I'm absolutely FED UP with NFL Officiating......

[RollRed]

That's exactly the reason I think change IS going to come in regard to reviewing PI calls. And it should.

When Jim Nantz, hardly a flame-thrower, says unequivocally that the first PI call on Haden was horseshit - for all of the country to hear - the league has to take notice.

When he sees a bad call, Nantz hardly ever says anything more than, "Mmm..tough call." But in this case, Steratore and, as I recall, Romo, chimed in.

It's an embarrassment to the league that has to be dealt with.

Not only did that first PI on Haden give them 1st and goal at the 1, it was a 4th down play so if it’s called correctly it’s our ball near midfield. That’s a HUUUUGE ******* call to blow in a game like this. Calls that have so much bearing on the outcome of a game have to
be reviewable.

 

[steel dino]

Yeah I heard him make that statement. It couldn't have been more false. Despite the turnovers....the 2 PI calls on Haden the first one absolutely ridiculous.....those both led to gifted TD's for the Saints and we lost by 3 point. So to say it didn't effect the outcome of the game is like giving the officials a Free Pass.

Tomlin is a good "league man"..and wont do anything to disrupt the shield...

Im sure he was biting his tongue as he spew this..

 

[Steelr4evr]

Yeah I heard him make that statement. It couldn't have been more false. Despite the turnovers....the 2 PI calls on Haden the first one absolutely ridiculous.....those both led to gifted TD's for the Saints and we lost by 3 point. So to say it didn't effect the outcome of the game is like giving the officials a Free Pass.

This stuff cost them 2 games. TWO. They may have played like *** against bum teams,but they literally had two games they did way more than enough to win and got hosed.

It's changing entire outcomes,its destroying seasons and opportunity for the post season. This is professional? The officiating is now slanting the games sometimes heavily on horrific judgment calls. It cheapens the game.

If you can't call it right 98% of the time and have replay fix your 2% for brain farts then you don't need the rule simple as that.

I can't watch 2-3 plays without a ******* flag or a flag that should have been thrown.

 

[Ike Kelly]

Tomlin is a good "league man"..and wont do anything to disrupt the shield...

Im sure he was biting his tongue as he spew this..

You know he was. He’s said before when asked about officiating issues during games, “I’m not sending anymore money to NY”.

The problem is as Vader says, challenging it opens up Pandora’s box for the officials. So, why not get it right when it’s called. Why does there have to be a grand poopah in NY overseeing all the replays for all the games? A somewhat unmanageable role on so many levels. The comp committee should really look to having a Senior official at the venue overseeing all calls made during the game. You have a huddle of the officials with the whitecap. Surely having a Senior spotter who has the equipment to review everything in real time at the time it occurs be more beneficial.

Oh, and Senior officials are FULL time, not part-time positions.


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[steel dino]

You know he was. He’s said before when asked about officiating issues during games, “I’m not sending anymore money to NY”.

The problem is as Vader says, challenging it opens up Pandora’s box for the officials. So, why not get it right when it’s called. Why does there have to be a grand poopah in NY overseeing all the replays for all the games? A somewhat unmanageable role on so many levels. The comp committee should really look to having a Senior official at the venue overseeing all calls made during the game. You have a huddle of the officials with the whitecap. Surely having a Senior spotter who has the equipment to review everything in real time at the time it occurs be more beneficial.

Oh, and Senior officials are FULL time, not part-time positions.


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I like how your thinkin' Ike.

 

[VaSteelerFan]

Definitely getting worse every year and the NFL needs to do something about it. They need to finally get away from part time refs and find some way to keep these guys actively training. I dont think 16 games a year is enough experience.

They also need to start assigning only their better officials to the key regular season games. This game had huge playoff implications so it should have had one of their top 2 or 3 crews. We got garbage refs easily influenced by home team crowds and players.

The NFL product is getting really hard to watch. There is incredible inconsistency among officials and some are making incomprehensible calls. You don't see this in baseball - calls that get overturned there are dealing with inches and milliseconds. Plate umpires seeing 400 pitches at 90+ MPH with ridiculous movement are getting 95-98% of them right and when they are wrong they are off by an inch or 2.

Hell, even hockey refs are better. I really think it has a lot to do with them calling less than 20 games a year. I'd be really interested to know what the NFL does to keep these guys trained in the off season.

 

[papillon]

The best thing to do is make PI a 10 yard penalty and automatic 1st down and be done with it. That, at least, gives the defense a fighting chance,if the NFL really likes subjectivity so much they could make the PI call subjective by allowing the refs to determine if the PI was on purpose to prevent a TD and give them a spot foul rather than just the 10 yard variety. They do it with roughing the kicker, might as well do it in the secondary as well. It's too easy for quarterbacks to simply throw it up for grabs when out of options and get a call, which, by the way is exactly what Brees did on 4th and 1. He was out of the pocket and knew he had no options so he threw into the endzone, and hoped for an INT or a penalty, he got the penalty.

