NFL Thread 2019-2020

[forgetful]

Both calls were wrong.
As was the missed pass interference.
As was the missed 13 men on the field call earlier in the game.

The only reason not to investigate whether there were some Tim Donaghy-like shenanigans here is that no one would believe NFL officials are competent enough to pull that off.

You know there were a lot more missed calls than that right? Three of the top of my head. Phantom hold on a 10-yard run by Jones. Missed hold/pass interference when Graham going to end zone. Missed pass interference when a Detroit linebacker shoved Jones to the ground when the ball was in the air.

Could have called unnecessary roughness on the Green Bay corner for a forearm shiver to the Detroit WR, way late, after a key 3rd down stop.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Didn’t feel like the Lions were the better team to me. Part of football is scoring touchdowns, especially when you have a short field all night.

The Lions had 299 total yards. They had a 70 yard play on their first possession and a 58 yard play on their second possession. Other than those two chunk plays they did absolutely nothing offensively. They did take advantage of the Packers inexperienced backup WRs giving the ball up twice and turned it into some good field position.

Packers had 150 total yards more, 120 more rushing yards, 22 first downs to the Lions 13, and won the time of possession battle. Only phase of the game the Lions won was the turnover battle.

Yeah, no doubt the Packers benefited from some home cooking, but try as they might (two dropped TDs, two fumbles, and a pop-up interception at the 2 yard line) to hand it to the Lions, Detroit just refused to win the game.

[Pakuni]

You know there were a lot more missed calls than that right? Three of the top of my head. Phantom hold on a 10-yard run by Jones. Missed hold/pass interference when Graham going to end zone. Missed pass interference when a Detroit linebacker shoved Jones to the ground when the ball was in the air.

Could have called unnecessary roughness on the Green Bay corner for a forearm shiver to the Detroit WR, way late, after a key 3rd down stop.

So, first the bad calls weren't really bad calls, and now the bad calls are NBD because there may have been other bad calls.
It's OK to admit your team was the beneficiary of terrible officiating. There won't be an asterisk in the standings tomorrow.

[Jockey]

Was trying to be funny, in that to me, it would be more reasonable to discuss whether the Panthers would be better with or without Cam Marotta, then it is to discuss them with Cam Newton.

My humor failed. I apologize to the board, Cam Marotta, and the world.

I knew you were trying to be funny, but I misread your post as Marriotts I star Adrian of Marietta.

So I can be flogged by the board as well.

[forgetful]

I just watched it in real time on my DVR again on the first penalty. It’s an egregious call by the umpire. He has all shoulder pad and then hair. Worst of all, the umpire throws the flag after the play is over and the play is 4 feet from the umpire. That is no way hands to the face.

If that play happened on its own, it happens, but same official 9 minutes later with same call on same player is garbage. Detroit still needs to score TDs. The officiating fiascos have to stop.

For the first one, what I'm referring to you can see in the clip below at ~55 seconds. At the end, he lets go of the shoulder pad and drives his hand into the neck/head area. Not major, but technically can be called hands to the face. Not a good call, but I'll give the official a pass.

The other one, remains a bad call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfl7GtlWn8

[tower912]

It feels like one of those commercials....."If you're a Lions fan, you expect to get jobbed on calls.  It's what you do."

But... score some touchdowns and it doesn't matter.   

[jsglow]

I thought there were a number of horrible calls and 'over officiating' has become a serious problem in the NFL.  The Packers did themselves no favors by turning the ball over constantly and it wasn't until ARodg went to the coaching staff insisting they put Lazard in the game that it finally started to click.  That said, you don't win football games by kicking 5 field goals.

The Lions played better last night.  They are most certainly NOT the better team.  Good teams win on off nights.  Just like the Packers did.

[cheebs09]

I’ll admit those were bad calls but remember seeing what forgetful is referring to in order to make that one a little understandable. After the roughing the passer calls against Matthews last year, I’m definitely not apologizing for the Packers being on the beneficial side though.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

For the first one, what I'm referring to you can see in the clip below at ~55 seconds. At the end, he lets go of the shoulder pad and drives his hand into the neck/head area. Not major, but technically can be called hands to the face. Not a good call, but I'll give the official a pass.

The other one, remains a bad call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfl7GtlWn8

LOL, no.  That's not a penalty in the least.

[tower912]

Nope.  Hands to the chest.

[Cheeks]

https://twitter.com/BarrySanders/status/1183946514311385088


Bad bad bad calls.  Barry Sanders not happy

[Cheeks]

Hands to the face clearly.....except wrong team called.

[GB Warrior]

I thought there were a number of horrible calls and 'over officiating' has become a serious problem in the NFL.  The Packers did themselves no favors by turning the ball over constantly and it wasn't until ARodg went to the coaching staff insisting they put Lazard in the game that it finally started to click.  That said, you don't win football games by kicking 5 field goals.

The Lions played better last night.  They are most certainly NOT the better team.  Good teams win on off nights.  Just like the Packers did.

