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Raiders at Bears. Three strange calls. Ref called “hands to the face” on Bears defender but replay clearly showed the defender was no where near the play and clearly no hands to the face. 2nd was a “delay of game” for “spiking” the ball called on the Bears offense. The replay shows the player simply let the ball drop from his hands and did no action that could be characterized as “spiking.” 3rd was called on the Raiders and the ref stated something along the lines of “referee ran into the coach’s area and bench” and assessed a penalty taking yardage from the spot of the dead ball. These calls directly affected the outcome. Can anyone explain these mysterious calls and what recourse does a team have when the ref makes blatantly incorrect calls? Refs seems to have the last say in the score and outcome of many games and that’s just not the way football should be. Thank you and I look forward to an explanation so I can explain it to the young people.
On the unsportsmanlike conduct on the bench, the referee ran into a player or coach while following the play. So that penalty is is assessed on the team that had a player on the field/white strip when they shouldn’t be.
How about waiving the flag on the late hit in Cardinals x Rams?
It was called then waived! The hit was 2 yards away from the sideline. Smh
Susan: You have every right to be upset about blown/missed calls. Becoming an NFL official does not mean you are the best. It means you are connected, i.e you knew someone who pulled you up, or were related to another NFL official. How else can you explain (in one case) how 3 brothers from the same family are NFL officials? Are you telling me three brothers from the same family just happen to be the top officials in the country? That would be an amazing feat, if it were true. No. Their dad was an NFL official and then supervisor and got them their jobs. That is how it works. Anyway, I digress. In reading the posts on this site, I have come to the conclusion that many – if not most – posters are not officials, but wannabees. The ones that are officials most likely have never worked an NCAA game. You can tell this by reading many of the posts, which simply suck up to these NFL officials, who as a whole, are not very good. There were many “game costing” calls made/not made today. Clearly I don’t watch all games, but with DirectTV I do get to skip around quite a bit. Here are four huge mistakes today I observed today, two of which cost teams games.
Let’s review a few of the blown calls in week 3.
Mind you, these I am quite certain do not encompass all the blown calls today, but just the ones I observed on the games I got an opportunity to view.
First, Eagles fans have a right to be upset. The officials arguably (and probably did) cost the Eagles the game. On the Redskin’s last drive in the waning minutes, they had a 3rd and six. The Redskin’s right guard held. Right here, we would have a minimum third and sixteen coming up. Tough row to hoe for the Redskins, with time running out, no time outs, and a TD needed to win. But, lo and behold, on the same play, a flag comes out on a phantom hold committed by the Eagles. The Eagle defender, in press coverage, contacts the receiver within the healthy five (legal) and continues his legal coverage. The short wing throws a flag for a hold. Not only was there no hold, there was no illegal contact because the contact was a legal jam. This contact was legal as it was within the healthy five. Instead of forcing the Redskins into a third and 16 or more, and little time left, the Redskins converted the third and six on the “replayed†down, and one minute later scored the winning TD with a few seconds left. Sickening, that this flag was thrown for a hold which was simply non-existent. The resulting offset of penalties allowed a replay of 3rd and six. The Redskins converted, and the rest is history. I won’t discuss the incorrect call on an earlier play in this game, for an alleged illegal hit on a player in a defenseless posture. This official apparently has not heeded current training which tries to ensure that a defensive player is not punished for making a legal tackle. Here, the defender dipped his shoulder, contacted shoulder to shoulder and nowhere near the head/neck area – clear shoulder to shoulder contact which was legal, and a UNS flag was thrown. Yes, the receiver was in a defenseless posture, but just because he is in this posture does not mean he is immune from hits. He is to be protected from an illegal hit, not a good tackle. Just another incorrect call. Then, to make matters of officiating more sickening, when the Redskins receiver made the winning TD catch, while he was in a defenseless posture (see Rule 2 Section 12 Article 7) the Eagle defender drilled his right shoulder directly into the receiver’s head, causing the head to snap back. This action by the Eagle defender (per rule 12 which states, in pertinent part, that prohibited contact is “forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the…..SHOULDER….” This was a crystal clear, dangerous and illegal hit which the NFL is trying to outlaw, an easy call to make, yet no official threw the flag. So Susan, please understand many (not all) of these NFL officials should not be working a high school game, yet they are out here screwing up week in week out with no repercussion and no accountability.
