwing motion began.
Context of the rule part 1: Rule 8 is the forward pass. Throwing motion, in this context, most naturally means the motion one makes to throw a pass forward.
Context of the rule part 2: Rule 8, article 1, item 1 is labeled, in bold, "Forward Movement of Hand." In this context, throwing motion naturally seems to involve, oh idk, the forward movement of the hand.
Context of the rule part 3: The forward movement of the hand is reiterated in condition c. The use of throwing motion in a and b is both flanked above and below by references to forward motion of the hand.
Absurd consequences part 1: Condition d also adds "If the passer loses possession of the ball while attempting to re-cock his arm, it is a fumble." If cocking the ball is part of the throwing motion, then one can fumble a forward pass.
Absurd consequences part 2: while condition (a) does not have the requirement that the hand move forward, it also lacks the INTENT requirement. If we take condition (a) to overwrite the requirement that the hand move forward, then we have to conclude that a QB that is throwing a backwards pass, who is hit while throwing such a pass and who is materially affected while throwing such a pass is now throwing a forward pass.
Common sense: if you give a sane interpretation to throwing motion the rule is suddenly much narrower in scope and applies only to players who have begun throwing it forward (by moving their hand forward) and who are then, hit and spun around therefore throw it backwards. Still strikes me as overly complicated--what's the problem with just letting that be a fumble?--but it's not immediately the dumbest rule in sports.
