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Early in 1st qtr STL @ WAS…Rams have an interception and long return. Play is reviewed for interceptor being down by contact. The ref comes back on the field and announces the play is upheld. Then the ref goes off the field and reviews it again. He comes back and announces that the play is overturned and was down by contact.
They got the call right in the end, but it looks bad to review the same aspect of a play twice. I’m surprised the rules don’t prevent this from happening. The whole process took several minutes. Why have a 60 second limit in the rule book if it is not going to be followed?
Vinovich’s crew missing a lot of calls today- for both teams. And why didn’t the booth review that pass that was bobbled before halftime? By the time he had a catch, only one foot was in…..
That was too close not to review…
Sooner or later the NFL is going to HAVE to mandate camera angles down the line for 1st downs and touch downs. It just makes NO sense that they NEVER have one.
Was that a leftover replacement crew in Denver for Broncos vs Bills? Or has the NFL already ordained the Broncos the AFC rep to Superbowl? Lots of bizarre calls (phantom) on Bills while a headbutt in front of refs goes uncalled. Interception clearly on the ground but no one sees it ? Come on man!
This week I saw the 2 bad calls in the Chiefs game. The Kelce fumble that was blown dead, changed the outcome of the game and the Fasano pushoff that never happened. I also saw two refs fist-bump in the Broncos/Bills game like they had money on it. That shouldnt be allowed.
Chargers/patriots 7:41 2nd qtr. Brady throws a pass into end zone which was broken up by Manti Ta’o who was clearly playing the player the entire time and never looked at the ball until he batted it down. Why isn’t this DPI?
Please also explain the Chargers 4th down punt on the following series. How was this not roughing the kicker?
Not roughing because the kick was blocked.
Travis Kelce was down by contact so those stupid ref’s screwed the chiefs.
I appreciate this site because it is the only place where football fans can come and speak openly and honestly about just how bad NFL officiating has become. NFL officiating is a joke, worse even than the NBA where everyone knows the officials are just window dressing and the game will be decided in the last ten minutes by the players on the court and the home team will win (90% of the time). At least in the NBA everyone knows the game is a joke and the officials are just part of the joke. The problem with the NFL is, people (as fed by the media and the league) still believe the games are “fair” and the officiating is “impartial”. It is obvious to anyone watching the games, all the games (not just their own personal favorite team – or the prime time games of the week), that the NFL is deciding, week by week, which teams they want to win, and which they don’t.
Prime example – the 49ers. As was clearly shown yesterday, the 49ers are not any good. They lost to Oakland! But that should be no surprise to anyone who has watched 49ers games all season, as I have. In at least three games, the officials helped the 49ers win a close game they should have lost. Up until yesterday, the officials and the NFL have been helping them eek out close wins against teams that should have beat them. Weeks 4, 5, 6 saw the officials help the 49ers stay alive after starting the season 1-2. But apparently now the league has decided to go “all in” on the Seahawks and Cardinals (note the poor officiating yesterday that went against the Eagles and especially the Chiefs) and now the NFL has abandoned the 49ers. And without the help of the league and officials, the 49ers showed just how bad they really are against Oakland.
Watching the Eagles-Seahawks game and the Chiefs-Cardinals games yesterday at one point I surfed over to see the Broncos-Bills game. I saw one play. One. On that play, Peyton Manning is being rushed by the Bills defensive line. He scrambles back a few steps, isn’t even close to being out of the pocket. and throws the balls at the ankle of his offensive lineman, short of the line of scrimmage by yards. No receiver near the ball. An obvious intentional grounding call right? Nope. No flag. Why was no penalty called? Because it is Peyton Manning and Denver. It is that simple.
Look at those four afternoon games yesterday and you see what is wrong with the NFL:
The Bills never had a chance against the Broncos. Clearly the Broncos are the better team, but “fist-bumping” officials were there to make sure there would be no Buffalo upset.
In the other three games it was obvious – the league called off the officials in the 49er-Oakland game and Oakland won while they switched the emphasis towards making sure Seattle and especially Arizona make the playoffs.
…ding!
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Lack of evidence: Detected.
Argument entirely based on unfounded assumptions: Detected.
