I'm waiting to see if there is a fine for this one...he actually lowered his head and went helmet to helmet. Hocculi (jr??) should be fired after saying on the microphone it is ok for helmet to helmet contact because he was a runner....That isn't true no matter who has the ball. The worst part is...they threw a flag and picked it up, didn't they?
I just can't believe the way things have gone for the Browns in regards to the NFL officiating....In the back of my mind I keep expecting things to even out, but it just continues to go against Cleveland every week. It's inexplicable.... Maybe they are just a product of bad preparation....Personally, I just think even the NFL refs are conditioned to always assume the worst for the Browns. The refs be like: " They can't possibly have done anything correctly, so there must have been a penalty. I better throw the flag. We'll hold a discussion and come up with something."..smh It's bullshit.
And that's my point exactly... you have these crews who rotate through the schedule. And it just so happens that every crew has their worst game professionally when the Browns are in town? The call on Mayfield isn't missed on 31 other quarterbacks. The explanation on the reason the Mayfield miss happened isn't done on 31 other quarterbacks.
If you don't play by the rules of the system, then the system will break you. Have to be a team player for the NFL first and your team second, don't you know. I wonder who in the Cleveland Browns organization or on the team has gotten on the NFL's bad side or has become a potential problem for the NFL. Maybe they simply view the Browns as unmarketable for some reason(s). Or, maybe this is all coincidence. Who can say. This is all conjecture on my part. However, it's plain to see the NFL has no real desire to "fix" it's world class officiating problem, or any of it's other problems. Their actions speak louder than words. I bet you thought as a Steeler's fan I wouldn't say these kinds of things. Well, a belief is a belief I suppose. I love the NFL but it has it's issues and they fester.
I understand the Browns getting called for false starts. Lord knows these refs watch the Browns like a hawk. But how the hell do they miss the false starts by other teams playing against the Browns??? That's just unbelievable. I'd never seen it the "non call" so blatant as it was in the game against the Chargers, until the very next week when the Bucs did it too... It doesn't even make sense that every ref could miss it.... Like I said, I truly believe this organization (and I use the term loosely), has been so bad over the years, the flags and non calls that go against Cleveland every week are simply a product of conditioned response....
The reason why the refs actively officiate against Cleveland: #NeverForget Tin-Foil, Deep-State, False Flag Thought: The NFL truly set the Cleveland Browns re-do up for failure immediately. They gave the expansion team every disadvantage imaginable. Then, somehow, the team defied the odds and began to get good way too soon. The "Bottlegate" call - ending a game with 0:48 on the clock was the beginning of the end. The NFL and their referees have been actively working against Cleveland ever since, which partially helps to explain the ineptitude of the franchise over these many seasons.
Even better is now people are floating that Baker should have been called for taunting when he took the no-call blow-to-the-head. smh
Actually, when they threw the late flag (that was picked up), I thought that might have been the call and I was ready to go ballistic.
I honestly thought that was what the flag was for because of when it came in and the idea that it definitely was a foul on Mayfield. Don't get me wrong, there should have been a penalty called for the hit as well. IMO, if they would have had off-setting penalties for the hit and the taunt, it would have been the right call.
Dirk Koetter actually incorrectly claimed that a flag was thrown for that. If they had, the entire team should have been prepared to take the field.
You "honestly" witnessed a helmet to helmet hit, not even taking into account it was on a QB who had started his slide...and your thought was taunting when you saw a yellow hanky? Come on Tim... What exactly did Mayfield do that would have elicited a penalty? He didn't push, punch, shove or anything that would have called for that.
Seen it called in the past for similar actions, but there's no reason to take that tact on it. No one is bashing Baker.
Tact? Do I deserve a penalty on that post? I didn't say anyone was bashing Baker... It was about the play itself. It was a blatant helmet to helmet and you said you thought the penalty was being thrown for taunting, not the infraction that it was thrown for. I simply questioned your line of thinking. He didn't make a flagrant "act" in any way, as for remarks, he looked at the guy and said "you'll have to hit me harder than that to effect me". Though you could technically call this a bait, to get him to hit him harder, that would be one of the worst calls in the league this year, in a year of historically bad calls. OBVIOUSLY, unless the words were harsher than what Baker himself reported and Jordan Whitehead hasn't refuted that report. It might even be worse than the helmet to helmet flag pick up.
Lest we forget... No team is screwed worse than the Browns by the referees. I would not have put it past them to throw the flag on Mayfield for taunting and ignore the blatant helmet-to-helmet on Whitehead.
It is being reports that the NFL has fired Down Judge Hugo Cruz who missed a HUGE false start in week 6. This is the first midseason firing in the Super Bowl era.
Whatever floats your boat or finds your lost remote. The flag came out when Baker was in Jordan's face, with a ref stepping in and moving Mayfield back. I've seen it called on receivers for making the same move. Jumping up off the turf after the play, charging at the defender and screaming directly in the defenders face. Unless the ref overhears something pretty drastic, I don't think the words ever really come into play on those calls. It's more about the players overt reaction and making the move to go directly into the other players face to showboat or taunt after the play.
