The movie is very careful about not referring to the NFL, and, contrary to popular
belief, this movie is not about the NFL strike of 1987. So any infringements of NFL
rules, any anachronisms based on the belief that the movie is set in the '80s, and
any inconsistencies with events which actually occurred during the strike are not goofs.
Bateman's broken nose becomes unbroken in a number of shots.
Towards the beginning, when Falco first arrives at practice, he does a practice throw.
Player #34 starts running to catch the ball, but the ball goes to #81 instead. Both
players can be seen starting to run; he may have intentionally gone for the deeper player.
The handwriting on the word FEAR on the board changes several times.
During an extra point attempt, the clock is running. In real football, the clock is
stopped during extra point attempts.
Close-up shot of a forward pass shows a right-hand spiral. Falco throws left handed.
In the final game against Dallas, the Sentinels' coach is heard saying that they need
"a good [punt] return" to get the Sentinels in position to kick a field goal and tie the
game in the final seconds. After the return, on the Sentinels' very first play from
scrimmage, the field-goal team is called in, so presumably the team does not have
enough time left on the clock to run a regular play before kicking the field goal.
However, after the QB Falco runs the ball into the end zone and the TD is nullified
by an offensive holding penalty, the Sentinels somehow still have enough time to
run the final play in which Falco throws the game-winning TD pass to the wide receiver
Murphy. An offensive penalty would not have put time back on the clock and allowed
the play to be run again; in both college and professional American football, in which
a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, there would have had to have been some
kind of defensive penalty for the next-to-last play (Falco's QB scramble) to be wiped
out, and since that play ended in a game-winning TD, the Sentinels would have
declined it anyway.
During Falco's first play in the Dallas game (kick ass on one), the ref calls multiple
unnecessary roughness calls and then wonders how many penalty yards to give.
In Pro football, only one penalty may be called per team per play, so it wouldn't
matter how many people got caught, only one unnecessary roughness penalty
would be called, for 15 yards.
At the end of the first game with seconds left, the team with the ball gives it to the
running back, and Bateman strips him of the ball. In all Professional Football games
the QB would simply take a knee to end the game with so little time left, and would
never hand it off to the running back.
When the Washington team recovers the onside kick, and Falco is trying to make
his teammate go down (to save clock time), after tackling the ball carrier, Falco
calls timeout immediately. In reality, there would be no need to call a timeout as
the clock would be stopped automatically after a kickoff.
In the first game against Detroit, Washington takes a touchback on the opening
kickoff, which would start them at the 20 yard line. Before they get a play off, they
are penalized 2 "delay of game" penalties, which would've put the ball on the 10
yard line. However, when getting ready to snap the ball for the first time, the ball
is clearly placed at the 8 yard line.
When McGinty is telling Falco that Martell has crossed, the head-on shot of Falco
absorbing this news shows him looking to his left, when the camera angle changes
to show him from behind, he is looking to his right.
In the last game against Dallas, Falco is seen laughing with Coach McGinty on the
sideline in one shot and in the very next shot is walking up to the line of scrimmage
for the next play.
During first huddle of first game, after Falco has been knocked down, you can see
the legs of somebody wearing slacks and street shoes directly behind the players
(presumably the coach) when the players are helping Falco up. In the very next
shot the coach is on the sideline yelling at the team.
When Gruff kicks the field goal in the game against Detroit, the chinstrap is (un)buttoned.
In the Phoenix game before the game-winning touchdown, Washington is shown on
the goal-line in one shot when they are actually out around the 20 or 30 yd. line.
One scene shows Bateman making a big hit on the field, then moves to the
coach's reaction. Bateman is standing behind the coach cheering his own play.
In the first bar scene with Annabelle and Shane, she holds her beer mug,
then the handle, then the mug again.
The cheerleading tryouts sign appears and disappears throughout the sequence
with the auditioning cheerleaders. It also seems to move slightly as well.
In the play in which wide receiver #81 uses 'stick em' on his hands, they are inside
the 10 yard line, but the pattern that he runs and the pass that is thrown by
Falco is definitely over 20 yards.
Just before "I will survive" in The Endzone bar, the camera pans across a highway
in DC - but the shot is played in reverse. As it pans left, all the cars can be seen
moving backwards down the highway.
The team name disappears and reappears in the end zone between shots
after the final touchdown.
During the Sentinels' first game, the first two Sentinels kickoff receptions, both
from the initial kickoff and after the first quick Detroit touchdown, appear to use
the same video, but from different angles. In each instance, #48 catches the ball
just inside the end zone and bobbles it in the same fashion.
During the first practice, Jumbo (#68) is shown setting up to move the one man
sled with coach Banes. The camera then changes to show Coach McGinty and
while doing this the one man sled can be heard moving with coach Barnes
shouting encouragements. The camera then goes back to the sled and shows
Jumbo setting up once more.
Just after Falco kisses Annabelle for the first time, you see Falco score a
touchdown. He's hit by two defensive players as he rolls into the endzone for
the score. Next, John Madden describes the replay. When Falco's touchdown
is replayed on the Madden-vision, he's hit by one defensive player and rolls
into the endzone differently.
After the play when Jumbo scores, Falco returns to the bench, and McGinty says
"that's not in the playbook..." McGinty calls for the Kickoff team. They do not
even attempt the extra point.
Franklin has stick'em on his hands when he scores a touchdown, but
when he falls he juggles the ball.
In several shots of the game clock, it is frozen, even during sequences
when it should be running.
During the "fight play" on Shane's first play in the final game, the referee
(in the white hat) is broadcasting the penalties over the PA system. In the
close-up of Shane smiling, the referee is behind him in the backfield area,
where he is always stationed during a play.
When Falco's truck is being turned on its side for the second time by the
striking players, the mirrors on his truck go from broken to fixed to broken again.
In the scene in which the receiver gets stick-em on his hands, he has
no gloves on, yet, when he is running his route, the camera clearly
shows him running with his blue gloves on.
Franklin has stick'em on his hands and scores a touchdown and can barely
let go of the ball. On the two point conversion, he almost drops the ball and
after the unsure catch, performs a celebration in which he flips the ball. There
is no time to wash hands between touchdown and two point conversion.
When Martel, the original starting quarterback returns, why would the
team release Falco? They would release Falco's backup first.
Even if the players went on strike, a new coach would not be needed
because they are not part of the players' union. Additionally, a team
would not need to hire new cheerleaders in the middle of the season
just because the players went on strike.
When Falco's car is flipped over the second time, the word SCAB is
no longer on the top.
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