Cowboys + Refs = Trouble

[MidwestHawker]

I thought so when I started this thread -

Now I'm 100% positive.

You're still incredibly likely to be wrong, but I can understand how some poor officiating late today would reinforce your initial belief given your willingness to believe it to begin with.

 

[irocdave]

I don't think we will ever see a replay of the hose job the Hawks were on the wrong end of in a SB again. Besides, the Stealers were the beneficiary of the hose job for a couple of reasons, the Rooney rule, getting hosed on some call years before and Bettass retiring in his home city. Jeremy Stevens didn't help with mouthing off and not backing it up....

So, right now, who is the model franchise in the NFL? Who's owner is parading around in the media or twitter saying things they later have to side step or apologize for? Who's owner hires the right people for the job then lets them do their job at a high level? If it is realized the wrong people were hired they are let go with class and compensated for their time.Which franchise is motivated by positive influence and little to zero tolerance for issues off the field? Which NFL franchise has total buy in by the fans and return the fan base is knowledgeable and doesn't bring shame to the NFL? How many cars were tipped over after the Hawks won the SB? How many riots burned down buildings, how many cops were shot?

The Seattle Seahawks are the model franchise right now. If your the NFL you want every franchise to be like the Hawks organization. QB that can be put in front of any camera at anytime and says and does the right things, players that are media hungry but intelligent, the "bad guy" great player that doesn't get in to trouble just cannot speak in public. Most players are young and made their own way with lots of reasons why they shouldn't be in the NFL but they are.

I don't see officiating being a reason the Hawks get bounced from the playoffs this year, the Hawks are what the NFL wishes the other franchises were. Even Dallass.

These are great points. However they are greatly outweighed by the ambitions of today's NFL. Every move the NFL has made regarding the rules of the game is geared toward protecting offensive players and increasing point totals and statistics. The last thing the NFL wants is teams trying to duplicate the style of Seahawks football. As we know, and especially the guys pulling the strings at the top know, this is a copycat league.

After what I just watched in the Dallass Detroit game I retract my earlier comments regarding the Hawks not getting screwed again by officiating. GO PACK GO, at least for next weekend.

 

[MidwestHawker]

Which opponent we draw will of course have nothing to do with which team we are likely to get favorable or unfavorable calls against.

 

[rideaducati]

Let me feed your conspiracies theories:

http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/08/07/nfl-of ... -party-bus

That was from August... No wonder the cowboys made the playoffs.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Bad calls and non calls happen every game to every team.

It's just a lazy narrative to say the officials are out to help any one team over another.

 

[Mick063]

Belichik was right. Every play should be reviewable.

 

[RunTheBall]

Which opponent we draw will of course have nothing to do with which team we are likely to get favorable or unfavorable calls against.

Not true at all, Carolina will not get any huge favorable calls because no one cares about them.... Dallas or Green Bay are far more likely to get game-changing bad calls going their way.

 

[vonstout]

Running on the field after a TD or end of the game is NOT the same as running on the field to argue a penalty, with or without your helmet on.

 

[MidwestHawker]

Which opponent we draw will of course have nothing to do with which team we are likely to get favorable or unfavorable calls against.

Not true at all, Carolina will not get any huge favorable calls because no one cares about them.... Dallas or Green Bay are far more likely to get game-changing bad calls going their way.

Yes, I have no doubt that the NFL is running some massive fix for ratings when:
(1) their ratings are automatically monstrous no matter who plays; and
(2) they don't renegotiate another TV contract for seven years, making immediate ratings almost completely meaningless anyway.

Enjoy your world of paranoia.

 

[RunTheBall]

Which opponent we draw will of course have nothing to do with which team we are likely to get favorable or unfavorable calls against.

Not true at all, Carolina will not get any huge favorable calls because no one cares about them.... Dallas or Green Bay are far more likely to get game-changing bad calls going their way.

Yes, I have no doubt that the NFL is running some massive fix for ratings when:
(1) their ratings are automatically monstrous no matter who plays; and
(2) they don't renegotiate another TV contract for seven years, making immediate ratings almost completely meaningless anyway.

Enjoy your world of paranoia.

No one is saying every game is fixed, but to deny that certain legacy teams don't get favorable calls in big games is a joke.

 

[MidwestHawker]

No one is saying every game is fixed, but to deny that certain legacy teams don't get favorable calls in big games is a joke.

If you're looking for it, you'll be able to find these calls, sure. That's because every team gets bad calls that hurt them and bad calls that help them...from there, perception all comes down to selection bias.

I love today's theories that the NFL reversed a suspension of Detroit's top defender just so they could then try to help Dallas beat Detroit anyway.

 

[vonstout]

It will be interesting to see what The DET players say over the next day or two.

