Mongos: Things to Watch - Bears versus Ravens

Yes, and what really sucks to me is the league's standpoint on this. If you ask anyone in head office i bet they'd say publicly and privately that there's no probs at all with the standard of officiating in the league. If you asked fans my money says a solid majority believe the standard is too low and that too many avoidable mistakes which have a tangible effect on results, are made.

When you listen to in-game commentaries there's consistent excusing of bad mistakes, like they should just be accepted. I get human error and there being a margin for that, but we're a long way from that right now imo.

I've been thinking about how to make things better. I'd have no problem with an extra zebra on each side of the ball if it raised the standard. But my personal favourite is allowing one challenge each half against a supposed bad call. There's no question that would raise the standard, and reduce the amount of games decided by that one bad decision too. It'll never happen of course, undermining the officials would be a problem and to be honest i think players are already starting to talk back to, and try to intimidate, refs too much these days as it is.

 

BTW, the weather is crappy today. I assume the field is covered. Tomorrow is supposed to be mess. Rain and wind are both both going to be issues. Lot's of rain, and 30 to 40 mile per hour wind...

 

I was actually going to post one of these plays in the film room. It happens a few times a game. There was a play in the Packers game where they ran a delayed stunt. Long caught it and instead of releasing to pick up the OLB trailing into the B gap, he just threw the DE into him and took the both out.

 

Coaches like Pete Carroll try to intimidate officials all game long. Barking and screaming at every little thing. I really can't stand that.

To me one real easy solution is to add an official.........in the booth. Surrounded by monitors and with a direct feed to the head referee. He is going to see things from a new angle and also have immediate replay capability. He could correct some calls in a matter of seconds and he would have challenge authority.

Won't ever happen. But it would work and it would nice.

 

The kid is ridiculously strong.

It's amazing to me he didn't end up a defensive tackle.

 

There always seems to be a Julius Thomas type that never gets drafted and a guy can get a player like that on occasion. I was fortunate a few years back to grab Gronk off waivers while everyone else was asleep. Getting up to pee in the middle of the night can have its benefits.

 

He's already 3 notches better than Webb ever was. He doesn't make the boneheaded mistakes. Some times he just gets beat.

Technique, misses a move, etc...

All should improve next year. The concern I have though is he seems to be tailing off as the season goes on instead of getting better.

 

He could play both sides of the ball today if you ask me.

 

I think it's more that players are seeing more film and exploiting the weaknesses that past opponents didn't have the benefit of seeing on film.

As long as he is watching the same film and working to improve, he'll be fine.

 

Its a great call. Surely you know someone who knows Roger?!

 

I'd love to see him line up over a center and blow up a play.

 

If I did I'd be applying for a job in the league office.

 

Yup. Although I think if he lined up on the other side of the ball, he'd be immediately chop blocked...

 

I honestly believe the refs have become more indecisive as ever in their decision making and leaning on the replay to determine what has happened on the field. The expansion of replay has caused alot lengthy lulls during a game on some simple calls. If they expand replay any more. I may have to take up officiating knowing that I can throw flags everywhere and we can watch on replay if I got it right or not. I'd even consider stuffing a pair of socks in my pants to create some media hype to deflect the attention off my poor officiating skills, I would probably never lose my job, and centerfold for Playgirl at the same time. With the socks on of course.

 

I would rather them defer to replay more. What kills me is when they "see" something and make a call on it, and the reality is it never occurred.

Which means they actually couldn't have seen it.

Which means their mind told them to call it one way for some reason.

For instance, on the play where Jordan Reed fumbled the ball on the first drive of the Redskins game and the ref called him down by contact... He wasn't down when the ball came out - so how did his eyes actually see that he was?

So he had to be unsure. If you're unsure, call it a fumble/recover by Bears and let the replay get it right.

 

Great preview as always Mongo, especially your highlighting of the Marlon Brown/Bowman matchup.

Running the ball should always be a priority, but so should a productive rotation of RBs. I don't understand why we simply don't hand the ball off to the other RBs on our roster. Yeah I know Bush has been bad this year but at the very least to alleviate some of the pressure from Forte, who must not only handle the bulk of the carries but catch a number of check down passes as well. Would like to see us RUN THE BALL effectively, prioritizing the run and utilizing all of our available RBs including Ford. That does not excuse Forte's sucky game last week but he can't do it all by himself.

 

Are you pregnant? *DRINK*

 

Ok back to the game - I think the weather and field conditions are going to be an issue. The winds are going to wreak havoc on the kicking games. I just don't have a good feel for this game one way or another. At some point, you have to think McCown is going to come back to earth a bit. The Bears need to win badly. There are only 2 games at home after this one. They need to win at home.

 

If there is a benefit to waking up in the middle of the night to pee, while pregnant, then I am definitely jealous Mary.

Unfortunately, I'm just getting old and have a weak stream. I swear everytime I think I'm done and put it away, I still lose a half teaspoon down my leg. Another speculation is that I'm losing some feeling down there due to all the wars in the bedroom.

 

He was a fifth round draft pick who they said would need to work on pass blocking. While he hasn't been great, I don't remember cursing his name during a game like I did everyone on our offensive line last season. Guy was a steal where we got him and while I don't know he will be a pro bowler on a consistent basis, he will at least be a solid cheap option at RT for 3 more years after this season.

I feel the liability on this line so far this season has been the one hold over from last year Garza. He played well to start the season but has been getting beat regularly the last few weeks. He will probably be the only player on the line not back next season and that will be a good thing.

If the defense can play as well as they did at times last week, I think we win this game. No drops on offense and no turnovers, plus eliminate the Trestman coaching errors and we win. The Ravens defense is much better than the Lions, Redskins or Packers so it will be interesting to see how McCown handles that. Unlike others who are ready to promote him to permanent starter, I still know that deep down he is a backup QB and lets hope he has a few more good games in him before reality sets in.