Papillon

 

[VaSteelerFan]

I don't like the 10 yard PI penalty. It's a free pass to anyone beaten by the WR to do whatever it takes to stop them from catching the ball.

 

[AggieSteel]

We finished with a winning record despite losing two games to the refs and two to Mike Tomlin (and really both games to the refs were also to Mike Tomlin too). This team deserves so much better


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[Vader]

I don't like the 10 yard PI penalty. It's a free pass to anyone beaten by the WR to do whatever it takes to stop them from catching the ball.

They can already do that before the ball is in the air. It's called holding and it's only a 5 yard penalty and a 1st down. The offensive players are already babied enough. They have to do something to help the defense. Every rule since 1978 has helped the offense. They need to help out the defense a little bit. Why is it when the defense holds it's a 1st down but when the offense holds they don't even lose a down? It's got to stop. If they stopped giving those 50 yard penalties then all this "We was cheated!!" **** stops except for the extreme NFL conspiracy theory nuts.

 

[Vader]

We finished with a winning record despite losing two games to the refs and two to Mike Tomlin (and really both games to the refs were also to Mike Tomlin too). This team deserves so much better


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They didn't lose to the refs. They lost because the coach used a ******* FB to try and get over 5 yards on a fake punt, he used an ILB to cover their best WR, they fumbled twice, oh and they still use 2 DL as their "Goal line" package.

 

[Coach]

The refs are really bad and are steering the outcome of games.


What can be done? On critical calls for a big play or score, don't let one man decide. A suggestion. Why not have a panel of three video officials on such calls and keep them on a separate team giving the players, coaches, owners and fans a 2nd chance for justice.

I do think field officials try to cover their team's rear ends. Screw that, get it right.

 

[Ike Kelly]

I like how your thinkin' Ike.

Thanks, there are numerous solutions out there. However, the NFL's slow approach to pretty much everything since Goodell been commissioner, guarantees its a long road ahead for change. When Rozelle had parity in mind, it was team related. Because the more teams involved in trying to make the playoffs the more viewership for the game and networks. This offense scaled monstrosity created by Goodlell is all because of generalized polls saying more points are needed to showcase the game. Which was and still is BS. True fans of the game knows and wants parity from both sides. Not just one.

 

[Ike Kelly]

The best thing to do is make PI a 10 yard penalty and automatic 1st down and be done with it. That, at least, gives the defense a fighting chance,if the NFL really likes subjectivity so much they could make the PI call subjective by allowing the refs to determine if the PI was on purpose to prevent a TD and give them a spot foul rather than just the 10 yard variety. They do it with roughing the kicker, might as well do it in the secondary as well. It's too easy for quarterbacks to simply throw it up for grabs when out of options and get a call, which, by the way is exactly what Brees did on 4th and 1. He was out of the pocket and knew he had no options so he threw into the endzone, and hoped for an INT or a penalty, he got the penalty.

Papillon

To do that still doesn't solve the problem. It just reduces the actual play outcome. Its still a blown call. Why not get it right to begin with when they can?

When I read whose crew was assigned to the game on Thurs I knew then there would be a problem. Wrolstad's crew has had complaints from all coaches. Specifically on the fact that his crew shows favoritism towards the home team. Wrolstad's crew has notoriously called against the road team by a 2 - 3 margin. We know Walt Coleman's crew lets the DB's and receivers play, so their PI calls are mind blowing inconsistent as well. Hocuilii, now retired, protected the QBs. That's the problem. There shouldn't be a "image" towards a crew. They all should be pretty consistent based on knowing what is or isn't a correct call.

 

[Vader]

To do that still doesn't solve the problem. It just reduces the actual play outcome. Its still a blown call. Why not get it right to begin with when they can?

When I read whose crew was assigned to the game on Thurs I knew then there would be a problem. Wrolstad's crew has had complaints from all coaches. Specifically on the fact that his crew shows favoritism towards the home team. Wrolstad's crew has notoriously called against the road team by a 2 - 3 margin. We know Walt Coleman's crew lets the DB's and receivers play, so their PI calls are mind blowing inconsistent as well. Hocuilii, now retired, protected the QBs. That's the problem. There shouldn't be a "image" towards a crew. They all should be pretty consistent based on knowing what is or isn't a correct call.

The weird thing is that the Saints were penalized more than the Steelers in that game. Saints had 9 pen. for 91 yards and the Steelers had 6 for 79 yards. And it wasn't just this game. The Steelers opponents have had more flags by a large margin the past 3 weeks. Especially in the Raider game where the Steelers had 2 pen. for 14 yards and the Raiders had 13 pen. for 130 yards.

