NFL BLOWS - Calls

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

NFL BLOWS - Calls

Let me preface this rant by stating that I am a JETS season ticket holder and fan. Naturally many of the games I have viewed in the past three weeks directly or indirectly impact the AFC East. This is only intended to be one fans sampling of games. I will let the figures speak for themselves, but let’s just say I can’t remember the last game I viewed where the umpires did not directly and generally incorrectly impact the potential outcome of the game, and in at least two of the selected teams likely completely change their seasons.

• I would also like to note that not included below are numerous questionable Pass Interference calls as well as unnecessary roughness calls. (Except as noted in the Eagles Colts game below)
• It should further be noted that I have not seen one game in the last three weeks that did not make this list!!!

Week 7: As I was tired and hung over, and with the JETS on a bye, I choose to watch what I thought would be the best AFC match-up of the week, namely Pittsburgh at Miami.

Miami vs. Pittsburgh: Game setting: 2:30 remaining in the forth quarter with Miami ahead 22-20. Pitt QB Ben R, of the rape charges, once more dropped the ball as he entered the end zone. The officials on the field did not see the fumble and called a touchdown. Miami challenged, and replay clearly revealed that Big B did in fact fumble and Miami players were seen holding the ball in the end zone. Referee Gene Steratore noted that since they thought it was a touchdown, no officials followed the ball after it was fumbled so a change of possession was not possible. With all the technology involved with the NFL Instant Replay System, all NFL Referee Gene Steratore could say was they couldn't allow for the recovery of the ball in the end zone. Even as his call was being announced, the Miami Dolphin Fan Vision Screen and thousands of Fan Vision Portable Devices given to Dolphin Season Ticket Holders was clearly showing the Dolphins had recovered the football. Why would Referee Gene Steratore not trust the technology - yikes it ends up he resides in Washington, Pennsylvania (Source: NFL Referee News). The Miami Herald is also reporting that he is a Pittsburgh native. As a JETS fan, I was not too sad to see Miami get screwed. However as an NFL fan I was outraged. Pittsburgh was awarded the ball, and kicked a game winning filed goal on the next play. (Yes Miami could still have won but they might well have run the clock out had the call been accurate) With the loss Miami fell to 3-3 with all three losses being to AFC teams. The loss left the Dolphins 2 games plus a tie breaker behind the JETS, Patriots and Steelers, all primary playoff contenders. Miami schedule in the second half of the season is fairly easy, meaning it is likely that this one call cost Miami a playoff spot this season.

Week 8 – This is a game I saw live at the new Meadowlands.
Jets vs. GB: The penalties in this game were called so one sided as to make one wonder if the umpires were on the GB payroll. The real travesty here however, is the TWO interceptions awarded to the GB defense that never occurred. The first play occurred in the second Quarter on a pass to J Crotchety. Both he and DB landed with the ball. In those instances the ball is always rewarded to the offensive player. The ref made a bad call by ruling it an interception in the first place. Than upon review, he concluded that instant replay was not conclusive and the call could not be over turned. The JETS were charged a timeout and more importantly used their last remaining challenge for the game. In the forth quarter with the score still 3-0 Packers, TE D Keller and the GB DB both landed with the ball. After the play was over the DB ripped the ball out. Replay clearly showed this was not an interception as only Keller went to the ground with the ball. However, as the JETS were out of challenges, they could not call for a review. So simply put if the Referees make enough horrific calls that your team can no longer challenge than you are really screwed. It is not clear if this cost the JETS the game, as the team did not play great. However, the JETS had more yards than GB, and higher yards per play average than GB. Basically the JETS lost the game due to the 3-0 turnover disadvantage. The umpires clearly affected the outcome of this game and perhaps were the reason the JETS lost.

