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Philly Special should not have counted, Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira says

The NFL's former head of officiating said that Alshon Jeffery wasn't lined up properly on the trick play and that it should have been wiped out.

Fox Sports’ Mike Pereira believes a penalty should have been called on one of the Eagles’ biggest plays.
Fox Sports’ Mike Pereira believes a penalty should have been called on one of the Eagles’ biggest plays.Read moreMarcus Yam / Los Angeles Times / TNS

The Philly Special? Not so special, says Mike Pereira, the NFL's former head of officiating and Fox's current rules analyst.

In an interview on the Talk of Fame Network  on Monday,  Pereira said the second-quarter play, in which tight end Trey Burton threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles on fourth-and-1, should have been called back because the Eagles didn't have enough players on the line of scrimmage.

He said wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was not close enough to the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.

"I know the league came out and said that it's a judgment call, which it is,'' Pereira said. "The down judge, who was the one that was on [Jeffery's] side of the field, said that he felt he was close enough [to the line]. Well, he wasn't. They lined up wrong.

"Not only that, [but] it's a trick play. And if you're going to run a trick-type play, then you have to be lined up properly. You could either have six men on the line or you could have an ineligible number lined up at the end of the line, which was the case. I know what the league has said, but they would have been a lot more comfortable if the officials had called an illegal formation.

"We always use a yard [within the line of scrimmage], maybe a yard-and-a-half. But that was two. And even a little bit beyond two. It's kind of one of those [penalties] that has no effect on the play. I get it. But they didn't line up properly. And it really should've been called.''

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