Football Zebras commentary Week 17 is upon us, meaning that the final evaluations for officials vying for playoff positions are being determined. Officials will not be informed of the Wild Card Playoff assignments until the middle of the upcoming week. The later playoff rounds will then be rolled out in the
Tag: Mike Carey
After Further Review: Safety is number 1 priority
Some of the officiating news items from Sunday: A couple of puzzling replay reviews: Mike Carey allowed a catch to stand, despite clear evidence the pass was incomplete, according to our Roundtable experts [Ben Austro, Football Zebras]. Bill Vinovich ruled a player touched a loose ball with his foot while out
After Further Review: Even Philly thinks Giants should have won challenge
Image: Dallas Cowboys photo First, our quick calls [Football Zebras] The pink penalty flags did cause some confusion with the players' pink towels, all symbolic for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. However, a clock operator briefly stopped the clock because one of the pink towels looked like a penalty flag. I wouldn't be
Images of Week 4
Indecisiveness erases big Steelers gain
Roethlisberger: umpire 'thought he saw a trip, but wasn't sure' Week 2: Steelers at Bengals While a third quarter gain of 33 yards by the Steelers was being marched back by a tripping penalty, each replay on ESPN displayed the cringe-inducing conclusion: that wasn't a trip. (There is no video available of
Kickoff 2013: The officials by the numbers
Click the image to enlarge. It is time to kick off the new football season! Here are some numbers for all of the zebra watchers out there. Enjoy! Designed and researched by Ben Austro. Sources: NFL Record and Fact Book (2013, 2008, 2000); Pro-Football-Reference.com (Coleman, Freeman, McKinnely); Football Zebras, "Officiating crews for the
All in the family: NFL referee style
Sunday night was Hochuli ×2 ('Gun and Pistol' night?) Earlier this week, NFL back judge Steve Freeman officiated a game with his son, Brad.  Also this week, Ed Hochuli got to officiate a preseason game with his son, Shawn.  Both Brad Freeman and Shawn Hochuli are part of the developmental program
Catching up: Pereira gives high praise to wild card crews
Former NFL vice president for officiating and current Fox Sports officiating expert, Mike Pereira, gave high marks to the wild card crews. Pereira says even though the officials had many difficult calls to make, the officials got them right and were not part of the game story. Pereira broke down three
Ridiculous red-flag rule burden on referee
Week 17: Packers at Vikings Fortunately, there are likely only 11 more games where the rule for prohibited coach's challenges is in effect. The Competition Committee is all but certain to modify the rule in the offseason. Basically, the rule has two aspects, which we have already explained in detail. If a
Our playoff predicitions: Steratore ranks high, Wild Cards include Hochuli, Corrente
For a moment here, we will disregard our previous reporting on the playoff assignments (as the league thinks you should) and present our predictions for playoff assignments. We have chosen our assignments for the referee position only, not the entire crew. This year, all officials are assigned on individual merit, and