Conspiracy theorist: Detected.
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the crew in Seahawks- Eagles game was the worst seen in a long time. They let Seahawks defenders consistently bang receivers before the ball arrived and missed a blatant linemen down field and an illegal forward pass on Wilson after a holding call against Eagles secondary. overall the worst game i have ever seen an NFL crew have.
Midway through the third quarter, and his team leading 14-13, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers lofted a pass to Ladarius Green. The New England Patriots’ Brandon Browner hit Green hard – hard enough to pop Green’s head back (and, the team later revealed, the hit give him a concussion) – and the ball popped up into the air. New England’s Devin McCourty snagged it, and ran it back for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown.
Not so fast! A flag was thrown on the play, and the result might be a basis for a possible rules change in 2015?
The officials contended that Browner had gone helmet-to-helmet on Green, and in the lightning-quick environment of real time, it certainly appeared that way. The flag wiped six New England points off the board and resulted in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
It was a potential game-changing play … and it was not a correct call.
As the game progressed, it turned out the penalty wasn’t a decisive one; New England would go on to score 10 more unanswered points and win going away. But replays demonstrated that Browner did indeed lead with his shoulder rather than his head. He did everything right, and still got nailed for the penalty.
As a result of increased concussion awareness, the penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit is so severe that defensive players have taken to hitting lower on the body to avoid any possibility of a penalty. That, in turn, has led to a greater risk of knee injuries. Therefore, no good deed goes unpunished.
However, the rule change that this play could enact has to do with the replay aspect. The helmet-to-helmet play is not reviewable, despite the fact that many, including Patriots coach Bill Belichick, have lobbied for change. A simple review would have shown Browner’s intention and split-second correct decision-making.
A review of helmet-to-helmet hits is an easy enough rule to implement for the 2015 season. And if it cuts down on confusion about how players are making tackles, so much the better.
And once again this season, its another controversial call by Referee Bill Leavy’s crew!
The officiating is getting worse by the week. Vinovich’s crew was downright awful yesterday. The least of which is Wilson not leaving the pocket and throwing the ball up for grabs MANY times – aka – intentional grounding. Yes the NFL has become as much of a joke as the NBA which has become unwatchable and is lower rated than any other sport. Make you wonder why Tim Donaghy got off so easy and has kept his mouth shut when he coulda been rich for life by telling us all the truth. And Goodell has to be the worst Commish ever- and a hypocrite. How with all the exposure and camera angles (and the avg officials experience) can the calls be this bad??
I said that one line wrong- Wilson threw the ball away while not leaving the pocket many times….
Yo dude, since your post is probably getting delayed anyway, at least leave your name. Can’t we be crazy without the language?
*deleted
RE Helmet to helmet Pats at Chargers: Browner while not leading with his helmet LAUNCHED himself (left his feet) shoulder first into the head area of a receiver in the act of catching a ball (making him defenseless). Call it by any name, we have seen Browner in marginal football acts trying to inflict punishment on players all season. He plays like a punk because he is not very good and its his only chance to stay in.
Lets other foot that shoe: Say Dolphins hire a guy 6’8″ to be around Gronk. He cant stop him from catching it but he launches himself at Gronk’s head every time. Is that the game you want to watch? Really? An inferior athlete taking out a great player on purpose?
Think about it, that was a good call even if they used the wrong rule.
This officiating has become nothing more than a method to convince us of the myth that on any given Sunday any team can win. That is not so. About a third of the teams are really strong, another third are really weak, the others can go either way on a given day.
There must be consequences for making game changing, Vegas pocket lining calls. Somebody needs to be watching the bank accounts of guys like 117. Money is changing hands people, there is no other way to explain the blatant egregious calls and non-calls as well. They sit players down for cheating substances. We need to sit these guys down and or fine them for not doing their job. Taking the game away from the athletes and putting in the hands of guys getting god knows what for compensation by God knows who, is the formula for disaster.
Anyone happen to watch the World Series? What a pleasure to see a sport that was determined by the actual players ability.
Bills vs Broncos, what about the roughing the kicker not called or the block in the back on a Denver punt return or the head butt to bills player with no helmet
Anonymous- wanna tell us why you feel that way????