Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Shanahan Under Review, Apologizes (UPDATE)

UPDATE @ 11:36 PM

The Redskins have been informed by the NFL that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is being fined $25,000 for his profanity laced tirade toward to the officials during and after the game this past Sunday against the Bengals. Rich Tandler has the full story here.

Shanahan went forth with his tirade after the officials nearly wrongfully ended the game by running ten seconds off the clock when it was supposed to be (they ended up putting time back on the clock). Shanahan was also irate when he was penalized 20-yards for being on the field and yelling at the officials. Meanwhile, the Bengals, as a team, had taken the field to celebrate because they thought they had won the game. They, however, did not receive any penalties.

After screaming at the refs on the field, Shanahan then chased them into the tunnel to finish off his rant. Kyle Shanahan, the son of head coach Mike Shanahan, the issued an apologetic statement on Monday.

Follow the blog on Twitter @SkinnyOnSports and on Facebook by searching The Skinny On Sports!!

Source: CSN Washington

------------------------------------END UPDATE---------------------------------------------------------------

At the end of the Redskins game against the Bengals, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was assessed a 20-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for coming onto the field and yelling at a referee. The NFL is currently in the process of reviewing the actions of Shanahan to decide whether or not further discipline is needed.

For more details, read Mark Maske's full report on the matter. Shanahan did make a written statement yesterday saying that his "...emotions got the best of me and I know that's my responsibility. This will never happen again."

In order to better understand what happened on Sunday to bring about the 20-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, let's go right to that situation.

With seven seconds left, the clock was stopped for a normal reason. Prior to the snap, tight end Fred Davis false started. Usually, that would result in a ten second run off on the game clock and that would end the game. However, since the clock was stopped until the snap, there is no clock runoff.

The entire Bengals bench thought that there was a ten second runoff and therefore thought that the game was over. They all ran off the sideline and celebrated on the field.

Shanahan was then discussing with the officials that the game is not over and that there is no ten second runoff. The penalty was then called on Shanahan for being on the field and shouting at the officials. Which ironic, seeing as how the Bengals as a team were on the field behind the referees.

Shanahan then ran with the officials into the tunnel and was reportedly shouting expletives at them. The NFL is reviewing the actions of Shanahan, as well as a number of other coaches, to see if further action is needed.

Shanahan, at most, will get a fine. I find it hard to believe that the NFL will suspend him. He never touched an official, he simply yelled at them and had good reason. There is no such thing as a 20-yard penalty in the NFL and the entire Bengals team had taken the field while the chaos between the Redskins and the officials was going on.

This is the second straight week in which the Redskins have been negatively affected by the officials in the final moments of the game. Last week, the Redskins were flagged 15-yards after Josh Morgan threw the football at Cortland Finnegan. Finnegan had been playing dirty the entire game and the officials never called a penalty on him.

Yet again, the officials have been the center of attention this week in the NFL. Hopefully, the feud between the regular refs and the NFL will be settled soon although most reports would say otherwise.

In terms of Kyle Shanahan, a fine is likely the worst that he'll get. The NFL doesn't have enough evidence stacked against him to warrant a suspension.


Follow the blog on Twitter @SkinnyOnSports and on Facebook by searching The Skinny On Sports!!

Source: Washington Post

No comments:

Post a Comment