- This call
- failmary
- THe Percy Harvin clearly stepped out of bounds but ruled a TD.
Maybe its just coincidental but it sure does seem like the Seahawks get more than their fair share of "stuff happens" calls.
Every team gets bad or missed calls that go their way.Hawks have just had a couple big ones at the end of a game on national TV that magnify it.
For sure. As a Denver fan, we absolutely got lucky on the
fumble-that-wasn't against the Chargers, (where, again, Denver's players were quick to admit after the game it was a lucky break). Also, Champ Bailey probably fumbled through the end zone on his long return against New England in the playoffs, though I don't think the video evidence was really "indisputable" on that one.
On the other hand, there were all those
uncalled block-in-the-back penalties on Dante Hall's human joystick return. Sometimes the refs blow calls. Sometimes those blown calls decide the outcome of games. But I don't think any team is more or less likely to get those blown calls than any other.
Other than the home team, of course. Illegal batting? Game was in Seattle. Fail mary? Game was in Seattle. The Fumble-that-wasn't and Champ's long return? Both in Denver. Dante Hall's human joystick? Kansas City. There are exceptions: Harvin's step out of bounds was a road game in San Diego, for instance. But by and large, blown calls are going to favor the home team, regardless of who that home team is.
As I mentioned earlier, officiating bias is pretty much the only factor that is consistently significant when people study just what drives home field advantage. Refs are human, and humans are unconsciously going to be biased by the 80,000 howling fans sitting 10 feet away.
Edit: and if we're going to talk about officials being biased for Seattle, it's also only fair to mention Percy Harvin's three touchdowns called back to penalty against Washington. In a road game, of course.