Still think the NFL's not rigged?

Could it be that there is a purpose behind hiring such incompetent employees within the NFL? Scapegoats if you will. We've seen this terrible officiating all season long and now it continues into the playoffs. I fully agree the Refs just suck but why exactly is that within this multi billion dollar product? For years we've been complaining about it but now it's gone on way too long. Human error is one thing but this seems like it's scripted to a degree. Would Big Ben ever get that roughing the passer call? Serious question.

 

It's not rigged but the officiating is horrid and there is favoritism. You really think anyone except Marsha gets that roughing call, especially in a hugely critical moment? Please.

Beyond that, Payton and Reid choked. Andy has always been a disaster in the playoffs. Reminds me of Tomlin.

 

Isn’t this exactly how it would look if they had covertly-obtained intel that gave them insight into exactly what the Chiefs intended to do in certain situations?

I’ll say this in response to much of what I’m reading in this thread: There’s no large NFL conspiracy involving refs, or anyone else in the league office. A conspiracy among people across the league to rig certain outcomes is completely implausible. Something like that would involve too many people to survive. Officiating is getting worse across the board though. It’s a growing problem for the league. That non PI that benefitted the Rams was gross incompetence.

What I don’t think is implausible is a franchise that’s been caught red handed cheating TWICE during championship seasons finding new and creative ways to get an edge outside of the rules. I’ll ask a question: what’s more implausible: 1) a franchise that’s been caught cheating doing it again, or 2) Belichick and Brady having a monopoly on football IQ despite all of the other smart people in the league? Are they very smart? Unquestionably yes. Has it been established that they will seek ways to get an edge by circumventing the rules? I think the answer to that is also unquestionably yes based on history. Are they getting an edge at times right now by breaking the rules? Of course I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. As Thorn said above about a particular play: “it was just freaky to watch.” I see that type of freakiness too much. If they hadn’t already been caught twice, I would just say “wow, they’re great.” However, they HAVE been caught cheating, and because of that I’ll always have suspicions when I see them do something that shows a freaky awareness of what the other team is doing.[/QUOTE]

I read that during the last two Patriots drives, Tony Romo was almost psychic in his ability to predict what the Patriots were going to do. I think high football IQ and ability to read plays and formations is a more rare talent than we think, and Brady and Bellichick (and Romo) have it more than most. Our D certainly doesn't have it. It is that chess game that makes there Pats so annoyingly good.

And they get lots of calls and are lucky.

 

The difference is that the Seahawks win if every questionable call is in their favor. The ones for the Steelers would have to be overturned, while the ones for the Seahawks would need to remain the same.

I'd say Troy's game-sealing INT being overturned in the Colts game offsets quite a few calls that were made in the Steelers favor in the playoffs.

 

Seems to be karma the saints got screwed on a no call:

Week 16: Saints 31, Steelers 28

Two defensive pass interference calls

Both of the penalties in question came against cornerback Joe Haden on fourth downs and proved to be crucial calls. The first came in the first quarter with 3:10 left in the period, when Drew Brees fired a pass deep down the field to Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who was in the end zone. Kamara jumped up and sold the contact, as Haden placed his hands on Kamara’s back but didn’t appear to push him very much at all. The penalty resulted in a 33-yard gain for New Orleans, which scored on the next play from 1 yard out to take a 7-3 lead.

The other call against Haden was in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-2 with two minutes left. Going against receiver Michael Thomas, Haden appeared to make minimal contact, but the ball appeared to be tipped near the line of scrimmage, which should have negated any pass interference call. Making matters worse, five plays later, Thomas appeared to slightly push off on Haden for the game-winning touchdown grab. Pittsburgh ended up missing the playoffs after not getting the help it needed to sneak into the postseason in the final week.

 

I understand that as a Steeler fan you are unaccustomed to seeing precisely drawn up plays blocked and run as designed. But a lot of other teams do it and it isn't really cheating.

 

New Marsha Brady rule, not allowed to grope the passer.

 

Well there was the TP interception that wasn't an interception, because when he was getting up to run, he fumbled it....

 

This is where it does get weird when you look into statistics. One comment made on the broadcast was that the *pats were called for 5 pass interference calls during the year. Five! I hope I mis-heard that. Also, their amount of first downs by penalty while on offense always is higher than any other team during the year.

Brady being "roughed" turning a 3rd and 7 into a first down plus 15 yds.

Also, one catch overturned because it hit the ground and another not (the one not overturned looked worse) because it would have resulted in a 4th down and *pats punt and not a TD.

 

I just read an article on the myths of NE, they actually are the 12th most penalized team & 16th rank team getting penalties fro opposing defenses. I think it's just that they are on TV so much and always in important games.

 

This article?
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25787154/fact-checking-patriots-18-year-nfl-dynasty-real-myth

 

Alright, I'm convinced: Tony Romo for Steeler's next HC!

