Studs Patriots - for beating the bills Bills - for losing to the patriots Eagles - for beating the fins Fins - for losing to the eagles Duds Refs - Seriously it's getting harder and harder to watch games when the refs seem to always jump in at the end and change the outcome. Somehow phily had 0 penalties on national TV. There was a missed facemask, several missed holding penalties and really they seemed like they were against miami. In the steelers/rams game, the D made a stop on 3rd and 1 but the refs somehow gave the steelers a 1st ending the game without the rams getting a chance to tie it. In the cleveland/colts game, the refs gifted a 1st and goal from the 1 to give them 4 shots at a go ahead TD from the 1. It's really becoming nonsense to watch Ds get a stop only to have the refs be like "nah bro too bad" it also takes away good football from us. I wanted to see the rams and stafford try to drive down the field with 2 mins left against the pitt. I have no stake in the game and didn't really care about the outcome but it just robs us of football and robs the D of a big stop at a crucial point in the game. so instead of seeing stafford try to go 80 yards for a TD with 2 mins and 0 timeouts, we got to see 3 knees. it's complete nonsense.
It was disgusting, I am on a group text with friends I play football with and we were constantly back and forth watching all the games with "there's another one" and check this game or that game watching call after call that were horrifically bad. Many costing teams W's, changing the game we love for the worst. The refs need some accountability or make them full time, the fact they aren't is an injustice to fans. Colts and Rams fans should be sick today, if they miss the playoffs by a game the backlash should justifiably be deafening.
bagent looked better running that offense then fields ever has. the numbers weren't eye popping, but he ran the offense well, took what the D gave him. Pretty impressive for an UDFA rookie QB
You could make an argument Bagent, Walker, and Tyrod are playing better than their starters. Hell even Dobbs looks better than Murray did at times last year..
Jags/Saints was very well officiated and should be a model game for officials. Throw a flag when it’s there (8 total penalties - 76 yards) and virtually nothing game shattering.
As long as we’ve been playing and watching football, there have been bad calls…it is what it is. BUT…this year seems WAY worse….I don’t know if it’s really game fixing with the gambling influence getting stronger, or newer refs that just aren’t as good, but whatever the reason, the officiating has been seriously brutal. From missed no calls to bad calls, it just feels like there are WAY more game changing calls this year. I’ve never been one for going into the game fixing mindset as I’d like to really believe that shit isn’t happening in the NFL, but it’s getting more and more blatant. The Colts were absolutely HOSED at the end of their game…that PI call on a ball that was 7 yards past the end zone and CLEARLY uncatchable that gave the Browns the ball on the 1 yard line was horseshit. The holding non calls on good teams is absolutely disgusting…there are blatant holds with OL on rushers’ necks that don’t get called. The inconsistency is horrible. And the sucky part is there is totally NOTHING we can do about it. Shit, the NFL fines coaches if they even talk about it, which to me is just so wrong on so many levels. I don’t know what to do about fixing it but it’s been absolutely game wrecking…WAY too many critical calls that are changing game outcomes. It happened to us against KC, it FOR SURE happened to the Colts yesterday, a bunch of other calls looked like shit… They need to make EVERY FUCKIING PLAY reviewable…INCLUDING penalties, and in those cases, they need to go to a truly impartial source to fix these brutal calls.
I think if the NFL received petitions from a multitude of NFL teams fan sites complaining and demanding that the situation be fixed or else we stop watching and stop buying tickets and merchandise, they'd have to do something. The main problem is coordinating something like that, and getting people to do it. So many people are pessimistic that they'd say that it won't make any difference, or they wouldn't be willing to boycott games or buying merchandise, and that is why the NFL can get away with it. Even then, the NFL probably would decide to test our resolve and that's where most of those who had signed would cave. If NFL fans started canceling their season tickets and stopped buying merchandise for a month or two during the offseason it would definitely get their attention, but they're counting on our love for/addiction to the game. Maybe another way would be to get the media involved. If we could get all the major podcasters, sports news companies, SI, and newspapers to start trashing the NFL and the job the referees do, maybe that could pressure them into making changes.
bagent looked much better then fields for sure, and tyrod looked better then jones. Dobbs has looked better then expected but not as good as murray. Walker doens't look good at all but niether does watson, still watson is playing better then walker is. DTR was even worse then both of them which is why he was benched after 1 game. Dalton outplayed bryce young too in his 1 game.
One has to wonder if the legal gambling that’s legal now, might be involved? For years we have all sworn at the tv and said the fix was in. Could it possibly be now? If I’m a Colts, or Rams fan the league office is getting an earful. The officiating this year blows.
It probably a combination of a few things. Most likely is the access. I mean 20 years ago I watched 4 games a week because thats all that was available really to most people. I got the in market games (jets and giants) MNF and SNF. now with sunday ticket and split screen and multiple TVs/tablets etc and TNF I'm watching like 8-10 games a week. Plus with the clips on the NFL reddit going up so fast it's really easy to see whats going on in ever game. where before it was reading the monday paper sports section and in market games only.
Holy crap that Colts call at the end was tragic--NFL's got to start reviewing this shit--how about the phantom offensive offsides by Philly last night? What kind of assholes do they have reffing?
I don't gamble, or play office pools, so I don't pay attention to spreads, but I'd be curious to find out if any, or how many, of these calls/non-calls affected payouts. My hunch is, a lot. It seems clear that the game is being managed for the benefit of the gambling industry and advertisers, and the fans are not even an afterthought.
The past few years I've gotten some great insight as to how officiating works at the pro level. It's not nearly as evil as some think... and it's definitely not as easy as some think.
That may be true, but perception trumps reality. And the growing perception is is that the games are being manipulated to a greater or lesser degree by the refs for some unstated purpose. And what does "easy" or hard for that matter, have to do with this? If the refs are having so much difficulty calling games properly then the NFL has to seriously consider making it a FT job and giving them the training they need to do the job better.
