NFL Officials Becoming Foretellers Of Events (1 Viewer)

[cazint]

Another ex was today during the Giants game. I support no team except the Saints; but I support fairness and justice in the calling of games.

The Raiders did a running play, got stopped at the line, and before the whistle blew (like one or two whole seconds before...which is a long time in football), but before the whistle blew, the Giants D stripped the ball from the runner, picked it up and started running. As the defender picked up the ball, the whistles then came. But the defender continued and ran all the way to the Riaders endzone, with, of course, several Raiders trying to chase him down.

Here's the deal. Since the whistle CLEARLY blew well after the fumble, even the announcers were saying that they must have blown the whislte saying the runner was down. While the refs were trying to "clear this up", CBS went and showed a reply where it was SO OBVIOUS that the runner was NOT down. So much so that there was really no way for the refs to even suggest that...as it would make them look stupid. I mean, it was clear, the runner was NOT down.

So right before the refs came to announce what the call was, the announcer was like, "well, I guess they are going to try to say that forward progress had stopped....but they didn't blow the whistle". Sure enough, this is what the refs announced, that forward progress had stopped and the play was dead. But CBS replayed it several more times, WITH SOUND, showing how the whistle was NOT blown for a good bit after the fumble. And surely the refs know that. That's what ****** me off the most. If this had happened to our Saints, we would be LIVID! I was just so fumed, that they had the audacity to say that the play was blown dead before the fumble, something that was clearly a BLATANT LIE.

So why then make the call they way they did? Why make that announcement?

Well, what else can they do. These guys are smart, so my guess is they know the screwed up. The one ref wrongly blew the whistle. They talked about it, and agreed that the runner was not down...which means the ball would go the Giants. But then the blowing of the whistle basically stopped what was a defensive TD by the Giants. So the refs completely screwed that one. What could they do? Could they make an announcement saying, "We screwed up and wrongly blew the whistle. The runner was not down and the Giants caused a fumble and recovered it. We then blew a whistle for no apparent reason and will have to guesstimate that the Giants will get the ball at their own 16 yard line." Of couse they won't say that.

Their only way out: say something the KNOW isn't true, but it is something that is NOT challengable. Say the whistle was blown because of a lack of forward progress. But again, this was CLEARLY blown well after the fumble.

You know, until now, hours later, this is still pissing me off. That was one example where the refs straight up lied, and they know the did. On the flipside, what else can they do. I say, admit the mistaken whistle, say you aren't perfect, and give the Giants the ball. Instead, the Raiders maintained posession and subsequently scored.

The refs are just too dang inconsistent. And calls like that make us dislike them even more.

 

[Bill]

You know, until now, hours later, this is still pissing me off. That was one example where the refs straight up lied, and they know the did. On the flipside, what else can they do. I say, admit the mistaken whistle, say you aren't perfect, and give the Giants the ball. Instead, the Raiders maintained posession and subsequently scored.

Seems to me that in this case they simply invoked the 'pity' rule.

 

[SaintBeau]

Seems to me that in this case they simply invoked the 'pity' rule.

Yeah. I might be trying to see the best in everybody, but I think that the refs realized that the Raiders were pretty much demoralized at that point and letting them win that call wouldn't make any difference in the game. I would bet one of my dogs (probably one of the white and tan puppies trying to drag away a tennis shoe by it's laces--with it still being on my foot) that in a closer game the call would go the other way.

 

[FFSaint]

Another thing that gets me is when forward progress is stopped. Sometimes they let a guy move a pile, sometimes they blow the whistle and stop the play, thats the most confusing thing to me.

I assume you are speaking of what happened in the Giants game when Fargas fumbled BEFORE the whistle was blown and they Giants picked up the ball and returned it for a TD. They replayed it 2 or 3 times on CBS to listen for the whistle that wasn't blown until the defender had recovered the fumble.

I agree though. Theres no question that a player should be down when their knees touch the ground. That would end all of this nonsense.

 

[cazint]

I assume you are speaking of what happened in the Giants game when Fargas fumbled BEFORE the whistle was blown and they Giants picked up the ball and returned it for a TD. They replayed it 2 or 3 times on CBS to listen for the whistle that wasn't blown until the defender had recovered the fumble.