In the Bears game, there was a desperation play on the final kickoff, with a bunch of laterals. One of the Raiders players threw an illegal forward pass, and the official flagged it. Only problem this means the official ruled a pass, albeit illegal. The ball hit the ground. The official should have blown the play dead when the “forward†pass hit the ground. Instead, the official let the play continue. Good thing no player was hurt in the continuing scrum of laterals. An official at this level should not being making a basic rules mistake such as this.
In the night game, the officials handed the game to the Saints. Cowboy fans have every right to be upset. On the first play from scrimmage in OT, the Saints ran an illegal pick play, which actually injured the Cowboy defender with the contact. This should have been OPI. No flag! Are you kidding me? As a result of the injury, the Cowboy defender was unable to participate in the next play due to injury. The Cowboys had to put a scrub in, and sure enough, QB Drew Brees saw this, exploited this, and the result was an 80 yard TD pass and Saints victory.
Sickening that two blown calls today (that I saw – there could have been more) cost two teams victory. I’m quite certain we will see more blown calls, incorrect calls and terrible mistakes as the season progresses. Count on it.
For those who don’t believe the hit was illegal on the Redskin’s receiver on the winning TD catch I ask you this. How does an official miss this? Take a look for yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9xHPCGdcI
Talk to you all next week, God willing.
Crusty Retired Vet…dude…shut up. You’re coming across as a cranky old man.
Also, since you’re referring to the Paganelli brothers, they DO happen to be among the top officials in the country, whether you accept it or not.
Green Bay at San Francisco in the first quarter: Referees missed an obvious facemask call on Green Bay’s B.J. Raji and immiedately followed it up by calling a false start that on San Francisco that should have been called offsides on Green Bay. (The coach was pulling out his hair by the second call.) Later, they missed an obvious hold when Green Bay’s Randall Cobb has his jersey pulled by a defender and they missed pass interference on a Green Bay pass to the end zone where the GB player (Cobb again, I think) has his hand held down so he couldn’t catch the ball. It was a rather poorly called game, and I’m sure the officials aren’t happy with their performance. Still, the right team won.
Oh and by the way… “The six-foot-wide border must be kept clear to allow the officials to do their jobs.” And it NEVER is! And the NFL refuses to do anything about it. It drives me crazy. EVERY week we have people creeping out onto the line and onto the field, and the problem with it just keeps going on and on. They need to start dishing out penalties before the plays rather than having the plays disrupted every week and reacting to it.
Anon- he’s not a cranky old man. He’s telling the truth arrogant jerks like you don’t want to hear. The officiating sucks and is bad need of improvement. There have been way to many phantom or make up calls this year. That’s making two wrongs a right. It’s not. Instead of telling him to shut up, how about a constructive agrument instead of being a blatant ass kisser?
First of all there are waaaaaaay too many rules and waaaaay too many changes every year. That’s the league’s fault. Football like all sports is entertainment and that’s what we want to see. Not flags on almost every other play. Watching plenty of other games, it seems there are more flags being thrown this year than ever before. Why? No need for it. All of these flags interrupts the flow of the game and destroys the fun of watching it. Yes, games need to be managed well but a lot of us fans have had it with the bad officiating. These guys are constantly making bad calls and not being penalized for it. What precedent does that set? You gotta be kidding me?? And I’ve noticed a lot of these guys are getting more out of shape. I don’t care about their so called physical- lose the weight! We want to watch the teams not the officials. And it goes worse in the playoffs like last year with the disgraceful ending to the Detriot/Dallas game. No excuse for that. Nor can you even think of defending it.
