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Fresh off the debacle vs Seattle Hochulis crew was on the Thursday game screwing it up as well. But today’s non call in the closing minutes of the Cleveland Pack game was worse . Mayfield had been bad and unlucky in throwing 3 picks but the D had them set up . Mayfield put the ball right on a receiver only to have the DB grab him so hard and pull him obviously back while propelling him past the receiver to pick the ball . The ref didn’t miss it . No way just like Dee Jay . They chose not to flag the nfl darling team playing the lesser team . I’ve been a fan for 50 years . Seen so much in the league from rule changes to protests I never agreed with . I’ll go to my grave believing there was something wrong with XL. But as a general rule I felt the game was evenly officiated . Some of these calls and especially non calls are really making me question the integrity of the NFL. They have a credibility issue . I’ve never seen it so obvious .

Hawktawk wrote:Fresh off the debacle vs Seattle Hochulis crew was on the Thursday game screwing it up as well. But today’s non call in the closing minutes of the Cleveland Pack game was worse . Mayfield had been bad and unlucky in throwing 3 picks but the D had them set up . Mayfield put the ball right on a receiver only to have the DB grab him so hard and pull him obviously back while propelling him past the receiver to pick the ball . The ref didn’t miss it . No way just like Dee Jay . They chose not to flag the nfl darling team playing the lesser team . I’ve been a fan for 50 years . Seen so much in the league from rule changes to protests I never agreed with . I’ll go to my grave believing there was something wrong with XL. But as a general rule I felt the game was evenly officiated . Some of these calls and especially non calls are really making me question the integrity of the NFL. They have a credibility issue . I’ve never seen it so obvious .

Complaints about the officiating are as old as the game itself. I think that there are some minor changes that can be made, perhaps more direct involvement from the ref in the booth or at their central control, that would represent some limited improvement over the status quo, but we're never going to be able to completely eliminate human error from the equation unless we want to stop the game after each play and do a complete analysis of the actions of all of the 22 men on the field, and even then, it's likely that they'd still miss a few.

It is what it is.

These aren't the "run of the mill complaints" that have always existed. The "old days" didn't have refs that caught every miscue...the game was allowed to flow affording the casual fan to observe the ebb and tide of momentum...either by a stellar defensive play or more usual a long tackle breaking run. Now with so much camera coverage and the advantage of slow-mo and close-up views...the game has been "allowed" to turn into a complex alteration of rules with too many grey areas for rule comprehension and a feeling of constant interruption by late flags. Its the late flags that draw the most suspicion...in an ever increasing world of heavy cash flow due to legalized betting the NFL has not taken many safeguards. I find it hard to believe an entire officiating crew would be "on the take" but one or two would be enough to upset the balance of integrity. Example: A ref of integrity throws a flag similar to the one Pass Interference "no call" on DJ Dallas...a ref on the take (especially if senior) could "convince" the other ref to pick up his flag or throw a "late flag" for holding to off-set the outcome not "meant" to occur. This year alone it seems I've seen too many "late" flags...flags picked back up...or flag thrown then offset by a late flag against the other team...and too many on 3rd Down or during momentum killing plays...if the games integrity slips away because even your tv commentators are calling out these "ghost calls" then fans will grow to hate the roller coaster effect of a great play dashed by a "late call"...even after a commercial break on one occasion.

I think you nailed it with the comments about this day and age with and our technology.
It's very simple and cheap to put a Ref in the booth who can call obvious fouls as well as tell the Refs to pick up the flag if a bad call was made.
The booth method instead of going to NY for a Head Office review would be a lot quicker and keep the game on pace. And it's not just PI, but
things like Offsides that can change the direction of the game, but the most obvious calls like PI have to be fixed if the NFL wants to maintain
the cash flow from gambling. They should be wary of killing the golden goose.

I hate sending stuff to NY for review . It gives the league total control , far more than an official in the booth . I think no calls that handed the game to Green Bay and greatly boosted the Rams are as bad or worse as late flags . Somethings got to change . I don’t think the NFL holds referees accountable for blown calls either . This younger Hochuli is as lousy as his dad Ed, they are the most flag happy crew in the league as we’d seen all night based on tick tack calls including the phantom hold. Then these refs track a pass in the air to a player who is being tackled as the ball arrives and someone wants to tell me it’s a missed play ? BS. It’s deliberately influencing the outcome by intentionally allowing one team to foul to stop the other. Then they ran them back out 2 days later . They should have been suspended.
It’s not that the mob is involved or that they are gamblers or on the take necessarily. They are well compensated , they are on TV every week. They have become a part of the game in a bad way , celebrities that are calling NFL games like the NBA called Jordan’s games . Depends on the name on the Jersey . XL was that mentality on steroids , especially the back judge who grew up in Pittsburgh, played college ball at Juanita and was a fan of the championship Steelers . OPI on Djack then several critical no calls . Don’t get me started . If I hadn’t been a fan so long I’d turn it off it’s so bad .

From what I remember, every game is reviewed by the league, and officials can be suspended for a game or more for poor performance. Is this still the system? The results are not reported to the public.

I recall after XL league spokesman Greg Aiello said the game was correctly officiated . There was no apology issued to Seattle . It does happen though and Pete mentioned it after the Rams game . Wyman said yeah you get a call from the league to admit blowing it but it doesn’t change anything . It’s still a loss .

I think every franchise should be required to have a high def jumbotron that would be the only thing the refs on the field should use to review a play. The jumbotron should be able to display all the various replay shots that the refs have now available using the portable under the hood technology they now use. That way the fans in the stands would be able to see everything the refs can see. And the refs should be limited to viewing each replay frame a maximum of twice before making a decision. That should speed things up some.

i doubt we'll ever get to the point where a "ref" in the sky can called MISSED penalties, and that includes PI and other calls. But I do think that 'roughing the passer' and other 15 yard personal foul penalties should be reviewable and challengeable. Some of those have changed outcomes of games and many are just plain bad calls and usually against the defense.

jshawaii22 wrote:i doubt we'll ever get to the point where a "ref" in the sky can called MISSED penalties, and that includes PI and other calls. But I do think that 'roughing the passer' and other 15 yard personal foul penalties should be reviewable and challengeable. Some of those have changed outcomes of games and many are just plain bad calls and usually against the defense.

I’m not sure about that. Getting the calls right are needed to continue to grow the gambling revenue.
If there ever was a narrative out there that games are rigged they could lose a lot of money, and money
motivates change.