Bill Barnwell - "it was a truly dismal officiating effort"

[thebanjodude]

Independently of how well they played, the Colts did have a number of notable calls go their way in this game. A 28-yard Golden Tate catch was written off by a phantom pass interference call on Tate. A third-and-22 incompletion that would have given the Seahawks excellent field position was whistled for a 39-yard pass interference call on Brandon Browner on a pass that wasn't remotely catchable.1 Another third-and-10 on what ended up being the game-winning drive was converted on a very questionable Richard Sherman pass interference call, while Darius Butler broke up a pass on Seattle's desperate final drive by reaching around Sidney Rice and launching off his hip to break up a pass. (The Colts did have a bad call go against them when Chris Clemons strip-sacked Luck on a play when Luck was hit in the helmet and should have been granted a roughing the passer call.) The Colts weren't lucky to win, by any means — both teams played well, and somebody had to get these calls one way or another — but it was a truly dismal officiating effort.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9784782/bill-barnwell-week-5-nfl

I bring this up because Bill Barnwell is a pretty impartial football writer (Giants fan I believe). It's not only us Hawks fans that think we got shafted.

 

[HawkFan72]

I know there were calls against both teams, so I'm not going to say the officiating was the reason we lost.

But the officiating was TERRIBLE and these refs were an embarrassment to their profession. Calls against both teams were awful.

 

[DavidSeven]

It's pretty nice to see someone fairly recognizable in the media recognize that atrocity in officiating yesterday. Hats off to Indy. They're a good team. The refereeing, however, was abysmal.

Everyone remember how Ron Winter's crew handled our pre-season game vs. Green Bay? That was the second-worst officiated game the Seahawks have played in this year (albeit in pre-season).

 

[twisted_steel2]

unno: Nice to hear someone impartial noticed. Oh well.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

The only issue I had with the calls was the inconsistency. The flags always coming out in bail out fashion. I would have preferred they called PI on 2nd down too. At the very least, the secondary would have the opportunity to adjust to how the game would be called. Instead of assuming tight play would be allowed as it had been on earlier downs.

 

[hawker84]

I know there were calls against both teams, so I'm not going to say the officiating was the reason we lost.

But the officiating was TERRIBLE and these refs were an embarrassment to their profession. Calls against both teams were awful.

What bad calls went against INDY? not questioning you here, i honestly don't remember any.....

 

[coltsfan1405]

Lol perhaps when you hit luck in the head and made him fumble and it was a no call and that's just one but come on it was a good game we're both in first place so what happened happened calls went both ways

 

[Barthawk]

12 men in the huddle is the best (worst) one of the day.. complete incompetence in action.. at least the others were judgement calls..

 

[twisted_steel2]

I know there were calls against both teams, so I'm not going to say the officiating was the reason we lost.

But the officiating was TERRIBLE and these refs were an embarrassment to their profession. Calls against both teams were awful.

What bad calls went against INDY? not questioning you here, i honestly don't remember any.....

Like our Indy visitor mentions, the non-call hit on Captain Neckbeard's head by Clem is about the only one that went our way. Though I could counter there were many borderline late hits on Russ. But whatever. :roll:

 

[SteelCityColt]

We've had some doozies ourselves in previous games, see TD ruled out in our game against Miami but yeah the refs were bad and we seemed to get the run of the decisions. The NFL needs to do some serious thinking about officiating standards.

 

[drdiags]

Welcome Colts405. Not sure why you feel the need to come by after the game. This is the usual banter of folks venting about a game that is over. If you are just going to concentrate on the sour grapes, you aren't going to enjoy your visit. Let these guys have their tin hats and seek posts that give your team credit for a job well done. Or you can take the ridiculous over-reaction posts and share the link with others so you can enjoy the squealing of the vanquished.

 

[jdblack]

Lol perhaps when you hit luck in the head and made him fumble and it was a no call and that's just one but come on it was a good game we're both in first place so what happened happened calls went both ways

Agree that it was a good game, but you still shouldn't fault fans for talking about officiating overwhelmingly favored the Colts - both things are true (at least to these fans), and fans aren't robots that have to move on immediately to the next game (that is what the players have to do).

Most Seahawks fans I've talked to remember that bad call as the only one that went in the Seahawks' favor, so it's not like you're pointing out a play we all forgot.

