Originally Posted by bvharris I usually feel that way as well, but anyone with eyes can't deny it in this case. Belichick made contact with an official. Honestly, it took some ing restraint not to deck him. This is the first NFL game I've ever seen where you honestly have to ask if the referees were paid off. It was that bad, and that one-sided.

Eh, they called 14 penalties against Baltimore. There were awful calls against both teams.

Originally Posted by bigdaddybruce44 Eh, they called 14 penalties against Baltimore. There were awful calls against both teams.

It wasn't remotely close to evenly officiated, counting penalties does not tell the story. It's the impact and egregiousness of the calls that impacts the game. The Ravens had two different touchdown drives (both Smith TDs) which were extended by phantom calls on the defense on 3rd down, whereas the Patriots had at least one drive stalled by terrible offensive penalties.

The saddest thing is this won't get us any closer to getting the real refs back. Why should the refs compromise when the replacements are embarrassing themselves on the field week in and week out?

Hell, if I were the refs, I'd increase my demands after every week of this.

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And that personal foul for the "bench" was terrible and clearly a product of the sideline official getting frustrated and not being able to handle the pressure. Again, bad calls both ways. Even if you wanted to claim the officials were "in the bag," they have no clue what is gonna come of their calls, unless it is on a scoring play. That personal foul call could have ended up costing Baltimore the game. If the Ravens lost, you would have had Raven fans saying the same thing.

Originally Posted by bigdaddybruce44 And that personal foul for the "bench" was terrible and clearly a product of the sideline official getting frustrated and not being able to handle the pressure. Again, bad calls both ways. Even if you wanted to claim the officials were "in the bag," they have no clue what is gonna come of their calls, unless it is on a scoring play. That personal foul call could have ended up costing Baltimore the game. If the Ravens lost, you would have had Raven fans saying the same thing.

That call, while I agree it was atrocious, ultimately had no impact whatsoever on the outcome of the game. I'm not saying that there weren't bad calls on the Ravens, because there were. But saying that those calls "could" have cost the Ravens the game is kind of moot, because they didn't. The bad calls on the Patriots, especially in the first half, did cost them the game. It's a big difference.

Obviously I don't actually think the refs were paid, but I don't think it's even arguable that their calls changed what would have otherwise been a Patriots win into a Ravens win.

Hey, NFL: the WWE thinks your refs stink!

Would've been just great if Belichick nailed the ref with a chair...

Originally Posted by bigdaddybruce44 Would've been just great if Belichick nailed the ref with a chair...

I haven't watched his press conference yet, but I really hope he did.. verbally.

My guess is he calmed down though and it was typical Belicheck boilerplate. Pity, I'd really love to hear him just go off.

Welp. This is getting more ridiculous by the week. If these refs are calling the SuperBowl, it would be extremely difficult to take it seriously.

I dunno. I think the refs were craptacular both ways (and I'm a NE fan). The Patriots had opportunities to run away with the last two ways and in the end they can only blame themselves. Sure some of the calls were awful but championship teams need to win even when they don't get all the breaks

For anyone who didn't see the blown calls in the Lions - Titans game, here's a pretty good summary:

Originally Posted by ESPN Then in overtime, Bironas' third field goal put Tennessee ahead to stay after a drive that got its own boost from the officials. They announced a replay review had overturned their ruling of a catch by Tennessee tight end Craig Stevens, with the ball hitting the ground as he rolled after being hit helmet to helmet by Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch. After spending several minutes discussing where to place the ball, they put it at the Lions 29, giving the Titans 27 yards. The penalty apparently was marched off from the Detroit 44 instead of the Tennessee 44, where the play started. ... Hill's 46-yard TD pass to Titus Young off a ball Titans linebacker Akeem Ayers tried to knock down at the end of regulation tied the game only after some more confusing officiating. After Hill tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson with 18 seconds left, Amari Spievey recovered Detroit's onside kick. Hill threw a short pass to the sideline to Nate Burleson who took at least a step before losing the ball when hit by Titans cornerback Jason McCourty. An official threw down his bean bag, indicating a change of possession. Titans cornerback Alterraun Verner picked up the ball and started to run to the end zone before another official ran up and called it incomplete. Because it was in the final 2 minutes, a review is left up to the officials and coaches cannot challenge. No replay review was done. Officials had other issues in this game, including twice announcing the offense would replay third down when it was obvious the defense wanted to decline a penalty to force fourth down.

