NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Opening that can of worms would do more harm than good.

 

My issue was the guy that threw the flag was behind the play. From his angle....there's no possible way he saw contact to the head.

What he saw was a defender get close to Brady and ASSUMED contact to the head and therefore threw a flag.

You can't assume penalties. If you see something you call it....if you don't...you don't.

And in my opinion...if that same play happened to 25 or so other QB's in this league....no flag is thrown.

 

That's an awful idea.

 

I agree, but the Commish DOES have the ability in the NFL by-laws to do just that sort of action if he so wanted and I said that he would never pull it out due to it causing a huge undermine of his current officiating system.

 

Not only that but to change the result of a game based on a play that wasn't the last play of the game would be wrong.

That non-call was brutal and it PROBABLY cost the Saints the game. But did it DEFINITELY lose them the game? No. They could have fumbled the very next snap. Or had the field goal blocked. Or what if they got first down where the penalty was and somehow decided to throw the ball again and it got picked off? Or they ran it and fumbled and the Rams returned it for a touchdown?

What if the Saints scored a touchdown...missed an XP...and left 3 seconds on the clock and then the Rams return the kickoff for a score? Far fetched...but not impossible.

Too many variables. Obviously that rule exist but it's only going to get used, if it ever gets used, if the would be ending of a game is completely black and white. And there's no way yesterday was.

 

I don't even care if the Patriots win. I'm as indifferent as their first SB vs the Rams or their game vs the Panthers.

 

You can't change the call anyway, looking at an angle on the home teams Jumbotron won't help the situation. The call was blown, no one on the officiating crew even asked for a huddle to discuss it...They blew it, and there was no going back from it...by today's rules. That's why they need to make rules changes this off season and not JUST do a better job of training the officials.

 

They do need rule changes and they need to simplify some rules. Every time they make rule changes they add verbiage to the rules and they also instruct the officials to look for certain things and put an emphasis on certain rules.

Its not that complicated of a game.

I'm still in favor of having an official in the booth upstairs with his eyes glued to TV monitors and a microphone that connects directly to the crew chief....with an ability to make corrections on the fly. Sounds complicated but I don't think it actually is.

 

With the money the NFL is making, they should have TWO booth officials assigned to each game. That way, they can discuss things immediately to signal to the game official as quickly as possible. I honestly don't think it would slow the game down as much as the crew's getting together on the field a few times per game, only for them to emerge with a no call, because one official thinks another official "might" have seen something wrong...GET IT RIGHT..that's all that matters.

edit: I don't think an official needs to be onsight..the video is sent to the league offices. The "booth officials" can be residents who come in to cover their games, then go home. They wouldn't have to be flown all over the country for that job.

 

I agree it wouldn't slow things down as much as people think it will. And I'd be totally for this.

 

They can sit in an office somewhere like they do in hockey and baseball. I'm fine with that.

 

Just in time. Whew!

 

In the NHL they have a situational 'war-room' located in Toronto. Everything controversial is monitored, reviewed and the call made or changed on the ice accordingly. The NFL could do something similar. Its just so obvious and simple, sigh.

 

They started that last year, with all replay decisions going to the league office rather than staying on the field with the referee. I don't think that helped. Some of the replay decisions over the last two years have been more mind-boggling than ever.

 

Another amusing thought... if Payton simply calls, run, run, run, kick field goal, the Rams would only have 40 seconds on the clock and no time outs.

The NFC South will never learn...

 

JUST pass interference isn't good enough, imho. If they are going to bring penalties under the umbrella of reviewable, so should other penalty calls.

 

I agree.

You can probably leave some out...false start, illegal formation...probably a lot of before and after the whistle calls.

All penalties from the time of the snap to the whistle that ends the play should probably be reviewable.

 

I can't say cherry picking which penalties to include would be enough for me... We had a call earlier in the year, where the league office actually called the Browns and apologized for a blatant missed false start penalty on a play that resulted in a 30 yard pass TD. Granted, this most likely didn't change the outcome of that game...but in the same situation as the PI call yesterday...it could have. The official in charge of making that call was actually fired the following week, due to other calls as well being missed. If the booth officials see something missed by the field officials, imho, it should be stated immediately and corrected on the field of play. I also think that "inadvertent whistles" should be given a harsh penalty to the officials so that they cease to exist.

 

A noteworthy example is the missed face mask call on Goff's scramble on 2nd and goal, which was also game altering and was also clearly captured on video.