 

[formido]

Lol perhaps when you hit luck in the head and made him fumble and it was a no call and that's just one but come on it was a good game we're both in first place so what happened happened calls went both ways

Hitting him in the head didn't make him fumble. Roughing the passer penalties are gifts intended to protect QBs from injury. Last week against Houston, Seattle got a 15 yard penalty on its last drive for Houston suplexing our receiver Baldwin. That was the right call, but it was a gift and if it hadn't been called, no one here would have whined that we lost the game because of the refs. By the same token, roughing could have been called here, but it would have been a gift and taken a good play away from the better team. In this case, missing the call actually preserved the integrity of the game. OTOH, wrongly called PIs materially affect core game play.

From the safety to most of the PI calls/non-calls, an argument could be made either way. However, once it's a series of 50/50 calls, and every one goes one way...

Of course, the Tate PI and the too-many-men-in-the-huddle were not excusable even as 50/50 calls. Put it all together, and that's why see national writers devoting a paragraph to the officiating.

A Colts fan got 40 upvotes in the r/nfl game thread for saying:

"Jesus. Even I'm starting to wonder about these refs."

http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1n ... is/ccm9p3m

 

[TriCHawk]

Lol perhaps when you hit luck in the head and made him fumble and it was a no call and that's just one but come on it was a good game we're both in first place so what happened happened calls went both ways

I think the incidental "shot" to the head wasn't the reason for the fumble. Should it have been called? Probably. But obviously Clemons wasn't aiming for his head - he was clearly going for the ball, and just caught his head too. Luck fumbled the ball when Clemons knocked it out of his hands. Anyway, that was the one call I saw not go Indy's way.
The rest however, did. Look all over this forum to see examples of bogus calls/non-calls. My beef isn't so much that penalties got called or didn't get called, it's just that it favored one team, and had an impact on the game.
My most overused statement watching the game yesterday: "How are you gonna call that, but not call that?!..." followed by a string of profanity.

I only see the bad officiating as part of the reason for the loss, not the sole reason though. Seattle made some critical mistakes, and the D obviously didn't play up to the usual standard.

Anyway, I'll begrudgingly take the L. It was against a good team on the road, and things just didn't go Seattle's way. It happens. Enjoy the W, and knock off any other NFC teams you face this year.

 

[SouthSoundHawk]

Bad ref threads for days! may have to open up a new forum.

These refs all get graded for their performance after games, safe to say these dudes are getting an F (or however else they rate these officiating crews).

WE ALL KNOW THIS.

Can we move on yet or are we going to go on about this for a few days until......it.......doesn't.......matter...?
:3-1:

 

[twisted_steel2]

Can we move on yet or are we going to go on about this for a few days until......it.......doesn't.......matter...?
:3-1:

Hard to know, people will eventually vent enough and move on, but you can't put a time limit on these things!

 

[drdiags]

Bad ref threads for days! may have to open up a new forum.

These refs all get graded for their performance after games, safe to say these dudes are getting an F (or however else they rate these officiating crews).

WE ALL KNOW THIS.

Can we move on yet or are we going to go on about this for a few days until......it.......doesn't.......matter...?
:3-1:

Once the ratings poll comes out, folks will move on to bitching about how such-n-such doesn't deserve to be ranked higher. Later folks will put in their predictions for the Titans game. Moses will bless us and some time during this madness, Blue Thunder will post all the enemy forum links so others can entertain themselves with how others perceive the Seahawks.

There will be some Shack postings and Les may share some of his 50's jokes. Viola! Game time!

 

[hawker84]

Lol perhaps when you hit luck in the head and made him fumble and it was a no call and that's just one but come on it was a good game we're both in first place so what happened happened calls went both ways

Oh please that was a glancing blow, he was trying to strip the ball while being blocked. Good lord apparently you can't even hit a QB accidentally on top of the head without someone wanting to call it bloody murder... I doubt luck even felt it..

 

[SouthSoundHawk]

Bad ref threads for days! may have to open up a new forum.

These refs all get graded for their performance after games, safe to say these dudes are getting an F (or however else they rate these officiating crews).

WE ALL KNOW THIS.

Can we move on yet or are we going to go on about this for a few days until......it.......doesn't.......matter...?
:3-1:

Once the ratings poll comes out, folks will move on to bitching about how such-n-such doesn't deserve to be ranked higher. Later folks will put in their predictions for the Titans game. Moses will bless us and some time during this madness, Blue Thunder will post all the enemy forum links so others can entertain themselves with how others perceive the Seahawks.

There will be some Shack postings and Les may share some of his 50's jokes. Viola! Game time!

HAHAHA, like clockwork! I like how a Seattle loss in a science around these parts. Love it.

 

[BlueTalons]

Something I have not seen discussed ...do teams scout refs and their tendencies for certain calls? I'm sure they do.