If you're like me, you woke up this morning and wondered: Are all snow angels the same?

The answer might surprise you.

Like their cousin, the snowflake, every snow angel is different.

Packers receiver Randall Cobb was not penalized for celebrating his touchdown catch against Houston with a snow angel in the end zone. Mike Roemer/AP Photo

That's the way the NFL sees it, at least, which makes it important to us -- a notable if amusing lesson as we head into the final (and presumably snowy) month of the 2016 season. Week 13 provided two separate examples, as I noted Monday, and NFL senior vice president Dean Blandino later confirmed that officials have been given discretion to determine when (or if) a snow angel is an illegal celebration.

This is not among the critical matters facing the republic, but a 15-yard penalty at a time of the year when field position truly matters is no laughing matter (at least not usually). The newly revealed gray area also delivers clear evidence that the NFL is attempting to modulate its overreaction to harmless celebrations earlier this season.

The two illustrations occurred Sunday about 200 miles apart during a snowstorm that impacted the Upper Midwest. Referee Pete Morelli penalized San Francisco 49ers cornerback Rashard Robinson for a snow angel in the second quarter of a 26-6 loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. But referee Gene Steratore didn't flinch when Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb appeared to do the same thing in the second quarter of a 21-13 victory against the Houston Texans.

The NFL rulebook seems clear and rigid. Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(d) reads in part: "Players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations or demonstrations while on the ground."

Both Robinson and Cobb, by definition, were on the ground. (Snow angels are done while on your back, after all, or not at all.) As it turns out, Blandino said, referees must use their judgment to determine whether a snow angel is a quick and simple celebration or if it becomes the kind of prolonged and excessive party that the league deems likely to trigger a confrontation between teams.

If you watch the replay of Robinson's penalty, the flag didn't fly until several 49ers teammates surrounded him; and one knocked him back onto the ground after he ceased and tried to stand up.

"The rule states that you cannot celebrate on the ground," Blandino said this week during his weekly segment on the NFL Network, "and we're talking about excessive, choreographed [acts]. I think our officials used some discretion there [in Green Bay]. It was just a spontaneous thing. [Cobb] is on the ground, made a quick snow angel and got back up. We didn't flag it. We do give the officials some discretion there. We don't want to take the emotion out and the spontaneity out of the game."

Robinson was penalized, Blandino said, because things started getting out of hand.

"I understand the questions about, 'Why is one snow angel illegal and why is one legal?'" Blandino said. "The officials do have some discretion. If it does become excessive, [with] multiple players getting involved, celebrating on the field, that's when it becomes a flag."

On the one hand, it seems preposterous that a senior executive of the most popular sports league in North America would appear on television and break down two snow angels frame by frame on a touch screen. In some ways, the episode highlighted and magnified how far gone the NFL is in its attempts to maintain what it considers an acceptable level of sportsmanship.

But hidden within that absurd premise was a reassuring message. The NFL seems to realize the value of reasonable limits -- "We don't want to take the emotion and the spontaneity out of the game" -- and has quietly pushed some flexibility into the mix.

I got the sense that Blandino wouldn't have been devastated if Morelli's crew had allowed Robinson and his band of snow angelers to simply go on their merry way.

I don't know how many more snow games the NFL will have this season. But in a larger and mostly serious sense, I'm fully expecting the spotlight to continue shifting toward the players and away from the officials after big plays. As it should. With any luck, this will be the last time I put the words "snow" and "angels" next to each other in an NFL post.

Below is the Officiating Report updated through Week 13. The current leader in penalty frequency, referee Terry McAulay, called 21 fouls -- including those accepted and declined -- in Thursday night's game at Arrowhead Stadium.