Officiating?

[Uppercut]

I watched the Raiders game last night and the officiating was bad! A sure TD called back for the Texans as the guy did not step out of bounds and there was no review since the official called the play dead! Ouch. The there were 2-3 occasions where the ball was spotted wrong denying the Texans sure firts downs and to top that off when challenged they got it blatantly wrong. I have seen this all year and it seems to be getting worse. I am not sure if full time officials would be the answer or not but it sure seems bad and then the NFL just sends an statement like oh well!!!

[RiverDog]

The KO return was really, really close, so I don't think the call was that bad. But they should have some process in their review that could conclude that the player would have scored had the whistle not blown that would have corrected the call and gave the Texans their TD.

In defense of the refs, the players and coaches have to take some accountability for what seems to be an uptick in penalties this season. A lot of them are pre-snap or clearly avoidable personal fouls. Can't fault the refs for those.

[Uppercut]

Regardless of last night it would be cool if the Seahawks and Raiders met in the SB.

[burrrton]

In defense of the refs, the players and coaches have to take some accountability for what seems to be an uptick in penalties this season. A lot of them are pre-snap or clearly avoidable personal fouls. Can't fault the refs for those.

It's not the sheer number of penalties that eats at me personally- it's them continuously getting calls wrong, and (as I think I've ranted on before) we're not just talking about hand-fighting on deep balls, or a receiver's big toe touching OB that was missed, or other subjective or easy-to-miss determinations that are bound to wax and wane over the course of a game or season.

We're talking about blatant mistakes like an o-lineman starting a full count before the ball is snapped, or not spotting a ball within 5 yards of where it should have been, etc and so on. How can they continually be the only person in the stadium that doesn't know they blew the call?

I've never been easy on officiating, but it's for this reason that I think it truly is getting worse- I've always noticed sht like this, and I'd have *killed* them for mangling calls like these in the past if this was just how it's always been.

[NorthHawk]

There were a couple of questionable calls in the 4th quarter where the replay sure looked to me like they spotted the ball short.
For the first time in a long while I questioned if the refs wanted one team to win, but I still think in the fullness of time these things even out.

[RiverDog]

It's not the sheer number of penalties that eats at me personally- it's them continuously getting calls wrong, and (as I think I've ranted on before) we're not just talking about hand-fighting on deep balls, or a receiver's big toe touching OB that was missed, or other subjective or easy-to-miss determinations that are bound to wax and wane over the course of a game or season.

We're talking about blatant mistakes like an o-lineman starting a full count before the ball is snapped, or not spotting a ball within 5 yards of where it should have been, etc and so on. How can they continually be the only person in the stadium that doesn't know they blew the call?

I've never been easy on officiating, but it's for this reason that I think it truly is getting worse- I've always noticed sht like this, and I'd have *killed* them for mangling calls like these in the past if this was just how it's always been.

If the technology exists to where they could correct situations like last Sunday when Philly's left guard obviously left early and for whatever reason the ref missed it, say like have someone at their super high tech center in NY radio the ref immediately with no interruption in the flow of the game and get the call right, then I'd be for it.

But what I don't want to see happen is throwing everything in the game open for review and subject us to all these annoying disruptions and delays. No one wants to see a pack of zebras huddling for 5 minutes while they all debate the play and wait for some God in the sky to review a couple dozen replay angles. At some point, we're going to have to accept the fact that they're human and that missed calls have been and always will be part of the game. Like the saying goes...Life's not fair. Get used to it.

[burrrton]

I'm not proposing a review of almost literally everything- I have no idea what the solution is.

I'm just saying I strongly believe it's getting worse. Maybe this is the 'new normal', but I don't think it has to be. It's hardly unrealistic to expect officiating to be consistent and competent.

[NorthHawk]

Maybe with the better camera angles and picture we are just seeing it clearly now and it's always been this bad.

[burrrton]

Probably part of it, North, but I didn't need a good angle to see the missed false start, or the mistaken spot of the ball, or the blatant pick plays, etc.

[Rambo2014]

On this board there is always one given fact!!!!!

The refs are bad..boooo hooooo

Seahawks get homey calls every game

[NorthHawk]

Yeah, basic mistakes shouldn't happen, but they do in everyday life, too.
Spotting the ball incorrectly with replay should never happen, but it does.
I still think if they simplified the rule book it would help a lot. As it is, it seems to me it's been lawyered into obfuscation.
People still aren't sure what a catch is for gods sake, and the game is only about 5 things: throwing, catching, running, blocking, and tackling.

[NorthHawk]

On this board there is always one given fact!!!!!