1. On the Stevens catch, Fox showed the replay over and over, and the ball never touches the ground and he had control of it the entire time. It was really amazing that he held onto it taking a hit like that, but apparently the refs weren't impressed. I didn't even realize that they marked the yardage wrong though. That's incredible. They ed up their up. Unreal.

2. How in the hell do you have two referees DISAGREE on a call and not go to a booth review? Ref A: "Fumble!" Ref B: "No, it was incomplete!" Ref A: "Oh...yeah, ok. You're probably right." Come on, Goodell. Get them out of here before they up the entire season.

The biggest weaknesses of these officials is all of the procedural stuff and their inability to not let things snowball out of control. Bad calls happen on every level of sports. Let's face it, there has been bitching about the NFL officials for the longest time, and as technology has gotten better and better, we bitch more and more. But where they have a massive leg up on these guys is they don't let a bad moment take them out of the game. I mean, these replacements know the rules...well, at least most of the rules. They have been officiating football at various levels for awhile. And if you sat them down in front of a TV monitor, they could probably make the right call at the proper clip. But they simply cannot take the pressure of doing NFL games. And it's just getting worse way too quickly. Can you imagine how awful this is gonna get if the refs don't come back this year?

Funny ass week, watching all the trap games and other teams playing spoilers and not to mention all the tears that could fill up an empty ocean.

It's time to get the real refs back. The calls in the Pats/Ravens game were AWFUL on both sides last night. Pats still should have taken care of business (anytime you're up 2 scores with less than 8 minutes left you should be able to win) but the refs were definitely favoring the Ravens early on. And did they really not review the field goal at the end? I think it was actually good (thanks to super slo-mo on my TV) but to not have that reviewed is RIDICULOUS.

Originally Posted by GamerDude316 It's time to get the real refs back. The calls in the Pats/Ravens game were AWFUL on both sides last night. Pats still should have taken care of business (anytime you're up 2 scores with less than 8 minutes left you should be able to win) but the refs were definitely favoring the Ravens early on. And did they really not review the field goal at the end? I think it was actually good (thanks to super slo-mo on my TV) but to not have that reviewed is RIDICULOUS.

Apparently the way the rulebook is worded it is only reviewable if the ball goes through the uprights not through the uprights above and extended

I'm butchering the wordering but anyways... announcers said it wasn't reviewable so right or wrong the call on the field would stand

Correct. It wasn't reviewable. As bad as the refs were, they really didn't botch that situation, because there was nothing they could do. It was really a Murphy's Law kind of moment. His first kick, right after the Pats took the timeout, split the uprights. So, of course, the one that won the game had to look like it was no good and go over the uprights. I don't think anyone watching that game thought that was good at first glance.

Originally Posted by pacifickarma Strong running attack, short passes, and relentless D... the Vikings used the 49ers game plan against them!

Yeah. The Vikings defensive line was too much to handle. 49ers needed to score after the long return to open the half and they only got 3. Not good enough.

Originally Posted by GBAstar Apparently the way the rulebook is worded it is only reviewable if the ball goes through the uprights not through the uprights above and extended I'm butchering the wordering but anyways... announcers said it wasn't reviewable so right or wrong the call on the field would stand

That's my point though. The fact that exists in the rulebook is DUMB and should be changed. Like I said, I think the field goal was good after looking at it in super slo-mo on my TV, but it should have been looked at it by the officials as well since the naked eye judgment on that is so difficult to make.

I have to admit, it's been pretty funny watching all of the commentators give their own personal thoughts on each play that is either botched by the refs, or take far too long to make a decision when it's blatantly obvious.

This week was incredibly bad though. I wonder how much longer this is going to go on. I don't see the fans, players, or coaches standing for much more of weeks like this...

Originally Posted by 4thHorseman I have to admit, it's been pretty funny watching all of the commentators give their own personal thoughts on each play that is either botched by the refs, or take far too long to make a decision when it's blatantly obvious. This week was incredibly bad though. I wonder how much longer this is going to go on. I don't see the fans, players, or coaches standing for much more of weeks like this...

I'm certainly way down on the league this week. They gave Dashon Goldson a personal foul for hitting a WR with his shoulder!! There was also no call on the hit that put Heyward-Bey on a stretcher.

This can't continue. The league needs to compromise right now.