More extremely shady calls in the NFL.... (1 Viewer)

[Stinkin Ref]

Cruz is a rookie. He played like he was in college, where when you hit the ground, you're down. The kid tripped and fell on his own, and in the heat of the moment, got up to rush to the huddle for the next play, forgetting that in the NFL you're not down until you're touched.To "give yourself up" it has to be CLEAR you're giving yourself up. Players trip and fall and get back up ALL THE TIME...and it looked not like a dive, or a kneel down, but a stumbling bumbling trip over the turf monster. Since 90% of the announcers and fans don't see it as clear....then he didn't. Blown call...end of story.

Did you see the rule quoted earlier?"An official shall declare dead ball and the down ended when a runner is out of bounds or declares himself down by falling to the ground and makes no effort to advance" (Section 4, Article 1)Cruz fell to the ground and made no effort to advance. Thus, the official declared the ball dead and the down ended, just like the rules dictate he should.Now personally I don't think Cruz intended to give himself up. I think he either thought he was down by contact, or perhaps even had this (somewhat flimsy IMO) college flashback moment that folks have speculated about. But the point is, none of that matters and the official is neither asked to, nor expected to determine the runner's intent. All the official needs to determine is whether or not the runner is making an attempt to advance. Cruz was not. Correct call.

 

[AB in DC]

To "give yourself up" it has to be CLEAR you're giving yourself up.

Says who?Referees have to make dozens of judgment calls every game -- you can't just tell them to swallow the whistle (or flag) just because a situation isn't 100% "clear".

 

[Joe Summer]

To "give yourself up" it has to be CLEAR you're giving yourself up.

No it doesn't. The official rule does not include the phrase "give yourself up" or anything similar to it. The rule simply says "fall to the ground" and "no effort to advance".Cruz did both those things.

 

[Tickle Monster]

if you didn't like the cruz call... check out stevie johnson's "incomplete" ruling when the bills we closing out the game with a first down on the play and putting it in field goal range... incomplete, with a review!?, killed the drive... cincy had time to get a td, then fieldgoal to win it...but i agree... lots of questionable calls seem to be happening all over this week... (lots of non-holding calls in the bills game too)

The more I read about this one, the more upset it's making me. Apparently the side judge originally rules it a catch but the back judge came in and overruled him even though the back judge didn't really have an angle to make a clear call on it!

Horrible call. Also, the stupid tuck rule came into affect this game too.

 

[pilferthedawn]

I saw Stevie Johnson catch a pass that was ruled incomplete by a back judge after the sideline judge with a better view rule it a catch. Went to replay and because there wasn't "refutable" evidence to overrule the call on the field, it was ruled an incomplete pass. This was on a 3rd and 1.

It thwarted a Bills drive on the 50 yard line with about 8 and a half minutes left in the game. With a first down there, Bills kill valuable clock and potentially add to their 7 point lead.

 

[mad sweeney]

So the NFL has directed the refs to help two of their largest market teams (Jets and Eagles) to lose?Why is this again? So the league can bath in the cash created by a Niners-Chargers Super Bowl?

Hold on dude....I never said that there was some mass conspiracy by the NFL. I am talking about individual refs for certain games. It would be interesting to see how many of these questionable calls effected the spread and betting winners. Heck it just could be blind bias by a ref toward a player or team and nothing illegal (Like when Dallas played the NYJ opening night and the head referee had a thick bronx accent.....BTW the Jets didn't get called for a single penalty the entire game.)Regardless, the NFL needs to fix some things...because blown calls all over the league is affecting outcomes.

I'll raise my hand, I believe their is a bunch of conspiracies in the NFL, dont care how much hate I get for it.Part of the conspiracy is that Refs never get publicly punished for horrific calls, as its important that the fans know Refs are accountable, instead we get "Every ref is evaluated" lol whatever.

Refs make about $5000/reg season game (this was 8-9 years ago so it's probably higher now). That "evaluation" affects them reffing playoff game on up to the SB where there's a higher payday as well as whether they remain as a ref the following year. Some refs have been demoted (Phil Luckett, one of the dumbest refs ever got bumped down to line judge after several bad calls in one season) the following year. There have even been instances of refs being fined, though they prefer to keep these incidents quiet for the same reason as they don't let refs comment on games. So you can laugh at the evaluation idea, but it greatly affects their pocketbooks and continuing employment. Just because they don't make it public so that you're satisfied doesn't mean they aren't held accountable. HaTah's Gon' hATe!!111111!!! LolZ And for a guy who whines about "bringing info" to the pool and being capped for it, there's not any proof you're offering here. LoLZcat!!!

 

[AngryPatriot]

In a general sense there definitely needs to be some tweaking of the rules.... like reviewing every touchdown BUT they don't automatically review plays that should've been TDs but weren't called so on the field! C'mon! So a coach has to burn a challenge. Their catching rules are so convoluted half the time even the announcers aren't quite sure what constitutes a catch and what or when it doesn't. Overall though it sure beats baseball and soccer!

 

[TobiasFunke]

So far the two groups of fans complaining about the refs' calls this past weekend seem to be mostly: (1) fans of teams in the NFC East that lost an early game and then subsequently lost ground to the Giants when they won; and (2) Bills fans after their team lost a nail-biter yesterday.

That should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this thread.

 

[mad sweeney]

In a general sense there definitely needs to be some tweaking of the rules.... like reviewing every touchdown BUT they don't automatically review plays that should've been TDs but weren't called so on the field! C'mon! So a coach has to burn a challenge. Their catching rules are so convoluted half the time even the announcers aren't quite sure what constitutes a catch and what or when it doesn't. Overall though it sure beats baseball and soccer!

The replay system is pretty silly and time consuming. The part about near TDs not being reviewed was my first thought when I read about the rule change and it turned doubly silly when not only can you not call for your own review concerning some aspect of a TD, but get a penalty for it. It's definitely affecting the game flow. I wonder if the hockey replay system would work in the NFL. THe league office in Toronto does all the reviews. So you'd have the same guys making the rulings which could hope to be a little more consistent game to game. The fact that so many games happen at the same time might be hard to deal with but consistency might be worth more.

 

[daveR]

I think that when this much money is involved in anything there will always be shady deals.

I think that when this much money is involved in anything people become paranoid.