National Football League Thread

[squaresoft4ever7]

The 3 words that best describe NFL officiating are as follows and I quote!

 

STINK

STANK

STUNK!

[Grotz99]

Half the time it looks like the refs just throw a flag then collaborate for 5 minutes to find a reason to give for it.

[kidson2004]

Gutsy tough win for the Browns today!!! LETS GO BROWNS!! 

[The Arizona Ranger]

 

[MidnightDragon]

Chiefs offense needs to learn how to catch the damn ball! Also, can’t wait to hear how many blaming it on Taylor not being able to come. 

[acasser]

On behalf of Jets fans everywhere, I humbly apologize to anybody who was subjected to that magnum opus of ineptitude this afternoon.  If we learned anything this afternoon, it's that the quarterback wasn't the issue with this team; it's not that quarterback isn't "an" issue, but the problems go so far beyond what Zach Wilson was doing that there's nothing the team can do to fix things this year.

 

In my opinion, the broom needs to start at the top.  General Manager Joe Douglas assembled this catastrophe, and he needs to lose his job for it -- if you look at what he did this off-season, essentially every single one of those moves has gone wrong in some way.  He's erased all of the goodwill that the decent starts this season and last have created, and all of the goodwill he might have earned with the stellar 2023 draft class.

 

I'd keep Aaron Rodgers if he wants to come back.  I'd keep Robert Saleh as the Head Coach and Jeff Ulbrich as Defensive Coordinator, because those two have been fine.  Excepting the ongoing issue with undisciplined penalties.  (The players like Saleh, and I have difficulty blaming him for the mess that's this offense when he doesn't have personnel power and defense was always his calling card.)  But everybody else can go; the "vaunted" UFA class of 2023, the offensive coordinator, most of the rest of the offense, et cetera.  Sweep it clean and bring in somebody intelligent to start over on that side of the ball.

[skidmarkgn]

This has been the least amount of football I've watched in a season in probably 20 years.  The product is borderline unwatchable anymore.  Most player's top concern these days seems to be "the brand" and not the team.  What little tackling that's actually allowed any more has become inept.  Roughing the passer has evolved into the 3 worst words in sports, with PI sitting at a very close second (just underthrow a deep pass and there's a 100% chance you'll get the call).  Officiating as a whole is a nightmare but that's not really new.  Fans only seem to give a shit about their fantasy numbers (try to convince me that fantasy and gambling aren't the sole reason the rules have been changed to promote nothing but offense over the years while "player safety" is the smokescreen they use to sound like they care) and what Taylor Swift is wearing this week, and my lord... the mediocrity... everywhere you look there's just pure mediocrity.  You'd never know it by looking at the salary's though, damn near every starting QB in he league would be considered a generational talent if their paychecks were the only stat available.  Honestly, been hanging by a thread anymore and I'm pretty sure yet another prime time game for the Chargers isn't the answer.

[skidmarkgn]

Thursday night refball!!  This officiating is making the game unwatchable.  The most recent sequence at the time of this post was a PI call for a hand on a shoulder, followed by a non-sack of Dak where he was completely wrapped up but the Seattle defender didn't forcefully finish the tackle for fear of the infamous roughing the passer... while the refs refuse to stop the play. Honestly what was he supposed to do? 

Edited December 1, 2023 by skidmarkgn

[Matto_lsi]

13 hours ago, skidmarkgn said:

Thursday night refball!!  This officiating is making the game unwatchable.  The most recent sequence at the time of this post was a PI call for a hand on a shoulder, followed by a non-sack of Dak where he was completely wrapped up but the Seattle defender didn't forcefully finish the tackle for fear of the infamous roughing the passer... while the refs refuse to stop the play. Honestly what was he supposed to do? 

