Do we have to beat teams twice?

[RichNhansom]

It feels like the beginning of every game this year has come with a ton of big plays getting called back or opponents getting timely penalties to keep drives alive. Then the second half the officiating suddenly looks completely different than the first half. Ref's wallowing their whistles and tucking their flags deep in their pockets.

I know it sounds like a conspiracy theory but the truth is this is an entertainment industry and doesn't have to follow the guidelines of fair play unless it wants to. It is also a billion dollar industry that thrives from parody and rivalry.

For a long time I have felt like the NFL had something against the Seahawks. SBXL, Vinnies helmet and the schedule this year and last just to name a few but recently I have noticed something that got me thinking. When dominant teams play weaker teams it always seems like the flags fly against the bully in the early part of games and not just Seattle. There are exceptions but I'll talk about those later.

This year every game feels like an uphill battle. Way to many big plays called back on penalty's early in games while our opponents seem to almost get assists. In a game of momentum it gives a lessor team hope and we seem to see some very high level play from opponents who otherwise have looked like they could be easily taken out of games.

Is this the NFL's way of creating parody? Good teams demoralizing bad teams would have a negative effect for the NFL's goal.

I have also noticed this doesn't happen to every good team. Teams like GB who have a fan base large enough to make even a questionable call bigger than the travesty of SBXL seem exempt to this type of officiating for obvious reasons.

The biggest problem I see with this right now is it seems to be wearing on our team. Having 5 10am starts compiled on top of every teams best game and then add in that the officials give our lessor opponents reason to believe they have a chance (that sounds horrible but you know what I mean) to win creates a situation where instead of jumping out early and creating doubt we are finding ourselves coming from behind and having to overcome some tremendous hurdles.

Yes we have managed to overcome so far but how long can they be expected to overcome?

Looking at the Schedules last year and this year with the Niners being removed from any tough opponent from the 10 am start I felt like the NFL wanted to help the Niners because of the size of their fan base and being such a profitable and marketable team and then watching the officiating of each teams games I really started to think they not only wanted to help them but were willing to hold us back in if needed to keep the imae that these two teams are really close but after paying attention to other games around the league I have changed my stance. I don't think the NFL cares who wins or loses so much but they want the rivalries and parody in the league. If we take a three game lead in the division that rivalry is over so parody becomes less important than rivalry. If the Niners blow out all their opponents (lessor or not) it gives the appearance they are better than earlier in the season when we played them and therefore a real rivalry exists and with possibly the best two teams in football that creates a ton of excitement and marketability in itself.

I have a bad feeling this Sunday in Atlanta if they give the Falcons help or mysteriously find reasons to call back anything positive we do early we won't be leaving Atalanta with a W. Unfortunately I think it is taking a toll on our team and we are getting mentally and physically beat up. Hopefully I am wrong and we see a cleanly called game but I am having my doubts.

Sorry if I am rambling. I am tired so I will leave it a this. Would love to hear if anyone else is wondering something similar.

 

[Cartire]

Parity. (For Roland). Honestly though, I've seen Parody in ten different threads this week.

 

[RichNhansom]

Ahh thanks. Knew I was spelling it wrong but couldn't help myself.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Parity. (For Roland). Honestly though, I've seen Parody in ten different threads this week.

:13: ....This.
I was reading it too and cringing. I read a lot.

 

[mrblitz]

'parody' might be appropriate.

 

[Seeker]

NFL = tons of gambling money, its the whole point of the NFL shows talking about favorites and underdogs. its the reason swami says, its the reason for jimmy the greek back in the day, its the reason for NFL countdown and almost all other NFL shows (bs report included).

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

Nothing like a good conspiracy theory.

We need to stop bitching and moaning. We wouldn't be 8-1 if the NFL had it in for us.

 

[Oakhawk]

The one thing I disagree with is that we're getting mentally beat up. Quite the opposite--if anything, I think we're mentally beating up other teams. The stat that shows this the most is our opponent's win/loss record the week after playing us. Who do you think was more mentally beat up after the Houston game? St. Louis?

We may be not playing to our potential right now, but with every close win players mutter "dang, they did it AGAIN." And that fosters confidence in our guys, and fear in opposing players.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Sometimes ya have to beat them 3 times....Overtime. He he he :stirthepot:

 

[hangumhi]

My opinion; less of a conspiracy and more of a bunch of refs who should have retired LONG ago. I get pissed week after week after week (and not just for the hawks, trust me I get so mad at every game I watch) because of the poor officiating. I understand missing tight calls but there are certain situations where if it's tight, you just don't throw the flag or if it's tight, you let the play develop then review instead of blowing the play dead. I've seen more touchdowns taken away by terrible calls this year than any in history. Interceptions and fumbles taken back on blown calls. Trust me I have a ton of respect for the elderly but a lot of these refs on the field are too old to call games accurately (not being an ass just calling it like it is). If I were 70 years old I would know my limitations and pull myself from the big leagues...go into retirement and ref high school.

 

[Seahawk Mike]

The one thing I really agree with and totally dislike is the fact that Seattle plays more 10 am games than San Fran even though they play the same number of possible games in the Eastern TZ.

The schedulers could have very easily moved at least 1 or 2 of those games to the 1 pm time slot just like they do when two eastern TZ teams play each other from time to time.

