First-year BJ Dale Shaw ices tight call on Ravens’ epic game-winning TD

Rookie officials get their trial by fire at some point of their first season.  Rookie back judge Dale Shaw faced his trial in a frigid Week 14 in Baltimore between the Ravens and Vikings.  In a game where the lead and momentum switched back and forth several times in

Roundtable: ‘Communication breakdown’ drives Colts insane on Bengals drive to ruin

Snowy conditions make one grade inconclusive Football Zebras Roundtable As the snow blew through four games this weekend, there were a flurry of close, questionable, and controversial calls. To help us understand the Week 14 calls, former officiating supervisors Larry Upson and Jim Daopoulos took a look at a few plays. It does

Punt blocks, bats, hoppers: Untangling unusual enforcement on 49ers blocked kick

Week 14: Seahawks at 49ers (video) If you rack your brain over this scenario, you can be bouncing across the rulebook for the correct ruling and still not get it right. We are about to get into the deep recesses of refdom here, so stay with us. And, if you’re not

FJ Edwards owns, nails difficult call on Steelers lateral play

Week 14: Dolphins at Steelers (video) An incredible ending to the game, as a multiple-lateral play could have given the Steelers a game-winning touchdown. Field judge Scott Edwards called the play dead, with Steelers receiver Antonio Brown stepping out of bounds. Edwards could have let the play run out, and let replay

Triplette reversal gives TD to Bengals. Was it enough to overturn?

Week 14: Colts at Bengals (video) Updated with pool report below. Referee Jeff Triplette had a rough week defending his call to let the clock run when there was confusion over which down it was. The league said he should have stopped the clock. This week, he is under the microscope for

Quick calls: Week 14

You can follow our coverage on Twitter, and we will also post here some notable calls and describe some of the complicated rulings of the weekend. If you see something interesting, confusing, or controversial in this week's games, let's us know by giving us the quarter and time (if known) and

Week 14 referee assignments

   The Panthers-Saints game was flexed to Sunday night, and the originally scheduled NBC game was moved to 1 p.m. Eastern. Walt Anderson will preside over the flexed game. Mike Carey's crew is off this week. Thursday, Dec. 5 Texans at Jaguars NFLN — Tony Corrente Sunday, Dec. 8 Vikings at Ravens — Pete Morelli Colts at