 

I don't think it's any secret that I'm a Niners fan, and as you and others know I hate the Seahawks and always love watching them lose.... HOWEVER, I agree with you completely.  I watched the entirety of the game last night, and just couldn't get over the refball.  And the league is acting like because they called a similar number of penalties on Dallas, that somehow justifies all the terrible calls on Seattle.  Dallas earned every one of their penalties, and a few more that got 'picked up' for inexplicable reasons.  That facemask on DJ Dallas was about as obvious as it gets, and they called it in real time, but then picked it up?  Why?!  Meanwhile, Seattle got called for multiple phantom penalties that even the announcers are saying 'what is that, that's not a penalty, I don't agree with that call at all'.  And remember the over-turned TD?  And then the supposed timeout before another TD?  Seattle had to score 3 TDs in 3 consecutive plays just to get it to count.  The booth rules expert even said there was absolutely no reason to over-turn the first TD, but the refs did anyway.  And it wasn't just bad penalty calls, it was bad officiating in general.  I watched them move the spot of the ball back a yard or two numerous times for Seattle, and forward a yard or two numerous times for Dallas.  And on that missed field goal, they re-spotted the ball from the center of the field to the far right hashmark, and didn't reset the play clock, giving Seattle only about 7 seconds to get set and kick the field goal.  Now, the kicker shouldn't have missed a 42 yarder.  That's a chip shot in today's NFL.  But still, he shouldn't have had to kick a 42 yarder, cause the 5 yard penalty was completely bogus.

 

In the end Seattle had a chance.  They had the ball twice with less than 5 mins remaining in the game.  They played well all game, and then shit the bed on their last two drives.  But I can only wonder how the game would have turned out had it been called accurately and consistently the whole game, instead of what we ended up watching.  Am I glad they lost?  Hell yeah, gives the Niners some cushion in the division, especially considering they're likely to lose to the Eagles on Sunday.  But there's nothing worse than extreme cases of refball, and this might just have been the worst example of that all season.  It truly felt like the fix was in from the very first snap.

[majob]

I'm of the mind that the refs can only call it as they see it and while we the audience benefit from watching fame by frame replays. refs are reliant on only what they can see. It's on the league to make it so that replays have a larger impact on flags and so far they're still sitting on their hands

[Zio_Sam87]

42 to Dallas, 42 to Philadelphia. Hello everyone!!! 👋

[acasser]

On 11/30/2023 at 10:59 PM, skidmarkgn said:

Thursday night refball!!  This officiating is making the game unwatchable.  The most recent sequence at the time of this post was a PI call for a hand on a shoulder, followed by a non-sack of Dak where he was completely wrapped up but the Seattle defender didn't forcefully finish the tackle for fear of the infamous roughing the passer... while the refs refuse to stop the play. Honestly what was he supposed to do? 

 

As the fan of a team that seemingly has been flagged for this sort of thing roughly ten thousand times the past few seasons?  Or flagged for other chintzy crap that the more celebrated teams can get away with?

 

While the play is still ongoing and not being whistled dead, your defensive player has to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States.  Then has to convince the Justice who oversees emergency appeals from your territory to issue an injunction.  And to do so before the play ends and a flag is thrown.  (A point of information:  the Justice responsible for appeals out of Washington State is Elena Kagan.)

 

(/sarcasm)

 

The officiating isn't any better here on the East Coast; today's crew threw a bunch of ridiculous flags in the Jets-Falcons game.  Not that it really impacted the outcome, because the Jets probably couldn't score ten points even if the referees all stripped off their striped jerseys to reveal Jets t-shirts.  Oy vey is this a bad team and it's only going to get worse with Houston and Miami the next two weeks and Trevor Siemian likely to start next Sunday.

 

The Jets have scored one TD in the 1st quarter all season.  But they've also scored two safeties in the 1st quarter this season, which is one more safety than any other NFL team has all season, 1st quarter or otherwise.  It's a shame that the offense is so historically inept in an era where teams are effectively not permitted to play defense that it simply doesn't matter anymore.