They choose not to (possibly conspiracy)...(possibly idiocy)...(partially accident)...

 

[Sgt. Largent]

If I had more time, I'd like to do some serious research on the "the league is out to get us" delusional paranoid fan. Is it prevalent in other cities, or is it unique to Seattle sports, what with our collective inferiority complex.

My guess is every city has a segment of their fanbase that thinks like this, it just seems that Seattle has far more than our fair share than most other cities.

Here's the truth: If these sorts of insane conspiracy theories were true, we wouldn't be 8-1, nor would KC be 9-0, or any of the other top tier teams like NE, SF, Denver, etc have over .800 winning percentages. The entire league would be 5-4, just like the league wants right? Right?

Another truth: Seattle has THE most aggressive physical play to the echo of the whistle and just past the letter of the rule defense in the league. If the refs wanted to, they could call a penalty on just about every pass play with how our DB's play. But they don't.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

Yeah, maybe 'parody' is an appropriate word for this thread. That said, a 'lessOr' team is a team that is leasing something to someone unless you meant lessEr? If you theory holds true, the officials are giving our opponents a lease on life until the second half...but I'm sure you meant l-e-s-s-e-r. :lol:

 

[tom sawyer]

The Seahawks have been the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL for as long as I can remember!!

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The Seahawks have been the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL for as long as I can remember!!

I think Cleveland Brown fans would argue with you about that.

 

[Popeyejones]

The Seahawks have been the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL for as long as I can remember!!

The Seahawks were predicted by basically everyone to go to the Super Bowl this year from practically the very second that they got knocked out of the playoffs last year. They had to barely squeak by some really awful football teams multiple weeks in a row to tumble all the way down to #3 or #4 in the power rankings. This is the type of disrespect that everyone would wish for.

 

[Hawks46]

I don't know about there being a conspiracy theory. It's hard to complain about the scheduling because we really don't know how it will turn out. Looking at the schedule, the Atlanta game was going to suck for us, and it was a probable loss.

Now they have a ton of injuries and are playing like crap. The game has lost a lot of it's luster, appeal and probably won't get the TV ratings it might've if both teams were contending.

One thing I really don't get: the NFL does all this research on keeping players healthy, and it's scientific proof that the effect the time zones have on body clocks and it's a major disadvantage to a West coast team going East....why don't they help more West coast teams out by a 1 pm (4 pm EST) kick off ? It's not like it affects the home team, the fans' viewing experience (you can still watch a game, drink, and get home in plenty of time to get sleep and work the next day), or gives the visiting team an advantage, it just evens the playing field a bit.

And yes, I do find it suspicious that the Niners get a ton more 4 pm EST kicks than we do.

As for the refs...I think they get into the flow of the game. Like with Tampa, they came out and starting running the ball well against us. Now, if we had shut them down the first half, it would've looked different but they had success, so that was kind of the flow of the game. Then we get fans watching the All 22 tape and seeing egregious and ridiculously obvious holding calls. I think refs tend to overlook these things when a team is on a roll. If a team is getting shut down, then all of the sudden a huge hole opens up, I can see the refs taking more notice as to why.

The one thing I can't get over is PI calls. They are subjective and many times come in key points during the game when a team really needs a play to happen. The fact that it's completely obvious the crowds and players sometimes affect the calls is also suspicious and degrades the calls that are legitimate.

 

[StoneCold]

If there's a difference in the calls it's more likely because our defense adjusted at halftime. A conspiracy like this could never be kept quiet and would destroy the league if it got out.

Boom
SC

 

[stack600]

Wow, This thread is thought provoking, The Vinny NY Jet helmet TD, The calls in the SB by Leavy and crew, that later admited they made some bad calls. Now lets throw in the Fredd Young INT in the W.C. Game in Houston that was called a no catch that would have put us in FG range in OT. Or the Henderson ground roll that took out Hasselbeck's knee in 07. Or even the INT by ET III last week that wasn't cause of a PI that wasn't. Or the no call on the late hits On R.W. in the last 4 games.
Conspiracy maybe not. Bad officiating he!! yes. All Ref. crews are human, prone to mistakes, but I have seen some off the wall calls this season.
It would be interesting to take say 10 years of game films for all 32 teams, and break down the bad calls and no calls, and see how much parody on officiating there really is between Ref. Crews and Teams.

I said Interesting, but that would take some serious time to do.

 

[kigenzun]

I'll admit my mind starts to think this way when spectacularly athletic plays such as ETIII's INT get called back for no apparent reason, (other than an old guy ref's :les: ineptitude), and the opponent's just happen to score a touchdown 1-3 plays later.

When we all can see that the difference between the best team in the league and the worst team in the league is a couple well placed pass interference flags and some holding no calls, it does lead my mind to big money/gambling/etc.

It doesn't seem coincidental that a team that doesn't get called for holding will run up 150-200 yards on our top5defense. Or that a team playing its backup QB will make their yards on ticky tack PI calls. I mean if Tom Brady & Aaron Rodgers have trouble making the connections against our defense, what chance do Mike Glennon and Kellen Clemons have?? ...without a little help... of course.

http://www.fieldgulls.com/seahawks-notes/2013/11/6/5074438/nfl-admits-earl-thomas-p-i-call-was-wrong
:snack: