Joe Flacco made all the right moves in leading the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl championship and winning the game's MVP award. But Flacco's superb instincts seem to have abandoned him in one case.
As revealed on NFL Films' Super Bowl XLVII edition of "Sound FX" on Wednesday night (see video above) on NFL Network, Flacco had an interesting contingency plan as the Ravens lined up for a free kick to the San Francisco 49ers' Ted Ginn Jr. with 4 seconds left in the game.
We'll pick it up as Flacco paces the sideline, approaching Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta.
Flacco: "If he starts to break it, go tackle him."
Pitta: "Really?"
Flacco: "I don't know ... what else can ... I mean, they might be able to get a touchdown on that, but I don't know."
Sensing he's not getting anywhere with Pitta, Flacco seeks to recruit others for his plan, turning to face center Matt Birk and offensive tackle Michael Oher.
"Hey, if he breaks it, if he busts this for some reason, tackle him; go tackle him," Flacco said. "... I don't know what the rule is on that, but ..."
Birk: "Why can't you?"
Flacco: "I will -- I'm going to."
Of course, it didn't come to that, as the Ravens' special teams did the job and tackled Ginn legally.
So what would've happened had Flacco or another Ravens player left the sideline to make a touchdown-saving tackle of Ginn?
According to the NFL Rule Book's Rule 12, Section 3, Article 3:
"Palpably Unfair Act. A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair. Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score."
