NFL Officiating

[James in PA]

Did someone say sky judge?? Time to bring this wonderful creation out of retirement!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jammerhawk]

The NFL will ultimately destroy itself with this rubbish. All because the ownership group don't want to hire professional referees. It is becoming ridiculously painful to watch.

We tune in to watch football and now wind up over and over and over again listening to some schlubs talk about their interpretation of the rules instead of watching football. I watched a recent game with a fair announcing duo on CBS Raiders at Pittsburgh and the announcers spent more time talking about missed calls bad call review of calls , their views and those of the in-house Rules Expert, who's opinion was sought on almost any play where there was any question, became the show and the football was secondary. It was painful to watch and eventually got me to turn off the sound as these guys questioned every call made on the field. Any hard hit of an offensive player is now penalized so the D is forced to play patty cake b/c the player could be viewed as defenceless which is subjective in the extreme. In fact there is simply too much subjectivity in the present rules so their enforcement is uneven player to player, game to game, team to team. The subjectivity creates suspicion of steering results. There is no recourse, but a few challenges with restrictive parameters. The offence is given every possible advantage except on OLine play where holding is evenly called. Physical football is going the way of the Dodo bird, and soon we will be seeing flag football, old fashioned slobberknocking ball is now finished. Why they keep the kickoff escapes me and the on side kick is finished as impossible to succeed with, which takes away end of game excitment. Slowly I am becoming disillusioned watching this diluted product, i believe many others are as well.

The game is being slowed to a grinding halt with the penalties, their review along with the review of everything on the field. Outcomes of games are being potentially skewed by subjective penalty calls and bad calls incapable of being corrected. The present game is becoming less enjoyable to watch than ever before.

 

[RolandDeschain]

The NFL will ultimately destroy itself with this rubbish.

Very possibly.

All because the ownership group don't want to hire professional referees.

Absolutely not. The game has gotten faster and the rules more complicated. Human beings aren't capable of the kind of perfection we expect in real-time officiating on the field. We need to get software to officiate.

1987 NFL combine results:
Best broad jump: 128
Best vertical leap: 37.5
Most bench presses: three players over 30 reps (best: 31 reps, Chris Pike)
# of players under 4.40 40-yard-dash: three (fastest was Rod Woodson, 4.33)

2019 NFL combine results:
Best broad jump: 141 (18 players had longer broad jumps than the record 128 from 1987)
Best vertical leap: 44.0 (29 players had longer broad jumps than the record 37.5 from 1987)
Most bench presses: 11 players over 30 reps (best: 39 reps, Iosua Opeta)
# of players under 4.40 40-yard-dash: nine (fastest was Zedrick Woods, at 4.29)

Today's players are stronger AND faster. Combine that with way more rules than ever, and it's just getting more and more impossible for people to accurately officiate in real time.


To the NFL: develop software-driven officiating already!

 

[Sports Hernia]

The NFL will ultimately destroy itself with this rubbish.

Very possibly.

All because the ownership group don't want to hire professional referees.

Absolutely not. The game has gotten faster and the rules more complicated. Human beings aren't capable of the kind of perfection we expect in real-time officiating on the field. We need to get software to officiate.

1987 NFL combine results:
Best broad jump: 128
Best vertical leap: 37.5
Most bench presses: three players over 30 reps (best: 31 reps, Chris Pike)
# of players under 4.40 40-yard-dash: three (fastest was Rod Woodson, 4.33)

2019 NFL combine results:
Best broad jump: 141 (18 players had longer broad jumps than the record 128 from 1987)
Best vertical leap: 44.0 (29 players had longer broad jumps than the record 37.5 from 1987)
Most bench presses: 11 players over 30 reps (best: 39 reps, Iosua Opeta)
# of players under 4.40 40-yard-dash: nine (fastest was Zedrick Woods, at 4.29)

Today's players are stronger AND faster. Combine that with way more rules than ever, and it's just getting more and more impossible for people to accurately officiate in real time.


