Dallas vs Buffalo MNF: why was there only 2 seconds taken away?

Question

Terrell Owens' dropped the pass after the Cowboys got the onside kick. The refs only took two seconds off of the clock for that. It seemed like Tony Romo had more time to throw to TO than 2 seconds. I'm curious did someone on the field have a stop watch to actually say "that play actually only lasted two seconds?" How did they know to take off two seconds off the clock?

Thanx to a website someone gave me, it looks like it was five seconds they took. Looks like Dallas fans are conveniently being rude as usual, but one of the answerers so far said something about a piece of paper saying how many seconds to take off? 2 seconds or 5 seconds, am I the only one who missed the piece of paper the ref had that said exactly how many seconds to take off? I just want to know-how did the ref KNOW how many to take off? No one's perfect so if this paper thing/theory turns out to be correct, then obviously, I'm wrong, if no one else saw it, well, looks like that person made it up. if any of you continue to be rude well and try to make me look bad, I'm not going to apologize that I'm not as perfect as Dallas fans who act like they're all high and mighty (you're as bad as New York Yankees fans!).

Answer 1

Check your facts - they took FIVE seconds off the clock, not the two that you're incorrectly remembering.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay?game_id=29270&displayPage=tab_play_by_play&season=2007&week=REG5

Answer 2

Others have correctly pointing out that they took 5 seconds off the clock after the incomplete pass.

But some people have asked about the 2 second taken off after the onside kick. Here is the explanation.

By rule the clock does not restart on a kickoff (including an onside kick) until the ball is touched and brought in play. That means the clock did not start until the ball hit Hurd's helmet. Two seconds passed from the moment it hit Hurd's helmet to the moment it was downed by Curtis.

Answer 3

The play clock went from 18 seconds to 13 seconds after the incomplete pass to TO. It was the onside kick that only took 2 seconds and remember the clock does not start until the ball is touched on a kickoff so 2 seconds was probably pretty close in that scenerio.

Answer 4

I'm pretty sure they took two seconds off the clock during the onside kick, not on the pass play. The game clock went from 18 to 13 after the incomplete pass.

Answer 5

When they reviewed the catch in the booth they also reviewed the time to take off the clock. They're very accurate about those seconds and time to take off the clock/put back on. If you paid close attention the referee left the booth with a small peice of paper outlining exactly how much time was used during the incomplete pass.

Answer 6

Why didn't they call pass interference on the Bills during the two point conversion. Or holding on the runback by McGee. The game is over and the Cowboys won. The Bills had just as many chances to put the game away as the Cowboys had to win it.

Answer 7

Funny how you conveniently fail to mention how the cowboys ran another play so it should not reviewed at all. Dallas spiked the ball it was not reviewable, still thx to a great Rookie kicker named Folk Dallas prevailed three times.

Answer 8

I noticed that, too. It was actually only 2 seconds off the clock for the onside kick. That should have been at least 4 seconds. If that would have been correct, the Cowboys would have lost.

Answer 9

That was a bad call, no question. The 5 yard penalty after a horse collar and a late hit was also a bad call. Overall, though the bills still cant blame anyone but themselves they let it get away.

Answer 10

Cause Buffalo is a jobber of a team, and the NFL knows they'll make more money off the 'Boys, than the Bills in the Superbowl!