Let's perform a thought experiment here. Let's say that everything presnap occurs exactly the same, except Allen instead announces 68 is eligible. After the snap, the Lions throw a TD pass to number 70.
We'd be having the exact same controversy. Except, people would be saying:
- How could he miss 70 reporting? He looked right at him!
- 70 has been reporting the same way all game, how could the ref screw it up at the end of the game??
That leads me to believe that it's not the process that bothers you, but instead the outcome.
The Lions even made their formation intentionally ambiguous in order to hide whether it was 70 or 68 who had reported and mask who was uncovered. 2 and
only 2 of the 3 circled players must be off the line of scrimmage. Which two is it?
Unedited here:
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/week-17.41403/post-5910638