Okay, so, I’ve been watching a ton of football lately, and there’s this one thing that always had me scratching my head – those tipped balls. Are they considered PBUs or not? I mean, I know what a PBU is – Pass Break Up, basically when a defender messes up a pass. But when the ball gets tipped, it’s not exactly a clean break up, right? So, I decided to dig into this and figure it out for myself.
First, I started watching games with a more critical eye. Every time I saw a pass get tipped, I made a note of it. Who tipped it? Was it the intended receiver, or was it a defender? Did the tip lead to an incomplete pass, or did someone still catch it? You know, getting all the details down.
Then, I went through my notes and started looking for patterns. What I found was pretty interesting. Most of the time, when a defender tipped the ball and it ended up incomplete, it seemed like it counted as a PBU. But it wasn’t always that simple.
- Sometimes the ball would just graze the defender’s fingers, barely changing direction, and still get caught. Those didn’t seem to count as PBUs.
- Other times, the receiver would be the one to tip it, either by accident or trying to make a play, and those definitely weren’t PBUs.
I also tried to find some official rules or something, but honestly, that was a bit of a mess. It’s not like there’s a clear-cut definition for every single situation. Football’s a fast game, and things happen in a split second. Sometimes it is hard to define it.
One thing I did notice, though, was that commentators often talked about “great defensive plays” when a defender managed to tip a pass, even if it wasn’t officially scored as a PBU. And I saw some articles mentioning how these tipped passes can totally change the game, even if they don’t show up in the stats.
So, here’s what I figured out. If a defender tips a pass, and that tip directly leads to an incomplete pass, it’s usually considered a PBU. But if the tip is minor or if the receiver is the one tipping it, then it’s not a PBU. At the end of the day, it’s about whether the defender actively disrupted the pass in a significant way. When a coach is teaching, he often swipes the football downward. Maybe this is the key.
Of course, this is just my own observation from watching games and doing some digging. It’s not like I’m an NFL referee or anything. But hopefully, this helps clear things up a bit for anyone else who’s been wondering about tipped balls and PBUs. At least, it did for me!
Summary
A tipped ball can be considered a PBU if the defender’s action directly causes the pass to be incomplete. It’s not a PBU if the deflection is minimal or if it comes from the receiver. The key is whether the defender actively and significantly disrupts the pass play. I am not a referee but just share my own experience.