Edited December 4, 2023 by acasser

[MidnightDragon]

The officiating continues to suck. Need to just fire them all and start over. It’s not just tonight and not just the Chiefs. It’s everyone. Wasn’t even this bad that season there were replacement refs for a while. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by MidnightDragon

[majob]

Just saying the 49ers are probably the only team I'd be ok with winning the Owl right now that aren't my Lions

Edited December 4, 2023 by majob

[starcrunch061]

So, haven’t posted in a while, but it needs to be said: if the Cowboys can’t win today, they’re frauds, plain and simple.

[starcrunch061]

Lots of teams setting the NFL back a century this year, but a 0-0 4th quarter tie in a league that fights so hard to protect offense is something else.

[acasser]

Two games were 0-0 at the half:

 

Minnesota-Vegas was the NFL's version of a war crime against sports fandom.  I saw the final score and decided that I wouldn't burden myself investigating further to see what happened there.

 

Houston-Jets featured a first half where every possession was a punt other than the Jets taking a knee with 2 seconds left in the half after a Houston punt was downed at the 30.  And somehow, the Jets managed to score on 6 of their 7 second half possessions -- fumbling once on a drive that was also moving the football pretty well -- and turned the game into a real laugher.

 

....

 

The Jets will go right back to getting bombed next weekend; if the Dolphins have demonstrated anything this season it's that they'll blow out bad teams and lose to better ones.  But for a day half, it was a fun experience being a Jets fan.

[starcrunch061]

LOL. I was going to tell Jets fans to pack it up, because they clearly scored all their remaining points for season against the Texans.

 

We got Minny vs. LV as the only televised game on Fox here in Ames. What a deal, huh?

Edited December 11, 2023 by starcrunch061

[MidnightDragon]

After how childish Mahomes acted after the game, I’m currently embarrassed to be a Chiefs fan. Yea, the refs have made questionable calls, but this one was legit. And you didn’t whine when it helped you. Instead you sounded like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum. 

Also, to the entire Chiefs offense: stop looking for a flag every time you miss the ball and take some responsibility!

Edited December 11, 2023 by MidnightDragon

[majob]

This season has been an utter mess to be honest. Strong teams turning into jokes as the season progresses, poor officiating, poor quality of play, ect.

[starcrunch061]

8 hours ago, MidnightDragon said:

After how childish Mahomes acted after the game, I’m currently embarrassed to be a Chiefs fan. Yea, the refs have made questionable calls, but this one was legit. And you didn’t whine when it helped you. Instead you sounded like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum. 

 

I thought it was the right call. as well. They've been making this call a lot (in both college and the pros). I don't mind, say, a center moving the ball slightly forward so that it's more comfortable to snap. I don't even mind the center lining up a bit offsides. But that doesn't mean that the entire front 7 can move forward with him.

 

In any case, the Bills really escaped there.

 

As for the Cowboys, they did what they had to do. I'm no fan, but at this point, I would have felt sorry for them if they found a way to lose at home to a vulnerable Eagles Squad. Speaking of the Eagles, they're in a bit of a mire now. It seems that every team is going to go through this (I still can't believe the Niners lost three in a row themselves). 

[djb5f]

22 hours ago, starcrunch061 said:

So, haven’t posted in a while, but it needs to be said: if the Cowboys can’t win today, they’re frauds, plain and simple.

I suppose the Eagles are the frauds now after being woodshedded in consecutive games by the 49ers and Cowboys?  That said Philly has the path to win the NFC East (much easier schedule and tiebreaker advantage) so barring a continued collapse, the division should be theirs.  And they still have a decent shot at the #1 overall seed if SF drops one (Baltimore maybe).

 

The division structure is quite batty when once again a team with a losing record (NFC South) will get to host one of the best teams in the league (Cowboys or Eagles).

 

 

8 hours ago, MidnightDragon said:

After how childish Mahomes acted after the game, I’m currently embarrassed to be a Chiefs fan. Yea, the refs have made questionable calls, but this one was legit. And you didn’t whine when it helped you. Instead you sounded like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum. 

Also, to the entire Chiefs offense: stop looking for a flag every time you miss the ball and take some responsibility!