 

[RunTheBall]

No one is saying every game is fixed, but to deny that certain legacy teams don't get favorable calls in big games is a joke.

If you're looking for it, you'll be able to find these calls, sure. That's because every team gets bad calls that hurt them and bad calls that help them...from there, perception all comes down to selection bias.

I love today's theories that the NFL reversed a suspension of Detroit's top defender just so they could then try to help Dallas beat Detroit anyway.

NFL wanted Suh to play in a big game because they don't want big players being out of big games, just like the NBA will never suspend big stars for playoff games.

 

[scutterhawk]

I hate to even bring this up because your post was awesome, but then how is our penalty disparity so enormous when comparing the teams we play? I don't think the NFL wants us to lose, but when you look at the sheer data, something does smell a bit afoul.

When roughly 1/3 of your penalties (or more) are pre-snap penalties that are entirely avoidable, I don't think PC has a leg to stand on. All this complaining about a disparity really ignores the obvious point -- Seattle commits way too many "dumb" penalties. Weather false starts, lining up in the neutral zone, or illegal formation. Those are ALL on Seattle and they can't be ignored. IF say we cut those pre-snap issues in half, what would the disparity look like then?

I don't think there's some conspiracy against Seattle. I'm annoyed when I hear people continually bring up SB 40 as the entire reason we lost was on officiating. The fact is Seattle didn't execute when it needed too. Sure the "offensive PI," was ticky tacky, The offsides not called on the Pittsburgh and a holding was called, that sucked too.

But the refs had nothing to do with "fast" Willey Parker gutting us for a 70+ yard TD early in the 3rd QTR. Refs had nothing to do with Hasslebeck throwing the ball too far outside so that D-Jack comes down out of bounds (instead of a huge completion in the 1/2 half.)

You mean Bettis Bowl?
So...Hmmm...There's no way that a conspiracy in sports is even a possibility? :roll:

 

[Rainger]

This was said by someone else on another site but it rings true. (other than for midwesthawker looking down his nose at anyone who doesn't think his way.)

"I wish the league would simply admit that it has the refs influence the outcomes of games. Does the NFL really believe its fans are dumber than WWE fans? Actually, judging on how many people think the NFL doesn't "fix" or influence the outcomes of games, maybe the fan base IS dumber than the WWE's..."

 

[scutterhawk]

In terms of getting the wrong end of the officiating this season...I dunno, it's possible. Unless officiating is really in-your-face bad, I try to just shake it off and ignore it. I can think of three games in just about 25 years as a Hawks fan where I would actually blame the loss on poor officiating ('98 at NYJ, '03 at Baltimore, SB XL). People really shouldn't be so obsessed with the calls unless they're actually, truly the primary reason that a result was what it was. And that's rarely the case.

I don't really disagree, but the other side of the coin is that the NFL (like all honest sporting leagues) has an obligation to insure that the officiating in games is fair. I am not asking for perfection, and indeed mistakes can and do happen, but I do expect that all teams on the whole are officiated pretty much the same....and if that turns out not to be the case, then that should be identified and fixed. What bothers me is I am hearing very little interest on the NFL side to admit that this problem even exists let along trying to solve it.....when the data very clearly shows that the problem (for whatever reason) does in fact exist.

I'm not sure that data covering only 16 games for one team in one season can actually demonstrate much of any problem. Unlike baseball, football just doesn't reach anything resembling a meaningful sample size during the course of one year. The penalty disparity, as laid out in this thread, isn't evidence of a problem in and of itself...I very much doubt that there is any instruction given to officials to have a similar number of fouls on both teams. They are simply there to call what penalties they see.

Bull (cough cough ) Shit.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Even Baghdad Mike Pieria said it was a bullshit call on Twitter. Go here for GIfs of the play and a tweet from him, another ref and the Detroit Lions:

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/1/4 ... overturned

 

[MidwestHawker]

This was said by someone else on another site but it rings true. (other than for midwesthawker looking down his nose at anyone who doesn't think his way.)

"I wish the league would simply admit that it has the refs influence the outcomes of games. Does the NFL really believe its fans are dumber than WWE fans? Actually, judging on how many people think the NFL doesn't "fix" or influence the outcomes of games, maybe the fan base IS dumber than the WWE's..."

Doin' big things, rainger.

 

[RunTheBall]

MidwestHawker going full denial mode.... the OP stated that 1 of the 12 playoff teams (Cowboys) would have the refs on their side.... they get gifted a playoff win by the refs. I guess it's just a "coincidence" that this was the first time in NFL history a PI Penalty was announced on the mic then overturned.

 

[MidwestHawker]

Just to be clear, I don't disagree with those who think that the officiating was incredibly one-sided against the Lions in the 4th quarter today. It was, and that PI flag should not have been picked up.