JW- I agree. Keep the 6′ area clear at all times. It’s become a free for all.
The fact that Triplette has had a job after all of his screw ups over the years that the league pretty much has apologized for, plus the disgraceful playoff calls like what I mentioned before tells you there is no accountability. Nor does the league care.
Crusty- gotta disagree about the winning Redskins TD. He did not drill him. He actually tried to hold up as the receiver was coming down and was coming into the end zone. What should have the defender done, just let him get right into the end zone that close to the goal line? It’s his job to stop him. It wasn’t a dirty hit. Of he wanted to, he could have really drilled him. The defender was standing up the whole time. Not exactly being rough.
Dave C- I actually can defend what happened in the Lions/Cowboys game last year. Face guarding is no longer considered DPI. Someone on that crew (I don’t remember who) made a great call and didn’t deserve the scorn that he received.
Now I will agree with you that most of these issues stem from the league, but that’s on Dean Blandino and company, NOT the guys making the calls. Unless you’ve been out on the field before, you have no right to call them out for doing their job. So to you and Crusty Retired Vet, I say it again…shut up, because you’re coming across as grumpy old men.
Dave C you are wrong and you are an idiot. Dave C you do not know what you are talking about. Dave C you are 100 percent wrong and you are completely wrong. Dave C you are a complete idiot and you are an absolute idiot!
Thank you Crusty Retired Vet. I agree with you. Nepotism ruins many a fine enterprise. And I don’t believe in coincidences so I’m sure you’re right. Also annoying is the way the refs are untouchable, as if they are some higher form of being. No one, announcers, players, coaches, ever seems to talk about blown calls we all see with our own eyes. I believe they’ve all been warned, no talking down the refs, you’ll make the fans distrust the game. Seems like something that pantywaist Goodell would do. Just a theory on my part. Thank you for your thorough analysis.
And to Anon: you are simply engaging in ad hominem attacks and we all know what that means, you have nothing with which to actually debate. You won’t even use a name. No one takes you seriously. Just so you know.
Crusty old Man, you are ‘da man!! Look at the gut on the SJ in tonight’s Detroit-Seattle game! Have a doughnut baby. The replacements did NOT make this many mistakes. “Skin or kin gets you in.”
Could you just IMAGINE the media outcry of the Calvin Johnson play in Seattle on MNF if that had been a REPLACEMENT BJ?! Lordy, the MNF idiots on ESPN would have roasted them. Let the hypocrisy continue into year 3 since the lock out.
The officials missed an illegal bat by the Seahawks that probably preserved their win over the Lions.
Calvin Johnson fumbled the ball at the half yard line, but then, per SB Nation: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/10/5/9460055/nfl-blown-call-lions-seahawks-fumble-referees-calvin-johnson
Seconds after the fumble, Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright pursued the ball into the end zone, where he tapped the ball out of bounds for a touchback.
However, the NFL has a clear rule about batting in the end zone. Rule 12.1.8:
A player may not bat or punch: (a) a loose ball (in field of play) toward opponent’s goal line; (b) a loose ball (that has touched the ground) in any direction, if it is in either end zone; (c) a backward pass in flight may not be batted forward by an offensive player.
The penalty for illegal batting is 10 yards. Because it was a live ball foul, the team last in possession — the Lions — would retain possession. So they would have had the ball, first and goal, down 13-10.
Dave C? Thanks for the comments. Anon? Clearly, you are either not a football official, or have not advanced beyond working high school ball. Those officials who know me around the USA appreciate me for telling the truth. I do not suffer fools. If that means I am a cranky old man? So be it. By the way, Anon, the call in the Lions/Cowboys playoff game last season by the BJ was correct. Then, the deep judge (who had blown a call with Dez Bryant at the end of the regular season which was reversed to a score) was intimidated (and failed to flag) Dez Bryant for walking onto the field and screaming expletives to him about how he (the official) clearly didn’t know what he was doing. Clearly, Bryant was still upset about the incorrect call at the end of the regular season, where the call was reversed to a TD by Bryant. (A very easy call, by the way, as you see at .52 of this video and this official gets a playoff game?????)
