“The NFL is going to have to do something about the Patriots’ ineligible-eligible substitution game,” former NFL head coach and current NBC Sports analyst Tony Dungy told PFT by email on Friday. “It is nothing but an intent to deceive and they are doing it very well. They’re reporting so fast and going so quickly the defense can’t respond. In fact, the officials can’t keep up.”
Dungy believes the officials missed at least one foul with this maneuver during the postseason.
“In the Baltimore game, [Shane] Vereen reported as ineligible several times,” Dungy explained. “If he stays in the game he must report again and continue to be ineligible. He must come out of the game for one play or there has to be a time out for him to play as an eligible receiver. On the touchdown drive Vereen played one play as ineligible and then played the next play in an eligible position. There should have been a penalty.”
Dungy also believed initially that the officials had missed an illegal formation foul on the
Nate Solder play in the AFC title game (as folks like Jim Miller of SiriusXM NFL Radio have suggested), but Dungy has since become satisfied that receiver
Brandon LaFell was close enough behind the line of scrimmage to not be “covering up” Solder, who was an eligible receiver on the play.
Dungy also noted that
Cameron Fleming, who wears No. 71, had reported as eligible on the play before the Solder touchdown. Fleming then stayed in the game on the next snap, returning to an ineligible position. Because, as Dungy explained it, an administrative stoppage occurred between the two plays, Fleming was able to revert from eligible to ineligible.
The broader problem is that the Patriots, specifically against Baltimore, combined the legal ineligible-eligible receiver maneuver with a hurry-up offense to confuse both the defense and the officials. At field level, the audio from the referee’s microphone isn’t as clear as it is for folks in the seats or who are watching the game at home. Along with the overall confusion that arises when a team tries to snap the ball quickly, it becomes too much for a defense to fairly process — which is one of the reasons New England does it.
will make sure that Blount stays fed unlike McCarthy with Lacy
wearing sandals 
