Dolphins jobbed on Sharper's TD, replay

If you haven't seen the photo in Sports Illustrated that should fry your frank, here it is:

 
  
The photo clearly shows that Saints safety Darren Sharper fumbled  before he crossed the goal line in the third quarter of the Saints' 46-34 victory over Miami.

The play was ruled a touchdown in the third quarter of the game, cutting Miami's advantage from 24-10 to 24-17. Dolphins coach Tony Sparano threw a challenge flag. And he lost the challenge and a time out.

What's the point?

The point is this photo proves Sharper did not score. It further means the Dolphins should have gotten the ball at the 20 yard line after a touchback while still nursing a 24-10 lead.

Sparano was asked today if he saw the photo (by the way, if you want to see a bigger image, click on it).

"Yes," he said.

And his thoughts?

"No comment," the coach said after a pause, obviously not wanting to say anything that would incur a fine from the NFL.

You, however, are encouraged to comment.

Comments

[Po White Trash]

Goes to show, our team is way better than our record...

Next year the NFL better watch out!

[Amircas]

I was sure that was the case

Nothing to do about it now

[dolphinsfan]

i still have the hope we will have a better reacod than 5-11 .

[Jheintz]

I believe that best's fumble at the end of the half was wrong as well. His knee was clearly down before the ball came out. Changed the whole game. Brutal

[Mark in Toronto]

People, the Dolphins will still win at least 9 games, maybe not enough to make the playoffs but still respectable given we played a super tought schedule to obtain it. I'm proud of this team.

[Eddie]

Obviously this was a blown call... but if Ted Ginn, Jr. catches the Damn Ball none of this ever would have happened.

Kudos for Ted Ginn, Jr. on hustling to make the play on Sharper.

[Mac]

Jheintz, the ruling on the Bess fumble at the end of the half as you mentioned, was the correct call. At first I thought it was a bad call, but once I looked at the replay it clearly showed that the ball was not fully in his possession prior to his knee hitting the ground. There shouldn't be any uncertainty between this ref versus this one and so on. Makes you wonder how many refs in the league would have called the same exact play differently in both cases. Something needs to be done.

[Mac]

Teddy should have just knocked the ball down. If you don't want to catch it, then why let someone else? Wait a second...Ted has great closing speed, the intellect to know how to jar the ball looses and he can't catch. Man oh man, those are qualities for DB. Switch em up.

[Rdiorio75]

If we go 6-10 and 6-0 in our division, I will be satisfied.

[Account Deleted]

Oh you bet your ass I'll comment. That call and the the Bess "fumble" (his knee was down!) cost us the game. The one before the half gave them momentum that could've been taken back with the Sharper fumble but who knew the refs wanted the Saints to win. That's fourteen points on the board for the Saints and a possible 14 off the board for us! Damnit I was screaming about that the whole time we were in the live blog and no one said a word as if it never happened. I thought I was going crazy so I'm happy to see that picture. I KNEW IT and still can't get over it!

[Wnyphinphan]

12th man on the field always helps to make the other team out.

[gary skelton]

U cant tell me there is no politics in football. too much money involved and ratings and bla bla bla....

All the refs getting hit in the center of the field is justified IMO.

Hit those biased bastards!

[Hgmelendez]

Mac you forgot that Teddy is afraid of getting hit imagine if a running back is coming at him. He can't just run to the sideline if he is a DB maybe if he was a kicker. I sorry there are some tough kickers out there.

[Fin4ever]

What a shame. How about instant replay for the instant replay. What a joke these ref's are and somebody should investigate if these refs are betting on the games, (A ref in the NBA was doing it). As far as Ted Ginn, I have been doing my share of bashing the guy but he is but one of eleven plauyers on the field. Yes he bobbles balls and needs to step it up and be willing to put his body at risk, (thats one of the things they get paid for), considering that he ran Sharper down and forced him to fumble carries some weight to give him a break like Henning suggested. Ted's been crusified by the fans and maybe it's time for everyone to lighten up a little and stop kicking the guy while he is down.

Just my taxed .02

[AK FinFan]

How the F^#$&%*k did that Line Judge #107 miss that call!!

I think Tuna needs to step up and call bullsh-t then pay the fine, it's not like he can't afford it... They need to make a statement.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1346056649]

THE SAINTS ARE JUST AWESOME THIS YEAR. IT REALLY DOESNT MATTER "IF" OR "WHAT IF" OR WHATEVER, THE SAINTS WOULD HAVE PROBABLY SCORED AGAIN ANYWAY, AND WON THE GAME AS USUAL LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN DOING FOR EVERY SINGLE GAME THAT HAS BEEN PLAYED. THE DOLPHINS LOST. STOP WHINING...

