The whole Colts/Eagles game (pretty well-played, at a level above the Giants' capabilities) turned on two bad referee calls: the phony horse collar penalty on the Colts that avoided a punt back to the Colts instead of a Philly first down and the missed, but obvious and indisputable pass interference call against Philly that should have been called, but was not, that would have reversed the Luck interception that handed the game to Philly. Lots of what was called as pass interference or illegal contact in last Sunday's games (the Giants/Cards being only one example) was not called as either in this game.
What's the point of watching guys play their hearts out (to say nothing of their making so much money) to get outcomes like this? What do team rankings and standings mean in such a chaotic, unevenly governed playing environment? Not much. Are we to watch, buy tickets, and suffer through all the ads and the delays just to see the manner in which the refs will screw up the next game you happen to be watching? (Without TV, of course, and play review made available to fans on TV, much of this would be missed altogether.)
There can be no legitimate comparison of teams' results when they are determined, as they so obviouslyand disastrously are, by these continuing bad and blown ref calls. I have no certain idea what the answer to this is, but, if the NFL is to be preserved -- and, as it is, it is being destroyed -- an answer must be found.
Here's something to at least think about as useful, perhaps necessary, for next season and the future: (i) make all -- that is ALL -- wrong or blown calls, including those not called, reviewable; (ii) raise the limit on such reviews that can be demanded by the head coaches to some higher number (five or eight or whatever), removing team time-outs, as they do now, for coach reviews not upheld and imposing a new, severe penalty of some kind (25 yards, a point, whatever) for review calls not upheld when the reviewing team's timeouts above three have been exhausted; (iii) keep and publish post-game records of call-reversals resulting from the wrong or missed call by individual refs, naming them; and (iv) compel the removal or suspension of refs responsible for X number of wrong or blown calls in a single season.
Give us back our NFL!
Utilize the review/timeout you suggest and let the coaches dispute a penalty or get one called.
I agree regarding the crying need for fulltime (and younger) officials. The players are faster than ever but the league expects a bunch of 50-60 year olds to be able to keep up with them? There should be a program that targets smart but athletically limited college players, guys who aren't going to play professionally, and train them to be officials in some sort of apprenticeship-type arrangement. The bulk of officials should be in their 30s and 40s.
This. The cheap ass owners should pony up and have these guys full time! This is not the 1940's NFL.
I agree regarding the crying need for fulltime (and younger) officials. The players are faster than ever but the league expects a bunch of 50-60 year olds to be able to keep up with them? There should be a program that targets smart but athletically limited college players, guys who aren't going to play professionally, and train them to be officials in some sort of apprenticeship-type arrangement. The bulk of officials should be in their 30s and 40s.
Wasn't that the Giants draft strategy this year?
These guys need to be incorruptible, impossible for Vegas to payoff. The only way the NFL can do that is have men who have reputations to protect, attorneys, judges, accountants etc whose reputations mean far more to them then mere money.
I'm sure the NFL has considered FT refs thousands of times, but have come up with no better alternative. I'd love to hear one myself, because the refs have been godawful this year.
But I don't think they are crooked and paid off.
Anyway, that's what's going on now in the NFL. Just chuck it and hope you get the PI or holding call. Poor quality play plus constant penalties (and play stoppage) has made the game tedious in the past few years.
In any case, I really think the officials need to be younger. I'm sure these guys do their best to stay in shape, but it's a simple fact of aging that reflexes, speed and eyesight have all diminished in men who are in their 50s and 60s when compared to men in their 30s and 40s.
But I think the Refs should be reviewing their own calls. This new Center they set up in NY could serve that purpose well. When the cameras catch a obvious bad call the refs in NY can contact the game ref and have them stop play and review the call. It should not be on the coaches to police the bad refs. The refs should be doing this themselves and shame on the NFL for not already having an oversight system for bad calls.
The NFL may be peaking....it's looking like all downhill from here....
Solutions: all of the above are sensible. It should start with a review of each game by people knowledgeable of the rules followed by suspension of an entire crew making more than one noticeable bad call. The comment about watching the players play hard, then seeing the outcome ruined ny a flow of bad calls is sickening. And with so much emphasis on safety, the simple penalty call of 'roughing the passer' isn't always good enough. A defensive player putting his head down and spearing a QB (often a team's season rides on the shoulders of the QB) that has just thrown a ball or is in the act should result in an immediate trip to the shower followed by at least a one game suspension. A horse collar is clearly defined in the rules. When an entire unit doesn't understand, they should get a suspension- no pay, no perks and a bag over heir heads.
It started in the pre season and has carried over. Reffing is hard work. And mistakes will be made. But the first couple of weeks this year is shameful. We are throwing a flag on the refs. Get it right or get out, And most of these games are only of minimal interest to Giants' fans, but they are of interest to fans who love football.
Did. Thanks. Please see separate note just sent.