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50 Super Bowl calls, Part 2: XL to XXXI

50 Super Bowl calls

by Football Zebras staff - February 2, 2016February 6, 2016 5

The Football Zebras staff -- with the assistance of our affiliated forum, Behind the Football Stripes -- has examined the Super Bowls of years past for the work of the officials who, in a given year, achieve the honor of the best of the best. While every team competes for

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‘Official Review’ Week 3: a hideout and TD wipeout

News

by Ben Austro - September 24, 2014September 24, 2014 4

The semiregular "Official Review" segment appeared for (I believe) the first time this season on NFL Total Access. Vice president of officiating Dean Blandino addressed two calls (video): The hideout play executed by Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (which we covered Sunday) was reviewed. Blandino added this illegal maneuver is legal maneuver

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

by Ben Austro - December 11, 2013December 13, 2013 1

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

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

by Ben Austro - December 8, 2013December 12, 2014 9

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

Anatomy of a replay gone wrong

by Ben Austro - January 18, 2012July 29, 2012 5

NFC Divisional Playoff: Giants at Packers 1st Quarter | 1:46 | Giants 10-3 | Packers ball | 1st & 10 @ NYG 39 | video (at 1:21) We are going to deconstruct the big call from Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game, not to defend it, but to answer the questions surrounding it

Odd ruling saves Cruz from being NY goat

by Ben Austro - October 2, 2011October 3, 2011 3

Referee Jerome Boger has his hands full with some controversial calls, most notably, a rarely used call on the Giants drive for the game-winningÂ touchdown (video). Giants receiver Victor Cruz lands to the turf and walks back to the huddle as if the play was over. However, he was not

Week 1 open forum, assignments

by Ben Austro - September 11, 2011September 18, 2011 0

We're back. If you see a call from Week 1 that deserves our attention, add it to the comments section of this post. Referee assignments are after the jump. Quick calls Steelers at Ravens | 1st quarter | 2:47 remaining | video. One of the first uses of the new all-touchdowns-subject-to-review rule

Sunday’s Wild Card officiating

by Ben Austro - January 9, 2011January 9, 2011 0

Ravens at Chiefs Mike Carey is the referee. 1st Quarter, 6:26 remaining. The Chiefs challenged the spot of the ball in relation to the first-down marker. Since Ravens running back Ray Rice landed with his hand first, he was not considered down until another part of his body contacted the ground. Ravens

3 confusing calls in Sunday night game

by Ben Austro - December 15, 2009December 17, 2009 3

Week 14: Eagles at Giants We have three calls for analysisâ€”all three called correctlyâ€”from the Eaglesâ€“Giants game that will likely end up on this week's "Official Review." View the highlights of the game in addition to our analysis: McNabb incomplete or fumble? On a second-and-10 from the Eagles 42, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb

Week 12 “Official Review”: ‘Chaos,’ DPI, Pereira’s Xbox 360 video controller

by Ben Austro - December 3, 2009December 14, 2009 0

This week's segment of "Official Review" by NFL vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira (video, part 1 and part 2) provides a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes work of his department and the grading of officials. We commented a few weeks ago about Pereira's modded Xbox 360 controller making its on-air debut