[TedGinnFTW]

Guess what, I, like Henning, support Ginn. Guess who caused the fumble? Ha but he should be catchin balls not forcin fumbles lol

[Mac]

Neon Deon was also afraid of contact as a DB. Take em out by the legs Teddy.

[The cuban menace]

Where is Odinseye our Norse/Apache warrior, I fear he might have burnt down avillage and got incarcerated... Oden, Please post....

[Njphin champ]

hi,cuban

i miss you to,what are you wearing ?

[Calphin]

The NFL is doing a piss poor job of challenges. Still, the Dolphins blew it.

[Odinseye]

i am in the rest room cuban

[klndry]

We have had a lot of bad calls this year. Even against the Jets we had a few. So what. To beat the refs you win the game. They start giving you breaks. Ignore them and they start ignoring you. Bad break on Ginn but the guy shouldn't have had the ball in the first place.
And really, what are we supposed to do when a 12 million dollar guy can't catch. Show more support. This ain't the peewee league. And if there are better receivers then play them, if not play Ginn. But we no granma moses could have caught a lot of those passes. He has to look the ball into his hands. He doesn't need to hear the crowd. He doesn't need to worry about the opposition. He has to catch the ball.

[James]

Brian... you telling us to take a deep breathe..Ted Ginn is a joke...your comment is completely ridiculous !!

I've taken many deep breathes... it doesnt help..lol... 2-4 enough said !

[drsamii]

I don't know why everyone is shocked it was clear on the replay that day it was a touchback. The ball was out. It was also great how everyone chose to ignore, or simply missed that it was Ginn who in fact corrected his error by causing the fumble but the reffs screwed us and effed the call up. Then the Ginn beating went into overdrive. Bess did fumble, for the simple reason sharper fumbled: its not about the ball simply being in your hand...you have to demonstrate control for those who don't get it. If the ball moves in anyway that demonstrates that it is jarred loose by player contact indicating a lack of control its deemed a fumble...as close as it was, Bess did fumble. Sharpers fumble is inexcusable, it was blatant and that ball shot out as his foot broke the goal line...the ball was not near the goal line. We were indeed cheated on another score but it was the one before the half...when they said they scored when in fact he was tackled at the 1. I thought they were supposed to tick off the time to account for the screw up...then the bonehead timeout. BTW Marc, I had a comment for you in a prior post but I think you missed it.

[terrence]

If your need anymore evidence this game was rig...Check out the play that ended the game...Point spread was seven and we were down by 12 at the three and we got the clock play down with one second....but the referees said our wr wasn't set and the game is over....If you look at the tape the defense was running across the line when the ball was hiked...Should have been off sides..But oh well you have dumb ass people yelling about ted ginn...That game was taken from us because of gambling.

[Marc]

I did miss it, what was it?

[cuban menace]

Terrance, are you a conspiracy believer??

[edfinsfan]

Teddy still sucks. The Vet called and said his testicales have not ascended yet.

[Refs ruin games]

The NFL replay system is a friggin joke. So are the geriatric part-timers hey hire to officiate the games.

Multi billion dollar league hires clowns to ref. Unreal. And to not have every angle of that stadium manned with a camera in this day and age is shameful.

I hate sports.

[drsamii]

James, not that I need to defend Brian but yes take a deep breath b/c guess what there are more important things in life, than attacking other dolphin fans, bashing a dolphin player who still has some potential and calling a persons comments ridiculous with the justification for your comment being that its because we are 2-4. Guess what bud...season aint over...we hung with some tough teams and got hosed on some calls but guess what we were after 6 games last year James? Thats right 2-4. Marc, give me a sec, it easier if I just fine the blog and have you go to it...I'm not typing that again...lol

[drsamii]

Ok Mark It was the rehabilitation of Ted Ginn Jr, page 5 at approx. 11:27am. Its regarding D. Martin.

[Jpapp21]

Thanks Armando, appreciate the effort!!

Angry Fin Fan

[Dolphindenny]

Is that ginn making a play?

[channing crowder & akin ayodele]

yall crazy! go ahead and take that touchdown back from sharper and we still gonna find a way to lose as long as the super genius trifecta keeps puttin us on the field. dam when they gonna figure out they got a gigantic weakness in the middle

[NJPHIN champ]

the lowest IQ fans in the whole country are fin fans .you lost big and now every one is oo7 private eye .go jets

[imyahuckleberri]

Why are you backing Ginn up when he play so soft lets just go with this year alone. In the Indy the one where he short arms the ball in the endzone...punk. Then he steps outta bounce costing his team to run another play which lead to a timeout cause we was tackled in the field of play. But the last game drop was too much this kid was a wasted pick. Look at steve smith miles austin marcus cholstn guys that play all out. I pray ochocinco come here next year. No trades just play hard and get a back to replace ricky and sign chad ochocinco.

