NFL officiating... is the fix in?

[Lucky Luciano]

1. shaving points to appease las vegas and online gambling?

2. shaving points to create certain matchups the NFL wants to see in the playoffs and superbowls which garner the NFL corporation higher monetary income?

3. planned rule incompetence by the NFL where league game rules make every play optional to throw or not throw a flag by every official (and the call is justified) to create more interest and money for team markets?

4. individual officials intending to throw games or shave points for their own monetary gains?

5. complete and utter incompetence by the NFL in hiring these part time employee's taking away the spotlight from other NFL corp. problems or policies?

6. NFL corporation, a multi billion dollar business, is too CHEAP to hire full-time COMPETENT professional officials to regulate games?

case example: last nights packers vs KC game.

1. extremely poor call of PI against the chiefs. a chiefs receiver barely touches a defender and in no way possible is this offensive pass interference. yet the call is made. this kills a first down and drive by KC and literally takes away a possible score from the chiefs in packer territory.

2. not one but TWO missed calls of PI against green bay in the closing seconds of the game.

a)  the one was incredibly obvious inside the 10 yd line. with the official less than 10 yards away, looking right at the receiver being manhandled and knocked down before the pass even gets to him, he calls it an incomplete pass. anybody who has ever watched a football game in their life gets that call right. pass interference, first and goal.  yet.... nothing.

b) same final series... hail mary into the endzone. kelse going up for the reception gets PUSHED from behind and ends up on the ground. CLEARLY pass interference. ball should be on the one yard line first and goal.

these officials should be getting their final paycheck along with the pink slip this morning and the league should be investigating these officials for gambling or other crimes.

it's becoming obvious to the fans (even to the slow witted ones) that there is something rotten in Denmark. does some, or all-of-the-above, ring true that this sport is turning into all star wrestling and each game has a high percentage of having a predictable outcome? wouldn't it be nice if you went to vegas with a guaranteed 70% chance of knowing what slot the roulette ball will bounce into? of course it would.

yet right now, officials are major factors in who wins and who loses each and every game in the NFL. it's like having the 12th man on the field for whatever team these individuals or entities wish to win. making the wrong (right) call during a game at critical junctures or not making a call at critical junctures  is all too common of an occurrence to be just randomly poor officiating.

i have watched multiple games over the last few decades (every single week if you watch) where a single obvious call or non-call determines who wins and loses. the calls i am talking about are clearly seen by the officials who are standing only a few feet away and looking right at the infraction or non-infraction. unless they are legally blind it just doesn't add up as random poor calls. thus 'is the fix in?' does the NFL just think fans are too stupid to see it or even care?

ask yourself, why are officials not hired full time? why do they do this in their spare time while working at other jobs? why are officials not held accountable for their poor officiating? like being fired by the NFL and investigated after the game. makes ya wonder doesn't it?

there needs to be some investigative reporting done on this to hold the league responsible.

[Stinger226]

The problem with officials. cheating can be offset by the review booth and other officials on the field. That would be difficult. I think it's just incompetent refs.

[Lucky Luciano]

5 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

The problem with officials. cheating can be offset by the review booth and other officials on the field. That would be difficult. I think it's just incompetent refs.

i just don't believe that anymore. i have seen reviews by the booth that clearly show one outcome and yet they call another.

other officials are either in on the fix or else they will not contradict the one in question or are completely incompetent. EDIT: or are not in position to make a call on that play.

also, the booth does NOT as far as i know review non flagged penalties. or even any penalties?

[adam]

That was some of the ugliest officiating I have seen in a game in a long time, and that says a lot considering how much we have seen the Beas get hosed over the years.

Out of all the calls and non-calls, how do they not throw a flag on the MVS DPI. It was so blatant. 

On the Mahomes hit, I thought it was ticky tack, but if you look at the defender's foot, he steps out as he hits Mahomes, and a defender has cannot make a play when they are out of bounds. 

Then on the hail mary, Kelce got pushed in the back which prevented him from making a play on the ball. That was clearly DPI and not hand fighting.

[Stinger226]

19 minutes ago, adam said:

That was some of the ugliest officiating I have seen in a game in a long time, and that says a lot considering how much we have seen the Beas get hosed over the years.

Out of all the calls and non-calls, how do they not throw a flag on the MVS DPI. It was so blatant. 