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/0ap3000000450757/Week-17-Cowboys-vs-Redskins-highlights
Then, Bryant sees this guy one week later, and decides to explode on the field. 1) Bryant should have been flagged for coming onto the field but the deep judge was intimidated and didn’t throw; 2) the BJ’s DPI call was absolutely correct; and 3) the deep judge never should have told the BJ to pick up his flag. This was NOT face guarding which is legal in the NFL (but not in the high school games you work). There was contact by a defender not playing the ball. Look at the video, and see the material restriction by the defender with his left arm. Philosophically, in this situation when a defender is not playing the ball, any contact immediately becomes suspect and in this case, there was a material restriction to go along with the defender not playing the ball. So the deep judge should have never come in to change the original call. The original call, DPI, was absolutely correct. A thin skinned official was intimidated by Bryant into changing the call. This video says it all, actually. At one point, you will see the helmetless Bryant come onto the field screaming bloody murder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E64-4xzTL7U
Anyway, back to this weekend. Dave, as for the hit at the end of the Redskins game, we can agree to disagree. Per rule and per philosophy it was an illegal hit. Garcon was a player in a defenseless posture, and the defender whacked him shoulder to head which he simply cannot do. I suspect there will be a fine for this hit, and if not, it is a slip up in New York. This defender needs to be coached to adjust his strike zone. A few years ago, anything close was supposed to be called. Now? The philosophy is that if the defender makes the effort to make a legal tackle, i.e. lowers his strike zone away from the head or neck area, no matter how vicious the hit looks, it should not be penalized. This is what occurred earlier in the Redskins game. The Redskin defender made a legal tackle, just as he should or was coached to tackle. Although it “looked” like an illegal hit, it should not have been flagged. A better trained and more experienced official does not make that call. It is a tough call to make, but again, if competent officials were hired to officiate this game, the mistakes we see every single week with the current crop of officials would not be made.
Just when you think things could not be worse, the incompetent officiating hands the Seahawks a win tonight. The Seahawk defender knocked the ball out of Calvin Johnson’s hands, just prior to the ball breaking the plane. Great play and legal, of course. Then, another Seahawk defender sees the ball bounding loose in the EZ, and slaps (“batsâ€) it out of the end zone. The official was looking right at this, saw this illegal bat, and froze – not throwing his flag. Call it a choke, call it wilting under the pressure, call it what you want. Again? A better trained official makes this call. What should have occurred, per rule, is that the ball should have been awarded to the Lions at the spot they lost possession, then tacked on ten yards. Since the spot the Lions lost possession was inside one foot, the penalty yardage would be a few inches – half the distance. In any event, Lions ball with a chance to win the game. For those actually interested in reviewing the rule, see Rule 12, Section 4, Article 1(b) which defines what an illegal bat is in this situation – when “any player bats or punches a loose ball (that has touched the ground) in any direction, if it is in either end zone.†Here? Illegal bat by definition. Crystal clear, and the call was blown. I shudder to think what would have occurred in the national media if these three game changing calls (see prior post) had been made by the “replacements.” Apparently, as is abundantly clear now, those guys (or many of them) were alot better than the media gave them credit. Then again, they had to be. If they screwed up they were forced into alternate status, and didn’t see the field again. Can’t wait to see the screw ups next week. It is a great thing to be a Crusty Retried Vet with a great pension and lots of time on his hands!
…you know, most people look at life glass half full. Maybe you should try that CRV. It’d help me take your arguments more seriously.
BTW, I’ve never officiated a day in my life and never plan to. I admit that instead of having a cover like you.
Anon- you accuse others of not knowing what they’re talking about but you bring nothing to the table but name calling and arrogance. Guess you can’t handle the truth. It doesn’t take a genius to see the many bad calls anymore, contrary to your opinion.