To the NFL: develop software-driven officiating already!

Streamlining the rule book bigtime would be a great first step. I’m with you with the technology part though.
Call only obvious infractions and stop calling the ticky-tack shit and the away from the play crap that had zero effect on the play unless it’s a personal foul.

 

[chris98251]

The problem is too many subjective calls, did he block him in the back or from the side, did he lead with his helmet or was he going low on the player trying not to hit him in the head, was it a catch or did he have possession down to a nano second review it seems rather then normal speed and making a call.

That is just a couple.

 

[JayhawkMike]

The Hopkins Non-Called Non-Overturned PI penalty didn't seem very subjective to me and I have no love of the Texans.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/281 ... g-pi-calls

Riveron is basically telling the league to eff off. I think he is telling the fans that too.

 

[rcaido]

Did anyone see the 49ers DPI call on the Cards. 49ers guy tackled the DPI and he got the penalty, it was really bad.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Riveron is basically telling the league to eff off. I think he is telling the fans that too.

I think it's Goodell or maybe Jerruh and they're using Riveron to do it. Regardless, I agree that it's a big eff off to the fans.

 

[Sports Hernia]

The low level quality of Officiating (and steering) is killing the game.

 

[Largent80]

Another week of ineptitude. Every single game I watched and especially Texans/Ravens, and AZ./SF.

Worst EVER.

 

[Boohman14]

Has anyone else notice that the game announcers are all seeming to step back from criticizing obvious bad calls and missed calls? The Minnesota game was over the top. The last play was a missed hold in the end zone with the receiver's jersey stretched out by being in the grasp if the defender. No mention...nada. And it seems that the TV talking heads are over the top in complementing the refs.

 

[Popeyejones]

A real test of how good or bad NFL officiating is would require a really particular scenario.

First, you'd want to amass recordings of the closest and most difficult calls.

Then, you'd want experts to independently assess those plays.

It's VERY IMPORTANT however that those experts be third-party experts, meaning, they're not paid by the NFL -- they're being paid by a third party source so that the NFL can't get their fingers on the scale.

The real challenge with this however, is you'd absolutely need those independent third party experts who are evaluating the closest and most difficult calls to have never seen those plays before, lest they already know the outcome, and just match it to reinforce the impression of their expertise.

The problem with these types of perfect experiments however, is that back out here in the real world, they're nearly impossible to pull off.

Here's the thing though: WE GET EXACTLY THIS PERFECT EXPERIMENT ACROSS MULTIPLE GAMES EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

With Mike Pereira, Gene Stereatore, Jeff Triplete, Terry McAuley, and Dean Blandino every single week there are experts who are paid by inependent third parties who are making predictions on what will be ruled in real time on the most difficult to officiate plays.

Any you know what? They're incorrect about what the ruling will be INCREDIBLY RARELY. It is literally the perfect mousetrap to catch the quality of NFL officiating and the officials pass the test over, and over, and over again.

From this your takeaway has to be one of two conclusions:

(1) The officiating isn't nearly as bad or unpredictable as fans make it out to be (hypothesis 1: fans just act like fans and are a buncha whiny homers)

(2) Not only is there NFL wide officiating conspiracy, but ESPN, NBC, CBS, and Fox are all in on the conspiracy too.


If you wanna believe #2 go right ahead, but whatever. If you don't believe #2, you're stuck with believing #1, regardless of if it contradicts your priors and regardless of if you like it or not.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Nah, it has been pathetic league wide. You can't watch a single game w/out a horrific call and/or something obvious being somehow "not seen" or "missed"

 

[Popeyejones]

Nah, it has been pathetic league wide. You can't watch a single game w/out a horrific call and/or something obvious being somehow "not seen" or "missed"

I'm being serious with this.

Try watching a single game:

(1) between two teams you don't even remotely care about

and

(2) While muting and looking away between every play so that you don't have the benefit of zoomed in high definition replay from multiple camera angles for every single questionably questionable call.