 

[VaSteelerFan]

Can't change the course of a game by making 2 bogus PI calls on 4th down. Need to be damn sure of yourself before making a call of that magnitude.

 

[SteelerSask2]

Can't change the course of a game by making 2 bogus PI calls on 4th down. Need to be damn sure of yourself before making a call of that magnitude.

Yeah we are not talking about a phantom holding call here. We are talking about 14 points that shoudn't have been on the scoreboard. Both were 4th down plays. Its great the attitude the Steelers players have about it, but **** sometimes you gotta make a statement too.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

They need to make them all full-time employees.

 

[SteelerFan448]

We won't make the playoffs because we lost to Oakland and Denver.

And NO and Baltimore and LAC and tied Cleveland.

 

[Drink IRON City]

You guys are all missing the point, GAME MANIPULATION is done through officiating. You are all talking about how bad the officiating is yet nothing of the manipulation of said games. If you don't think "BIG MONEY" has their hand in this you are incredibly wrong. It's not neccessarily about win or lose but more of the points. Bets have to be in by a certain time and the totals for or against are known thus the manipulation to how much $$$ changes hands. It's done so some will win, to keep em coming back, some will lose. Officials are told which way to lean towards. Job / threat / old age / part time / are all things held to keep you bitching about the officiating rather than seeing for what it truely is and that is controlled at the top. BLOW it off all you want but it happens and at what percentage might be more astounding than you think. Full time ref's..........joke & will never happen because that may up the quality of the game to much. There needs to be a focal point for the common fan and that is piss poor officiating, end of story.






Salute the nation

 

[FSF]

The fumble they whistled after we had the ball and ran it back ten yards.

The PI should have been negated from the fact the ball was deflected anyway...

God we were screwed


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[AggieSteel]

I’m still trying to figure out how they got 5 extra yards on the FG before halftime when Kamara was clearly out of bounds at the 30 yard line. They gave him the 25 even after review. How? 48 yard field goal is a lot harder than 43..


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[Ike Kelly]

The weird thing is that the Saints were penalized more than the Steelers in that game. Saints had 9 pen. for 91 yards and the Steelers had 6 for 79 yards. And it wasn't just this game. The Steelers opponents have had more flags by a large margin the past 3 weeks. Especially in the Raider game where the Steelers had 2 pen. for 14 yards and the Raiders had 13 pen. for 130 yards.

Here is the thing...I don't really think the total of penalties as being the problem. The back/side/line judges tell the players "they are seeing this infraction and they are going to call it". So players are sometime forewarned when it comes to holding on both sides. Its the plays that are due to "the moment in the game" where an official has gotten caught up with the crowd and impacts his decision making that blow my mind. They are professionals, they are supposed to tune all that out. The second PI on Haden was classic. Both the Side Judge and Back Judge waited a few seconds AFTER hearing the crowd before pulling out their flags. IMO, which means little to the argument, they got caught up and looked at each other at the same time. Someone with the 22 film would be able to see the body language of both after the play happened. If it was so blatant, there should be immediate response. not 3 to 4 seconds after the incomplete pass.

Madden said it best..when he was broadcasting with Summerall.....if there is a call that is so impactful to the game.....you shouldn't have to think about calling it.

 

[SteelerFan448]

The fumble they whistled after we had the ball and ran it back ten yards.

The PI should have been negated from the fact the ball was deflected anyway...

God we were screwed

The fumble was questionable. It's a bang-bang play and that's going to be called an incomplete pass 99 out of 100 times. There is no way the officials are going to see a deflected pass in live action when you can't even tell for sure if it was tipped zoomed in and in slow motion.

 

[Ike Kelly]

Even more evidence about the inconsistency with officiating this year in this league. Tonight on the OAK/DEN game. Denver scores on a pass, however Gruden challenges....not the score from the catch but rather Keenum passing beyond the line of scrimmage. After a long delay...and I mean long....the officials notify Gruden he cant challenge the touchdown as it is reviewed automatically and charges him a timeout for throwing his flag. WTH? If he can’t challenge then how can he be penalized. In most instances they pick up the challenge flag when a challenge isn’t allowed. The only time the coach loses a challenge and timeout is during an unsportsmanlike penalty from which 15 yards is also assessed. Neither was a US penalty called, or yards penalized. So why is Gruden charged a timeout for a challenge that had nothing to do with the TD catch itself, but rather the QB passing the LOS? And why is it not challengeable? It’s not a judgement call.

On top of all this BS, guess who Gruden uses for his video spotter? A former NFL official. Yes that’s right a former NFL official who should know when a challenge is or isn’t allowed, and whom Gruden relied on when throwing his challenge flag.

It’s bewildering and total BS at the same time. The product is suffering because there is no mechanism in place for officiating accountability. That’s on the commissioner. No one else.


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