The refs are bad..boooo hooooo

Seahawks get homey calls every game

We're talking refereeing across the league. Bad calls happen against the Rams at the same rate and probably cost them games.

[burrrton]

Yeah, bad spots happen, but not by 8-10 yards.

Again, it's the level of egregiousness that I think is ticking up. They've always missed calls, but not often ones you can easily make from the 300 level of CenturyLink.

[Hawktawk]

The officials clearly favored the Raiders. And there is only one reason to screw up a spot and then screw up the replay. If you and I on the couch or bar stool with a beer can see it then its bias or worse plain and simple.
The NFL is WWF lite anymore.
Now that all calls get the final final from the mother ship in New York one mister Dean Blandino actually makes every call. Talk about a system rife with the potential for serious manipulation of outcomes.
This was supposed to fix it. What it has done is take the game out of the hands of in game officials and give it directly to the NFL but the calls still are obviously provably wrong. And like sherman says they come out and apologize and then the next game it happens again.
Do you think there's a motivation to see the Raiders win the AFC? Was there a financial reason worth probably a billion dollars to see the Steelers beat the seahawks in XL?
Is there a motivation to see Dallas vs the Raiders in the SB?
If you think the Hawks get jacked up too much wait till the NFC title game with Dallas if it comes to that.

Refs are bad and biased at the same time.

[Hawkstar]

Almost as unbearable as the Horrible on-feild officiating, is the league coming out the following day an apologizing for "missed calls". Thanks NFL ~ we still have a L from Saints game, even tho your refs fucked up two crucial plays ~ gifting the Saints 3rd down conversion and a TD. We very well could have lost that game regardless of the shitty officiating, but we'll never know what happens if the Saints were forced to punt if the refs got it correct. Save your apologies.

As for last night -
I literally could give a rats ass who won the game last night. I had an interest in seeing how the former Hawks played and thats about it. The entire game, from the on-field action to the broadcast had a decidedly Raiders slant to it. Profiling traveling Raiders fans, showcasing the former Raiders in attendance, the coronation of the Raiders sitting on top of the AFC West and of course the one sided officiating. I can't imagine being invested as a Texans Fan. The Spot(s) were atrocious. Also, how do they allow a play to continue when the QB has a GREEN LASER bouncing around his helmet and eye shield. You cant tell me the Official couldnt see it - someone is always watching the helmet area of the QB. That play should have been blown dead immediately.

Lastly... ESPN embarrassed themselves by trying to sweep the horrible, game altering calls under the rug. It felt like they went to their knees in front of the almighty NFL. I'm glad a few of the guys today are calling it what it was - a game in which the outcome was decided by the guys in stripes, not in helmets.

[Hawktawk]

Very true about the laser. The game should have been halted until and unless that person was located and arrested. How exactly do you get a laser in a stadium these days?
How could they be sure it wasn't sitting on top of a gun barrel?
Unbelievable.
Or not it is the NFL and they didn't point it at Carr.

[HumanCockroach]

On this board there is always one given fact!!!!!

The refs are bad..boooo hooooo

Seahawks get homey calls every game

Says the guy who's team won his yearly SB because officials

A) wanted the LA rams to win their home opener in their new city.

And

B) wouldn't know OPI if it bit them in the arse.

Truth is, the Lambs are one of those historical pitiful teams that the officials NEED to help stay in the game against quality opponents, not much draw in a team that gets blown out every week.

[RiverDog]

Yeah, basic mistakes shouldn't happen, but they do in everyday life, too.
Spotting the ball incorrectly with replay should never happen, but it does.
I still think if they simplified the rule book it would help a lot. As it is, it seems to me it's been lawyered into obfuscation.
People still aren't sure what a catch is for gods sake, and the game is only about 5 things: throwing, catching, running, blocking, and tackling.

With the advances in technology, like the super blown up replays such as the one last night on the kickoff return, us viewers can have a much better view than the refs on the field, so I think there is a lot of truth to what North Hawk is suggesting.

Jordy Nelson's TD last night is a prime example of what you're talking about. We'll never agree on what's a catch and what's an incompletion.

One of the problems with the NFL is that they have some weird situation occur then they want to fix it by creating a rule, and as such, they've created a monster. I'd really like to see them severely restrict the number of rule changes and interpretations that the competition committee comes up with each winter. It's an incredibly difficult and complicated game to learn from scratch, and IMO one of the reasons that the popularity seems to have peaked is because there's so many immigrants and foreign born citizens that can't understand it and the ever increasing size and complexity of the rule book is driving them away from the game.