All of your unearned certainty and belief in your own ability over professional referees will melt away instantly.

FWIW I get a version of this multiple times per week because I watch the condensed versions of a lot of games, and the condensed versions don't include ANY of this: it's just each play from the snap to the whistle at real speed with everything else cut out.

Sure, sometimes I see a holding that I think should have been called or a PI that I think shouldn't have been called, but I don't really know, because I don't have the aid of insane technology making me think I'm much more capable than I am. Then later in the week when I read about a game I've watched I have a hearty laugh about all the people who are all puffed up about how "pathetic" the refs were, because from seeing what the refs saw -- the actual game, not all the broadcast bells and whistles to kill time between plays -- I've rarely if ever seen ANY OF THAT.

Overall I think the NFL is the hardest sport in the world to officiate, and it's not even close. It's like scoring for boxing, but if boxing was eleven on eleven, and you were only allowed to punch people some ways and not others.

While I appreciate being able to watch the game at home in high def as much as anyone, on balance I think technology has really ruined the viewing experience. Rather than people actually learning the game and the chest match of it all of that conversation is just drowned out by people whining and crying about officiating week in and week out. It is boring and pointless. I know I'm being harsh but I seriously believe it's the lowest form of fandom, and I'm perfectly fine with people thinking I'm jerk for believing that. :lol:

 

[SoulfishHawk]

It's a matter of opinion, and MANY people are sick of the officials impacting games when they shouldn't. Let alone the ridiculous system they have in place. It seems like every single week, at least a couple games are massively impacted by horrible calls or non-calls.

 

[Popeyejones]

It's a matter of opinion, and MANY people are sick of the officials impacting games when they shouldn't. Let alone the ridiculous system they have in place. It seems like every single week, at least a couple games are massively impacted by horrible calls or non-calls.

TBH I don't understand why those many people don't just pick a sport to watch that they dislike less. That seems to be more their problem than anyone else's.

And if they want to keep watching football but don't want to have watch it with a technologically puffed up sense of certainty about how their geniuses and professional officials are all idiots, seriously, they should try watching games in the way I'm proposing.

I'm not kidding: I think those people would actually like them more.

You guys are getting yourselves all riled up over the way broadcast networks have visually figured out how to fill up the dead time that exists for 56 out of every 60 seconds of every game (56 out of 60 because the average NFL play has 4 seconds of live action, and there's all the leads in and lead outs, talking head stuff when the clock isn't running too).

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Agree to disagree. Officiating is as bad as it ever has been. This isn't just a fan opinion, it's talked out in the media on a regular basis.

 

[chris98251]

It's a matter of opinion, and MANY people are sick of the officials impacting games when they shouldn't. Let alone the ridiculous system they have in place. It seems like every single week, at least a couple games are massively impacted by horrible calls or non-calls.

TBH I don't understand why those many people don't just pick a sport to watch that they dislike less. That seems to be more their problem than anyone else's.

And if they want to keep watching football but don't want to have watch it with a technologically puffed up sense of certainty about how their geniuses and professional officials are all idiots, seriously, they should try watching games in the way I'm proposing.

I'm not kidding: I think those people would actually like them more.

You guys are getting yourselves all riled up over the way broadcast networks have visually figured out how to fill up the dead time that exists for 56 out of every 60 seconds of every game (56 out of 60 because the average NFL play has 4 seconds of live action, and there's all the leads in and lead outs, talking head stuff when the clock isn't running too).

So stop watching something I have watched since around 1965 because the officiating has got so bad it's frustrating?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I have watch the NFL since I could watch TV, that will never stop. But it isn't going to stop me from getting pissed off about pathetic officiating that keeps getting worse. Pac-12 Bad at times.

 

[Popeyejones]

...which is why I'm suggesting watching games in a different -- and for me at least -- preferable way.

If you find yourself frustrated with officiating all the time but you like football, just take that part out of your diet.