I agree though. Theres no question that a player should be down when their knees touch the ground. That would end all of this nonsense.

Nah, I think he was referring to the original game mentioned (Pats/Broncos).

But as you may have seen from my rant above, the game you mentioned is what got me heated.

 

[mid-city fan]

I was just so fumed, that they had the audacity to say that the play was blown dead before the fumble, something that was clearly a BLATANT LIE. So why then make the call they way they did? Why make that announcement?

I can understand why some of you are confused by that call. But this is a case where the officials got the call absolutely correct (after some minor confusion about exactly what the ruling on the field was), and the announcers are completely wrong...something that happens all-too-often.

Among many ways a down can end, the rule book includes the following...

An official shall declare dead ball and the down ended: ...
...(d) when a runner is so held or otherwise restrained that his forward progress ends.
​

The announcers tried to make a big deal about whether whistle blew before the ball came out or not. In this case, IT DIDN'T MATTER WHEN THE WHISTLE BLEW! The sideline official had ruled that the player's forward progress had been stopped. The play is dead then. Anything that happens after that (like a stripped ball) is not relevant. It's not about the whistle, it's about the ruling.

Clearly, the official's call was correct. The runner is in the grasp of several defenders, and he is being pushed and is falling BACKWARD when the ball is stripped. This is a classic case of down by forward progress. No question about it.

Some confusion came about because the Referee made a mistake and announced that the ruling on the field was "down by contact". A few seconds later, after conferring with the official who made the call, he announced the corrected ruling of "forward progress" (which is not reviewable), and the official game book reflects the corrected ruling.

 

[King Solomon]

(Den/Pats) Horrible call for taunting or PI? Worse call if it was for what was said as many here seem to think. I refuse to believe the NFL thinks a grown man is not able to handle some words 4 letter or otherwise it's not golf.
I'd like to hear what the league thinks about some of these calls tho starting with the Brady rules whiff last week.

 

[RCBL]

Actually when I watched it the play was in progress when the flag was thrown. If the guy was talking while making the tackle I can understand, but that was a "penalty to justify the flag" Not the flag to justify the penalty.

Terrible officiating imho, and decided the game.

Potential sequence of events:

1. Ball is tipped.
2. Defender tackles the receiver before the ball arrives (not a foul due to ball being tipped).
3. Side judge throws the flag for pass interference, because his responsibility is to watch that part of the play. The head ref/umpire/whoever knows that the ball was tipped so the pass interference call will be overridden once the refs huddle up.
4. Defender taunts receiver.
5. Side judge has already thrown his flag, so he obviously can't pull out a flag and throw it for this - but that does not mean he did not notice/call a taunting penalty.
6. Refs huddle up, pass interference call is overridden because the ball was tipped, taunting call stands.

Just because a ref has thrown a flag, does not mean he cannot notice/penalize a second foul.

 

[OldSaintFan]

he probably said something very offensive and that was the "taunt" not so much the arm gestures that followed. we can't hear what he said to draw the flag, but you could see his mouth running

I agree with Putz, er, I mean Puntz.

 

[CantonLegend]

IMO if you put yourself in a position to have the referees determine the outcome of the game, you are not good enough to win that game anyway

the game should never fall on the referees shoulders and even tho sometimes they make bad calls, they are the law and if you break it you will get penalized

win the game outright and those teams wont have those problems

look at us for instance.......do the refs blow calls for us? sure they do, but we blow out teams like an elite team should and we take the game out of the referees' hands

 

[TCEd]

Did you notice the penalty for taunting that the side judge threw on the Patriots corner during a crucial drive for the Broncos?

The alleged taunting by the New England player actually occurred after the flag was thrown.

Isn't it amazing how these guys can know what personal foul is going to take place before it happens?





If this were a Saints game, I'd be livid, but for now I'll just let the Denver fans cut loose on the officiating this week.

I just re-watched the game for the second time & there were 2 flags, the flag that we saw at the point of contact was not enforced as interference, the other flag was for taunting. All this confusion is because of that goofball Dan Derdorf (or however you spell his name) to stupid to even listen to the other commentator who pointed out what happened.

 

[Dark Knight II]

The NFL Pity Rules are crazy . And a lot of football games have come down to the officials . Soon it will be just like the NBA . I think we will be seeing a drop in sacks in years to come .