Temper tantrum was exactly what it was.  Surprised he and Reid doubled down so much in the post-game presser.  I’d expect heavy fines.  
 

 

[starcrunch061]

11 minutes ago, djb5f said:

I suppose the Eagles are the frauds now after being woodshedded in consecutive games by the 49ers and Cowboys?  That said Philly has the path to win the NFC East (much easier schedule and tiebreaker advantage) so barring a continued collapse, the division should be theirs.  And they still have a decent shot at the #1 overall seed if SF drops one (Baltimore maybe).

 

The division structure is quite batty when once again a team with a losing record (NFC South) will get to host one of the best teams in the league (Cowboys or Eagles).

 

Nah, but as I said in my last post, they are certainly vulnerable. That being said, the Eagles have shown they can beat good teams; for the Cowboys (like the Dolphins), this has been in some doubt. But I think the Eagles might struggle against the Seahawks in Seattle. 3-game losing streaks have been all the rage in the NFL this year.

 

I think the Cowboys will have their hands full in Buffalo next week, and even if they survive that, they then get the Dolphins and the Lions after that. Tough road there, though the Lions seem to be flagging at this point.

 

San Fran has a tough one against Baltimore, but they seem to be firing again (I bet they wish they had that 35-yard field goal against the Browns back, though). Their other three should be wins, though the Rams are always a wild card (might have let one get away against the Ravens).

 

I actually think this season has been pretty fun, though. I still think the Niners are the best team, but who knows? I would never have thought the Bills would be struggling to get into this playoffs (what a mess the AFC has been).

[djb5f]

5 minutes ago, starcrunch061 said:

 

Nah, but as I said in my last post, they are certainly vulnerable. That being said, the Eagles have shown they can beat good teams; for the Cowboys (like the Dolphins), this has been in some doubt. But I think the Eagles might struggle against the Seahawks in Seattle. 3-game losing streaks have been all the rage in the NFL this year.

 

I think the Cowboys will have their hands full in Buffalo next week, and even if they survive that, they then get the Dolphins and the Lions after that. Tough road there, though the Lions seem to be flagging at this point.

 

San Fran has a tough one against Baltimore, but they seem to be firing again (I bet they wish they had that 35-yard field goal against the Browns back, though). Their other three should be wins, though the Rams are always a wild card (might have let one get away against the Ravens).

 

I actually think this season has been pretty fun, though. I still think the Niners are the best team, but who knows? I would never have thought the Bills would be struggling to get into this playoffs (what a mess the AFC has been).

yep, agree with pretty much all of that.  I also believe SF has been the best team overall. Their ceiling has been the highest and they are mostly healthy again.  
 

if the Bills make it in, they will be a team no one wants in the 1st round.  They have the ability, unlike a lot of the drek sitting there like Pittsburgh, Indy, Houston, Denver, Cincy without Burrow, etc. 

 

I don’t like 7 teams getting in the playoffs for each conference.  The lowest wild card team is generally very mediocre. 

[MidnightDragon]

3 hours ago, djb5f said:

I suppose the Eagles are the frauds now after being woodshedded in consecutive games by the 49ers and Cowboys?  That said Philly has the path to win the NFC East (much easier schedule and tiebreaker advantage) so barring a continued collapse, the division should be theirs.  And they still have a decent shot at the #1 overall seed if SF drops one (Baltimore maybe).

 

The division structure is quite batty when once again a team with a losing record (NFC South) will get to host one of the best teams in the league (Cowboys or Eagles).

 

 

Temper tantrum was exactly what it was.  Surprised he and Reid doubled down so much in the post-game presser.  I’d expect heavy fines.  
 

 

Since it’s Mahomes, I’d be surprised, but…if our players hadn’t held him back from going after the refs, would’ve been even worse.

 

His behavior aside, the Chiefs have been slowly crumbling this season and it sucks to watch.

 

On top of that, Rappaport said that the NFL is investigating his and Reid’s postgame comments.

Edited December 11, 2023 by MidnightDragon