On the Mahomes hit, I thought it was ticky tack, but if you look at the defender's foot, he steps out as he hits Mahomes, and a defender has cannot make a play when they are out of bounds. 

Then on the hail mary, Kelce got pushed in the back which prevented him from making a play on the ball. That was clearly DPI and not hand fighting.

The no call pass interference at the end of the game was fireable. 35 was dancing with Chiefs WR.

[Mongo3451]

6 hours ago, Lucky Luciano said:

complete and utter incompetence by the NFL in hiring these part time employee's taking away the spotlight from other NFL corp. problems or policies?

The NFL must hire full time officials.  With billions of dollars on the line every week, they are concerned with saving thousands and it's ridiculous.  They also need to start with team's having the ability to challenge any penalty they want.  It shouldn't add too much time to the game, especially since they already have a video crew in new york looking at everything.  TJ Watt had spoken out about officiating, saying the officials must not like him or something.

[Lucky Luciano]

54 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

The NFL must hire full time officials.  With billions of dollars on the line every week, they are concerned with saving thousands and it's ridiculous.  They also need to start with team's having the ability to challenge any penalty they want.  It shouldn't add too much time to the game, especially since they already have a video crew in new york looking at everything.  TJ Watt had spoken out about officiating, saying the officials must not like him or something.

agree. teams should be able to challenge penalties AND penalties not called if it is flagrant. maybe each team gets two extra penalty flags along with game flags.

 

[adam]

It is ridiculous that team's can't challenge a non-call like that (the DPI no calls). Each team should get one (Silver Bullet) in the last two minutes of a game that is not tied to their timeouts. Everything should be reviewable and challenge-able. 

They also need to add a few more mandatory camera views to use for reviews. I want IR and thermal views too lol (easier to see the ball in a pile or hand under ball). 

[BearFan PHX]

32 minutes ago, adam said:

It is ridiculous that team's can't challenge a non-call like that (the DPI no calls). Each team should get one (Silver Bullet) in the last two minutes of a game that is not tied to their timeouts. Everything should be reviewable and challenge-able. 

They also need to add a few more mandatory camera views to use for reviews. I want IR and thermal views too lol (easier to see the ball in a pile or hand under ball). 

the only problem with that is that it just becomes a 4th timeout. Maybe add a 10 second runoff if the challenge isn't upheld?

[adam]

3 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

the only problem with that is that it just becomes a 4th timeout. Maybe add a 10 second runoff if the challenge isn't upheld?

Good point, maybe it could be a delay of game or unsportsmanlike penalty, or make a new penalty for the failed challenge as a 10-yard penalty?

A runoff could be used against the offense, but not defense. 

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, adam said:

Good point, maybe it could be a delay of game or unsportsmanlike penalty, or make a new penalty for the failed challenge as a 10-yard penalty?

A runoff could be used against the offense, but not defense. 

right. I dunno what exactly the penalty should be, but it should be enough that you wouldn't use it for an extra timeout.

I suppose this is why there are no challenges inside 2 minutes in the first place.

My point of view on last minute heroics and penalties is that you really want a team that can stay at least two scores ahead of their opponent, so little mistakes cant cost you a game. I know that's a lot to ask, but I am really hoping that we are building a truly dominant team. I want another hit of that sweet 1985 feeling. They didnt need challenges in the last minute to destroy the morale of their opponents.

[adam]

9 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

right. I dunno what exactly the penalty should be, but it should be enough that you wouldn't use it for an extra timeout.

I suppose this is why there are no challenges inside 2 minutes in the first place.

My point of view on last minute heroics and penalties is that you really want a team that can stay at least two scores ahead of their opponent, so little mistakes cant cost you a game. I know that's a lot to ask, but I am really hoping that we are building a truly dominant team. I want another hit of that sweet 1985 feeling. They didnt need challenges in the last minute to destroy the morale of their opponents.

Compared to other teams, the Bears have added Moore and Sweat as "extra" pieces assuming each team has relatively the same amount of picks in the first 3 rounds that yield similar results. So it looks like Poles will get at least that again with 2x first rounders, maybe more.  So if they go into 2024 with 4+5 "extra" blue chippers than the rest of the league, they will be a playoff team with some nice depth regardless of the QB position.