Chime in please - is this not holding?

[TeamoftheCentury]

id bet large amounts of cash that we are at least top 3 for temas that draw the fewest holding calls in our favor. I bet were #1. its beyond ridiculous

There's got to be something to the lack of pass rush compared to last season. Yeah, Clemons and Bryant are missed. But, I don't buy that there's THIS much drop off without them. That's just silly.

I've been screaming "HOLDING!" all year. Finally decided to post something about it and see how .netters here felt about it. Quite honestly, it's just overly simplistic to say "bad calls go both ways". Everyone knows that pass rush is key to winning championships. If no other team, the Giants certainly showed that recipe. Take away a team's pass rush and you take the fight out of the team.

I'm actually quite disgusted with the amount of holding the officials allow other teams against the Hawks. It's really gotten to a ridiculous level. Someone else posted I should re-watch the Dallas game. I don't need to. I watched it weeks ago and I don't need to see all that again and blow another gasket.

I almost didn't post this because I knew some would just immediately dismiss it and counter that the Hawks "get away with" things, too. (Of course... then, make the calls. I got no problem with that.) I'm not taking anything away from other teams. Props to Jamaal Charles, KC, Dallas O-line, DeMarco Murray, etc., etc. We're talking about quality NFL teams and players. Just the incompetence of the officials and had to post pics to legitimately make a case and this one was too easy with a slow-mo replay right there on the big screen.

You're always going to have bad calls. But, what you say here might actually be the case. It may very well be that the Hawks are getting a lower % of holding calls. Mebane being out was probably a factor in this game. (I agree he is missed.) But, the "next man up" guys were being literally cheated from making an impact for the team. This is exhibit A.

Not gonna lie... KC was running up the middle almost at will. But, that's why these guys needed these obvious calls as they were in a tough battle. If this obvious holding wasn't called, how much more was going on in the trenches that didn't get called as the KC backs were going through like a knife does soft butter? Get away with obvious holding... why not try your hand with some other tactics? The game is won and lost in the trenches.

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

Nonsense, that's not holding, that's sportsmanship! Clearly he was falling down and that nice man from KC held him up so he didn't get an owie!

lol

 

[rideaducati]

It's hard to tell without seeing the video. You can legally block a defensive linemen in the back if he turns his back to you. He appears to wrap him up, which would not be legal. This is the kind of call you don't usually get on the road.

I must have missed the section in the rule book where it states that holding isn't holding if you're the home team.

 

[twisted_steel2]

So the question is,

1. Are we imagining this?
2. Officials doing this subconsciously, since we're the defending SB Champs?
3. Or is this a conscious decision by them to make things a little more difficult for the champs?

 

[Kixkahn]

There are always crappy calls. Missed calls like that one are pathetic. You want to hold up an eye exam chart and ask the refs to use it.
However I think our guy needed a hug .
The Baldwin in the endzone one I think if the teams were reversed would have been called. He did shove him it was hands to side not shoulder to shoulder.
I really don't think it is too much to ask for consistency is it?

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

So the question is,

1. Are we imagining this?
2. Officials doing this subconsciously, since we're the defending SB Champs?
3. Or is this a conscious decision by them to make things a little more difficult for the champs?

Yeah, I think those are relevant questions. That's why I posed this to .netters. Thanks for the post. I think you understand what I posted it and asked others to chime in.

I know it's almost ghastly to suggest there's truly unfair officiating. But, I think there's a difference between asking the questions vs. just blaming the refs completely for any loss. (Still, we're going to get those who feel it their duty in life to label such a discussion "whiney" - and I got no respect for those comments.) Make no mistake... Officiating is a factor on every level. I get tired of seeing it in youth football when lineman pull the kids down by the facemask and it doesn't get called. There's rules for the integrity of the game, fair competition, and safety. If they don't matter, then the game is ruined. So, it's sort of a big deal.

Don't anyone misunderstand me here. I'm not saying the greatest factor of this loss was the officiating. Not saying that at all. But, just asking what are we supposed to think or say about this nonsense? There's obviously garbage like this going on. I'm heavily invested in this team and my time is valuable. That's not the kind of unequal treatment that any fan should have to post such a topic about. If they're cheating our guys... why bother caring so much? If we're not supposed to be passionate, what's the point of following them?
(I've said before that I share the view of Marshawn Lynch about the outcome of this game. No ultimate complaint about the officiating in only this game. But, I am getting increasingly concerned about how officials are generally not giving the Hawks favorable calls they deserve. Exhibit A: Tony McDaniel beat his O-line opponents and deserved this call. He did his job and it was ignored. I'm not ignoring it.)

 

[Bigpumpkin]

So the question is,

1. Are we imagining this?
2. Officials doing this subconsciously, since we're the defending SB Champs?
3. Or is this a conscious decision by them to make things a little more difficult for the champs?

IMO...it is #3! League headquarters have decided to make the Chiefs a winner this year. Go ahead and call me a "silly old man". However, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....it's a duck"!

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

There are always crappy calls. Missed calls like that one are pathetic. You want to hold up an eye exam chart and ask the refs to use it.
However I think our guy needed a hug .
The Baldwin in the endzone one I think if the teams were reversed would have been called. He did shove him it was hands to side not shoulder to shoulder.
I really don't think it is too much to ask for consistency is it?

Excellent post. Consistency would be nice.

 

[rideaducati]

So the question is,

1. Are we imagining this?
2. Officials doing this subconsciously, since we're the defending SB Champs?
3. Or is this a conscious decision by them to make things a little more difficult for the champs?

I think you should watch the all 22 film of every game and then answer this for yourself. I believe it to be both 2 and 3. The officials have had the "Seahawks rule" pounded into them all offseason, so they would tend to watch the Seahawks more closely. They also had the "Seahawks rule" pounded into them all year long so they subconsciously are making up for the perception that the Seahawks got away with more last year and are doing their best to give supposed make up calls. They don't want to be reprimanded for not enforcing the "Seahawks rule" against the Seahawks.

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

[youtube]liSyGw6oGJ0[/youtube]

I'm pretty sure coffee helped this guy. I'm gonna go get some French Roast.