This is the right take. The Packers had several opportunities to dominate down the stretch if not for their own miscues. They did not deserve to win in light of them. But now you'll should never have Packers fans complain about the Fail Mary ever again.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I'm just happy that if there is a referee conspiracy, my team gets to benefit from it. 

[mu03eng]

You'll forgive me if I'm totally unsympathetic to all this ref-based hand ringing.....officials have cost my teams plenty, it's kind of nice to be on the beneficial side of incompetent officiating.

Side note, while I think officiating in football is generally terrible I also think much like baseball it's just impossible given all the slow motion, AR, etc that we see on our TVs that the officials are trying to call in real time with athletes moving faster than ever. We can't expect officials to get everything right that is Zapreder filmed on twitter.

[MU82]

Agree there were some bad calls against both teams. The second hands to face call was especially brutal but everyone seems to be assuming Lions would have gone down to kick the winning FG had it not been called.

[GB Warrior]

You'll forgive me if I'm totally unsympathetic to all this ref-based hand ringing.....officials have cost my teams plenty, it's kind of nice to be on the beneficial side of incompetent officiating.

Side note, while I think officiating in football is generally terrible I also think much like baseball it's just impossible given all the slow motion, AR, etc that we see on our TVs that the officials are trying to call in real time with athletes moving faster than ever. We can't expect officials to get everything right that is Zapreder filmed on twitter.

It does amaze me that the NFL has not implemented some technology that would remove variables. The goal line touchdown (that from every angle did not appear to be) should not be left up to two spotters trying to find the ball amidst 22 large men. The only variables that should exist in that situation are not 'did the ball cross the plane', but 'was the ball still under control' or 'was the player down'

[drewm88]

Forget the officials. My takeaway was that Booger sucks. First time I'd watched much MNF this season. You don't have to fill every silence. I liked him last year as a 3rd guy. Does he always talk this much as the #2?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It does amaze me that the NFL has not implemented some technology that would remove variables. The goal line touchdown (that from every angle did not appear to be) should not be left up to two spotters trying to find the ball amidst 22 large men. The only variables that should exist in that situation are not 'did the ball cross the plane', but 'was the ball still under control' or 'was the player down'

And that's a call they usually get right.

I have been saying this for years, but there are simply too many rule and rule interpretations.  They have made it more complex when some simplification is needed.  Flag fests at the end of games are terrible to watch.

[mu03eng]

I'd love to see the NFL implement an RFID technology for the boundary calls like ball out of bounds and the ball crossing the goal line. You could put RFID(or similar technology) in the skin of the ball as well as the cleats. It could also lead to very neat graphics, etc. Won't solve all problems but would certainly reduce a noticeable group of them.

Before you tell it won't work, they use a very similar technology for America's Cup racing to determine if a boat crossed an imaginary line....if they can do it there it can be relatively easily done in the NFL.

[mu03eng]

Forget the officials. My takeaway was that Booger sucks. First time I'd watched much MNF this season. You don't have to fill every silence. I liked him last year as a 3rd guy. Does he always talk this much as the #2?

Yeah this was the first MNF game I've watched this season with the sound on and I couldn't take it. I thought my wife's eyes were going to roll out of her head a couple of times when he started jabbering again.

[GB Warrior]

And that's a call they usually get right.

I have been saying this for years, but there are simply too many rule and rule interpretations.  They have made it more complex when some simplification is needed.  Flag fests at the end of games are terrible to watch.

Yes. The goal of this technology (or any type of automation in my opinion), is to reduce error and remove variables. Every time the NFL has changed rules, they've been reactive and ended up introduced variables and making it MORE complicated. The Dez Catch? A crappy outcome, but let's not introduce a bunch of subjective factors. The LAR-NO PI fiasco? Terrible - but they couldn't have predicted that PI is generally a nuanced penalty and rarely as egregious as the one they missed?

The worst of these, IMO, is this idea that they let the play go so they can trigger review. But the burden to overturn is high. The Lions got fleeced this way against the Chiefs.

The NFL has a lot of officiating problems, but core among these is their rules are reactive to specific instances rather than theoretical. Not a good process.

[cheebs09]

I'd love to see the NFL implement an RFID technology for the boundary calls like ball out of bounds and the ball crossing the goal line. You could put RFID(or similar technology) in the skin of the ball as well as the cleats. It could also lead to very neat graphics, etc. Won't solve all problems but would certainly reduce a noticeable group of them.

Before you tell it won't work, they use a very similar technology for America's Cup racing to determine if a boat crossed an imaginary line....if they can do it there it can be relatively easily done in the NFL.

I always find it funny that a first down is dependent on a ref pinpointing where the guy was down and then walking a straight line to where the ref places the ball down.

[mu03eng]

I always find it funny that a first down is dependent on a ref pinpointing where the guy was down and then walking a straight line to where the ref places the ball down.

Absolutely, one could argue that these micro errors collectively cost teams far more than other subjective calls do.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

You don't have to fill every silence.

This.  I turned the sound way, way down.