OT - Refs just gave Seahawks game!

[Ghost]

Mike and Mike just had former ref Jerry Markham (sp?) on and one of his first statements was about the "overt" pass interference by Golden Tate which should have been called.

I wonder if he worked the 2003 NYG-SF game, when there was a little more at stake than week 3, and the Giants receiver on the botched field goal attempt was literally steamrolled?

They never call it - I've seen that play 100 times and probably half of those a WR is pushing someone like that in the back, or the defender, it just isn't called. The issue is someone actually caught the ball this time, and Tate was due left of the pile so it was more obvious that usual - typically you don't notice till the replay. This time it was RIGHT there from the jump.

 

[armory]

Can you imagine the number of people who lost bets on this game?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I can't believe I stayed up and saw that nonsense. Not much on the NFL anymore, but that was a joke. Clearly what the refs needed to actually make their case that they are required.

I do have an observation about this though that is not related to that last play. For the last couple years we have been hearing about how the NFL is ruining the game through the officiating and how quarterbacks have it so easy now due to the way defensive backs aren't allowed to touch a guy. Well, clearly that's not the case now as I see DBs battling receivers all over the field now with only a few of the most egregious instances flagged. And then you hear Chris Carter going off this morning about it - of course from the receivers POV. Seems like we are getting the football that people really wanted last year now - albeit at a ridiculously slow pace due to the constant checking back to NYC and the league.

 

[NKR1978]

Can you imagine the number of people who lost bets on this game?

http://deadspin.com/5946202/one-online-sports-book-is-refunding-everyone-who-bet-on-the-packers

 

[DoctorBombay]

I wonder if he worked the 2003 NYG-SF game, when there was a little more at stake than week 3, and the Giants receiver on the botched field goal attempt was literally steamrolled?

' those blind, incompetent basturds!

 

[BuffOrange]

1. Replacement refs are fun. I like the added comedy. I'm a Chargers fan though, football is all about comedy to me. Screw you Norv Turner!!!!!!!!!

2. Everyone says it's soooooooo obvious, but Tirico even called it a Tate catch with simultaneous possession in real time.

Gruden has LOATHED replacement officials since minute 1 - he kind of pushed this as the biggest atrocity in the history of the NFL. Regular refs screw up all the time too. Pushing off in a pile - I think I've seen that called once. Short of taking off your helmet and beating the other people in the scrum you probably aren't getting a PI.

3. Regular refs don't screw up this much, obviously. They also tend not to replay every single mistake and analyze over and over again if it's a mistake. They're also more sure of what they're doing so you don't get the awkward let's figure this out moments so it's usually just glossed over. (See point 1)

4. That call sucked all the same.

Agree with all this. The replacements are not as good as the regulars. This is not surprising. I still don't really buy all the "integrity of the game" outrage. Give a Packer fan truth serum and they'd have to admit it was an incredible stroke of a luck that a hail marry that's even remotely disputable (which happens once every what, 5 years?) happened during the 3week replacement period, on MNF no less. How many Packer fans would be outraged if the horrible one-sided officiating in the Giants playoff game last yr was the difference in them winning? It was just dumb luck that they didn't play well enough for the favorable officiating to matter (the ref in that game btw was the same guy who butchered the Pittsburgh-Seattle SB and arguably did make the difference in the game).

This article sums up my thoughts very well. As much as I love football the nature of the game as it relates to officiating is incredibly imperfect - more-so than any sport.

http://www.wgr550.com/pages/14330143.php?contentType=4&contentId=11493787

I always get a kick out of the hypocrite Patriots fans crying about Bill Polian and the Colts "changing the rules" after the 2004 AFC championship as it relates to illegal contact. I'm pretty sure illegal contact was a rule before 2004, it just wasn't always enforced for unknown reasons. Yet when it comes to the 'Tuck Rule' the same Pats fans will defend the rarely enforced letter of the law to the death.