Week 9 – I watched football all day and got to see most of four games. What an embarrassment this was! Are you kidding me!
JETS vs. Lions: There were 22 accepted penalties and at least five that were not accepted. The game had no pace, was somewhat dirty and I guess fairly refereed though clearly too tightly called. In fact the missed calls were far worse than a majority of the penalties that were called. I will not blast this game as there would not be one specific call that was made to change the game, but rather a group of 20 annoying calls that clearly changed the game both ways. Enough said.
Colts vs. Eagles: This game was an umpiring disaster. We will focus on two horrible calls, one of which was clearly game changing. The game itself was marred by the apparent serious injury to Colts WR Austin Collie. Before getting into whether it was right or wrong, let's first say that all reports are that Austin Collie suffered a concussion but was alert and talking at halftime. Phil Simms was clear during the game that he didn't think the hit was worthy of a flag or a fine. What's worse and what no one seems to address is that the play was a fumble. Collie caught the ball, took two steps, got hit and fumbled the ball. So not only should it have not been a penalty, it should have been Eagles ball. Instead, the Colts scored. No one thought this worthy of a penalty, let alone a fine. Yet it was flagged and don't be surprised if there's a fine. If you want to be even more annoyed, go read how referee Carl Cheffers stumbles over and contradicts himself attempting to justify the flag. It's a joke. The second embarrassment came on the Colts second to last possession. You can at the 2:20 mark. The Eagles sacked Manning on second down, got an incomplete pass on 3rd and forced a 4th and 18. Manning throws an incompletion and it looks like game over. But no, there's a flag. Trent Cole is called for a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty when his hand brushes and I mean brushes the back of Peyton Manning's helmet. The Colts get an automatic first down and end up scoring. The Colts scored and came very close to winning the game outright and did in fact cover the spread based on this call.

Oakland vs. KC: If one ever wants a perfect example of officiating incompetence, look no further than the Chief Raiders game this past Sunday. First, an imaginary pass interference against Raiders CB Chris Johnson setup Kansas City deep in Oakland territory, then officials lost track of downs, thus screwing the Chiefs out of a 1st and goal at the one by claiming it was 4th and goal. Following a holding penalty which should have made the prior play history and unchangeable, officials huddled and corrected the mistake after KC head coach Todd Haley went livid and came onto the playing field with no signs of ever leaving it.
Far worse yet was that in the 4th quarter, the Chiefs were awarded a fumbled punt despite the fact that Raiders returner Nick Miller was down by contact AND the Raiders emerged from the scrum with the ball. The most fun part was watching the officials stand around for two minutes, surrounded by players, while they tried to figure out how to award the ball to the team that did not emerge from the pile with the ball. Naturally, KC turned the fumble into a TD. The Oakland coach could not review the play as he had no challenges left to call. So if the umpires fuck up enough big plays the team that is continuously getting screwed can no longer challenge calls? Seriously that makes sense. Had Oakland not been able to score at the end of regulation and in OT their season would have basically been over as they would have been 2.5 games behind KC, with KC holding the tie breaker, instead of being .5 games back with Oakland holding the tie breaker. Fun watching football games teams and seasons that are determined almost exclusively by the officials.


Dallas vs. GB: How sad that the final nail in the bum Phillips coffin should be a referee’s call? With the cowboys already down 21-0 with 2.03 left in the second quarter, B McCann the new cowboys KR, was stripped of the ball by Green Bay safety Nick Collins, who returned it for 26 yards and a TD that gave Green Bay a 28-0 lead with a 2:04 left in the half. Replays showed McCann's knee hit the ground at the same time the ball was stripped. Whether the referees would have overturned it will never be known, but it seemed to be a good possibility. Phillips couldn't challenge, however. The Cowboys had called timeout on defense twice in the first half, and Phillips had already failed on one challenge a 2-yard run by Brandon Jackson. That cost the Cowboys their last timeout of the half, so without a timeout left, Phillips could not challenge. If I were Bum Phillips, a mid 70’s life long NFL coach about to be retired, I would have pulled my team off the field at halftime and not return unless the umpires admitted their mistake and removed the TD from the scoreboard.


As a stating point to keep the NFL from following the NBA and Wrestling into oblivion, the following should be instituted starting this week!

• All Pass Interference and 15 yard penalties should be subject to an immediate booth review
• All Fumbles should be automatically reviewed in the booth with the offense unable to run the next play.
• All booth reviews must be called on instinct and within 30 seconds.
• Unlimited coaches challenges – a timeout is enough of a penalty. If no Time outs are remaining, each team has 5 free challenges per season. (This will limit the unnecessary coach’s reviews.
• Very clear guidelines on intentional and unintentional PI penalties should be given to each team.
• Unintentional PI should result in 15 yards not spot fouls.
• Intentional grounding should be called for a QB outside the pocket.