[kc]

ill bet any money if that was against commisioner godells buddy robert kraft and his patriots it woulda been overturned and ruled a touchback

[cuban menace]

KC, Absolutly hit the head on the number with that last comment...

[Hennething]

Just when I thought I had gotten over this...arghh I new it was a fumble!!! Refs are so one sided.

[IndianaDolfan]

I wonder how many posts Mando had to refuse to put on this board due to some bad words....BS CALL

[Long time Dolfan]

Hey Mando: Is that the same ref that missed the call in the first half and cost another touchdown??

[Tedginnfamily83]

The ref was right in front of the play he should be castrated look at ginn making up for the screw up. How did they not have a good angle on the replay?

[Dean]

That was a heck of a Hustle play by Ginn.. If you watch the tape he did an unbelievable job of coming back and stripping the ball. It kind of reminds me of Jordan getting the ball stolen and coming back a nd blocking the shot. Yeah it suck's he dropped it,but I think Ginn showed some heart on that play. Hey we beat him up when he does something wrong we have to give credit where credit is due..

[Colorado Fin Fan]

Was that Ed Hoculi? Refs have a primary goal - make sure the right team wins not the one that plays better on that day. NO is the "IT" Team of th emoment and the refs were there to make certain they came out still undefeated. NFL - No F_CK with us League

[Colorado Fin Fan]

I mean really - the stupid ref is leaning right into the play to make sure he misses the call - what a joke

[Dean]

Also in defense of the ref's I saw all the view's on tv. none really gave any clear perception an the angle. they didn't have the benefit of that photo, theyonly had what was available and I thought the angle was not enough to overturn the call on the field. Hindsight's 20/20... trust me I love the fins

[IndianaDolfan]

They did have good angle on play. They did 3D pose on the ball and goaline at a paused state when the ball was out and it was before the goaline and the review piece of crap official did not overturn the play. WTF?

[Steve in Lake City]

Jets Suck- I agree entirely. This has been a horrible season for the Dolphins are getting more than their share of BS calls. Game after game they are getting screwed atleast a couple of times. I don't know that it would change the outcome but still, it sucks.

If coaches can't speak about their feelings regarding calls for fear of getting fined, maybe fine the officials for making poor calls. I'm just saying...

[Ironside]

This irks me!

Thank you for posting this, but I called it already.

Then there was that touchdown that was called in the first half with 5 seconds left on the clock and the Saints out of timeouts. Had the officials got that call right from the start the clock would have ran down to 0 and the half would have ended at 24-3 Miami.

That's 14 points the Saints scored because of bad calls by the refs, in a game they won by 12.

That's how the Miami Dolphins lost a game that they won!

[drsamii]

Yeah, Dean, Indiana is correct. You didnt need an angle. The best view during that day was when they show the tip of Darren Sharpers foot touching the goaline and his body is clearly not over the goal but the ball is getting punched out. The ball is not in his possession as it goes across the goal line. It was clear on replay. Great hustle Ted

[Marc]

Dr. I agree that David Martin had a few flashes last year, and I can remember one play in particular where Penny hung the ball on him and he got destroyed, but, his body of work was far from impressive. I mostly remember dropped passes...Fasano has regressed far more severely than I could have imagined. I suppose "You get what you pay for"

[Akarojo]

I F@CKN KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!

[Akarojo]

Did anybody see the Miami dolphins on south park last night?! Hillarious!!!!

[drsamii]

If you want go one step further...look at the picture above...the left foot is the one that is going to touch the goal line first the other leg (as a result of Ted knocking the ball down) launches the ball, before he crosses the goaline.

[Tedginnfamily83]

Miami dolphins on south park? Are u serious ?

[Marc]

F'wauk yua Dolfins! LMAO...

[Alto.]

This is an example of a bad call - kind of reminds me of the "broken replay booth" with Devon Bess earlier in the game that went our way. That play does not erase 20 pts to our 0 scored by the Saints in the 4th qtr. We lost the game - now lets focus on sweeping the Jets - hope the jets studied the wildcat and get it shoved down their throats all the way through the endzone!!

[drsamii]

Yeah, Marc, I agree. Before last year I could have done without him, but for some reason he and Fasano were a great 1-2 punch last year, by themselves they are sooo disappointing. Like I said, maybe b/c they were scared they were gonna get cut.

[Genothefox]

NFL should require shoulder cameras at all 4 pylons at all times- this happens a handful of times a year, fumbles, down by contact, spiking the ball too early... Ect..... It's a billion dollar league, no reason not to get these calls right just because the play originated elsewhere, that was a game changing play! For both sides! & IT WAS OBVIOUS! Unreal