Jets Say Patriots No-Huddle Offense Skirts The Rules

The New York Jets claim the Patriots no-huddle offense skirts the rules by not allowing the opposition to make a substiution, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports. The Patriots are within their right to make changes, but defenses need to be given the right to counter. It’s a given that up-tempo offenses stress a defense’s ability to get set before the snap, but the officials seemingly haven’t caught on to Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ substitution ploy yet. Rule 5, Section 2, Article 10 of the NFL rulebook states, in part, “if a substitution is made by the offense, the offense shall not be permitted to snap the ball until the defense has been permitted to respond with its substitutions. . . . The offense is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball in an obvious attempt to cause a defensive foul (i.e. — too many men on the field). . . . The umpire will stand over the ball until the Referee deems that the defense has had a reasonable time to complete its substitutions.” In the game against Denver, the Broncos scrambled to adjust, but were penalized for too many men on the field after sacking Tom Brady for an 8-yard loss on the next play. Denver had 14 men on the field, including three frantically trying to run off before the snap. “Denver never got a chance to substitute,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said in the run-up to the Jets’ showdown against the Patriots on Sunday. “It’s going to be a major point of contention before (our) game with the officials to make sure that they know the rule is when they substitute we’re permitted to substitute.” Source: The Redzone Attached Thumbnails