 

I do not believe I said anything about cheating although I questioned the means in which BB obtains video but that's a whole different thing. I said it was freaky to see the perfect play called for the defense they were facing, no audible, no check with me. Just a straight play call excuted perfectly for the situation that level of preparation on a weekly basis is rare.

 

Do I think they cheat? ....it's possible. Do I think BB and Brady are maniacally obsessed with winning and put in more work than anyone else to stack the deck in their favor?.....yes. Do I think this approach filters down throughout the entire team and makes them the most prepared team in the league? .....a definite yes.

As far as a NFL conspiracy being totally implausible?( tinfoil hat time) Remember more than 130,000 people were employed at one point or another to work on The Manhattan Project and no one had a clue until they tested the bomb.
Hmmm.....

 

It stinks to lose because of the refs but some of us long-time fans remember the Non TD call against the Oilers back in the day. It works both ways.

 

I think more analysis is needed for a definitive answer.
The article aces4me linked based the answer on the number of penalties called.

But look at this 2018 season.
The Patriots had 93 penalties, while opponents got 91 penalties. That article writer would claim that the Patriots are being penalized more.

But the Patriots were the 29th most penalized team, and suffered the 31st most penalty yards against them.

The Pats were penalized 744 yards, and got 28 first downs by penalties. Their opponents lost 838 yards and got 21 first downs by penalties. By those measures, the Patriots have a huge referee advantage (13% more yards and 33% more first downs for the Pats), despite the 2% more flags against them.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting your data, but on this page, http://www.nflpenalties.com/automatic-first-downs.php?year=2018&view=total_against, the Patriots had 27 automatic first down penalties called against them. They were the beneficiary of 28 automatic first down penalties. The Steelers BTW were the beneficiaries of 34 and had 23 called against them.

Of course that doesn't completely rule out some sort of bias/conspiracy/whatever if the refs only called them when absolutely necessary, I guess.

Honestly, I find it hard to believe though. First, it's not like there's any love lost between Goddell and Kraft after Deflategate so it's hard to see the motivation to tilt the field for the Pats and second, it would be damn hard to keep a fixing or conspiracy secret for so long. Someone would talk, especially these days with social media and all.

 

Except for the one guy who wanted to know most: Josef Stalin

 

Ive always looked at it this way. If the Pats had a state-of-the-art cheating machine in the early '00, it would be impossible for them to keep it under wraps for more than a year or two. Players, coaches, personnel people turnover like crazy in the NFL. Pats coaches were and have been particularly sought after. They'd have taken their learning with them and everyone in the league would be doing what the Pats were doing or devising defenses against it almost immeadiately. It would have been common knowledge very quickly. I seriously doubt there'd be a moral imperative by any team to avoid adopting best practice snooping, every coach likes likes his $3 mill/yr job, and wants to win. And since no one was targeted for Injury like Bountygate, there'd be less incentive not to copy cat.

 

Those are only penalties with an automatic first down. That doesn't include things like defensive offsides, when 5 yards is enough for a new set of downs, which a lot of teams try to do (especially QBs with an effective hard count).

I was using pro-football-reference.com. And to be honest, I can't find a detailed description of how they determine 1st Down by Penalty (1stPy).

 

The league has opened the door WIDE for Vegas and gambling in which they did their best to stay far away from this in the past. Then putting a TEAM in Vegas. Invested heavy in the gambling apps and fantasy football. It's a hard reality to think that the game I love is rigged, but alas it just seems this way. That non pass interference call in the Orleans game where the sideline official was waving off the the other official, screaming at him. That is the definition of rigged. I'm sure he got a nice envelope after the game. The was the WORST non call in Professional sports. The roughing the passer against Jones in the KC game was a complete joke as was the Edelman didn't touch the ball. So now I sit at a crossroads. They best change the challenge rules to include pass interference and rouging the passer.

Both teams were robbed. I don't care what anyone says. Those calls changed the outcome of both games. Don't give me the Andy Reid choke $hit.

Two teams will be playing in the Super Joke who don't belong there period.

 

Troy Polamalu Interception(or NOT) vs. Indianapolis 2006 Playoffs .

 

Which is why a KC fan was shining a green laser on brady.. trying to upset his game.. I laughed pretty hard when I heard about that.. haha

 

The missed call was pretty bad I agree. But the missed call wasn't the deciding factor in the game and it wasn't even the only missed or bad call by the refs.

The Saints got the ball again after that and couldn't score. They got the ball in overtime and couldn't score. The Rams finally got the winning score. For that matter, the way both teams executed the whole time decided the game. Not that one call.

 

No, he was an amateur astronomer (who often use green laser pointers) and was just pointing out to his young son what Uranus looks like.