Holy crap - Freeman throws the TD pass as time runs out, but the receiver is ineligible because he was pushed out of bounds and was the first player to touch the ball. Apparently the rule is different for the end zone than for the sidelines - or is it? Of course, if he was pushed out of bounds that means there was illegal contact by the defense, so the game shouldn't have ended anyway. As always, NFL referees are a joke.
That is awful....but I think we may be hearing more about that play. The NFL will have to look at that.
The media would be hammering the replacement refs for this, but they won't even mention it now. Hopefully the NFL will step in and at least clarify the rule.
The Tampa call looked awful, but I believe the call was that he stepped out the side earlier, so the push isn't illegal contact, and it is the initial unforced step out that made him ineligible.
Who are you all rooting for in the SNF game tonight?? The AFC playoff picture really seems wide open right now. Ravens will probably take the North, and the Jets will most likely be fighting with both of these teams for a WC spot.
The Steelers have already dropped TD passes on separate drives, costing themselves TDs. Like five horrible drops already.
Man, when I was teenager in the 80's, I thought the bengals uni's were cool. Now that I'm older and wiser, those things are freakin ugly....
ref just pointed the wrong way when calling a penalty seriously are we sure these aren't still replacement refs? :grin: even gamecenter is pointing out some of these gaffes
attention Al Michaels: the ref said they're challenging whether he was down. They're not trying to challenge to remove the 2 yards. Lewis is challenging, thinking the receiver was not down before he lost the ball. He's wrong, but if you listened to what the ref said, you'd know why the challenge flag was thrown. (Michaels went on for a minute about how Lewis is foolish to waste a challenge/timeout when the play only would've gained 2 yards)
I am convinced that the only way the regular refs are better than the replacement refs is that they aren't nearly as slow in throwing flags. In terms of the actual calls they are definitely no better, and amazingly enough it's not even clear that they know the rules any better (such as not calling the 15 yard penalty on New England today when they challenged a call that was automatically reviewable).
roofiesberger snapped the ball with 5 seconds left on the play clock, but it didn't matter because Dwyer ran for a first down anyway and Pitt can kneel it out. yes, I haven't seen that enforced. It was supposed to be a 15 yard penalty if a coach challenged a TD/turnover (which are now automatically reviewed), but the penalties don't get called. The regular refs are quicker to react with the flags and their 'discussions' don't take nearly as long. Also, they don't get as confused when announcing the penalties/outcomes of plays. But there are still a number of calls being blown.
Since when is throwing a perfect pass to one of the best WR is the leauge (who used his speed to get behind the defense) luck? They Giants aren't lucky, they're GOOD.
The only thing I would change from your statement is that I think the same number of calls are being blown. Oh well. The officials lost the lockout big time anyway (by agreeing that all will be in a 401(k) plan in 4 years, and allowing "backup" referees to be available to replace underperforming ones), so I guess them being no better than the replacements can be viewed as the price the league pays.
