In the digest of rules put forth by the NFL on their website a 5 yarder consists of "Grasping facemask of the ball carrier or quarterback." A 15 yarder is defined as a "Twisting, turning, or pulling an opponent by the facemask." In this case he clearly twisted and turned it so a 15 yarder was justfiied, although I wouldn't have complained if it went the other way either as it was really quick.... http://www.nfl.com/fans/rules/penaltysummaries
If his hand is grabbing the facemask long enough to turn the head around - 15 yarder. More specifically, if the head is twisted by grasping the facemask - 15 yarder. The photo above looks pretty incriminating to me.
Once he realized he had the facemask he let go, it was so quick. That pic looks like a 15 yarder but it was a split second.
It doesn't matter how long it occurs for, but if it happens, its a penalty. Time doesn't matter when penalties. If you push a guy on pass interference which sends him off route for a second, you will still get a penalty.
For a facemask it matters, if you grab and take it off quickly then it's a 5 yarder, if you grab and hold on it's 15.
i agree with junc, the time is a big factor as well as the "intent". if your hand gets the guys facemask and you use it to bring him down you're obviously going to get the 15 yards but if you catch it and release fairly quickly then that's the 5 yarder.
I find myself rooting for the Boys usually because of my respect for Parcells. I'm a huge fan of his, I hate to see him lose that way.
Love Parcells --Hate the Cowboys -- I thought the loss was beautiful Thank Goodness THAT did not happen to us -- these boards would be burning for days
Some of you guys are just funny. There's no "agreeing" to be had. The wording of the rule is posted above; intent and length of time are not a consideration. If you believe the picture shows Taylor's head being turned by the facemask hold, that is by definition a 15-yard penalty. I will grant you that the officials could have missed the call, they missed quite a few others. But they didn't miss it, they saw it and called it. Consider this: the facemask grab clearly impeded Taylor's progress. Without it he may or may not have taken the return to the house. But he would certainly have gained an additional 10 yards which would have given the Redskins at least as good if not better field position for the game-winner, after a 5 yard penalty. Nobody got jobbed on that play.
