Cowboys dodge the officiating bullet this week

[Haimerej]

Can’t remember the last game I watching in any sport in which the refs weren’t complained about. It’s just a given in sports now.

Symptom of the general lack of accountability we want in our culture. "It’s not my fault, it's the system!!!"

 

[MarcusRock]

How much of a problem is this really? Sure, every team has moments they can point to where they were screwed by a bad call. They also have moments in which they're helped by a bad call.

But again, where do they draw the line? What would be considered, "let the big guys play"? Should they only call holding if they see it when there's a big run? This concept of letting some things go seems like it would open up an even bigger can of worms.

That's the thing. Then the slanted whining will be, "they let that go when it should be called" or some other combination of "we wuz robbed." Same for every team's fans. Fans won't be happy no matter what.

 

[Dhragon]

I liked your post and you think I'm insulting you?
Shallow.
I complimented and meant it.

#Disappointed.

Guess he didn't catch your Talledega Nights reference. lol

 

[Haimerej]

They forget about this one that won us a game by their same logic. I'm sure there's others that can be dug up.

That's just letting them play. He didn’t mean to do it so it doesn't count./s

 

[IceBowler]

Pipe down, fan boi. It's called being a critical reader and all.

It's an interesting idea for choosing playoff refs but it seems unlikely that you'll get consistent ratings game to game. Chances are, if you win, you'll like the crew. If you lose, not so much. Just like around here where ref threads only appear when we lose. So by season's end, the highest rated crews are by winners. If you're 0-17, you hate everyone. By mid-season, if you're reffing a winning team's game, are you more likely to want to please that team who's more likely to win if it means you'll get a higher rating and promoted to the post-season where you could see this team again who helped you get there? If refs have biases and feelings like so many here claim, why would you create a system where ref crews and teams could conspire to be buddy-buddy in a mutually-beneficial relationship? Gotta think these things through but knee-jerking is easier.

The real issue that needs to come from the NFL is what their standard is on how close or loose games should be called. Full time refs can also undergo full time training so that standard can be met across crews. We all want less penalties but let's be real; fans will never be happy. Call less penalties and fans will whine that officials don't make calls for their team on purpose. It's lose-lose for refs anyway so hopefully the NFL can publicly address it and go forward with it from there. Tweak as necessary.

lit is the consistency of interpretation that I believe is the biggest issue. Decide on what a foul is and call it with the same intensity and consistency from game to game and more importantly, between officiating crews.

 

[Haimerej]

lit is the consistency of interpretation that I believe is the biggest issue. Decide on what a foul is and call it with the same intensity and consistency from game to game and more importantly, between officiating crews.

Philosophically speaking, you're arguing for an impossibility here.

 

[Aviano90]

Symptom of the general lack of accountability we want in our culture. "It’s not my fault, it's the system!!!"

The constant crying of wolf just waters down actual discussion of bad calls when they are made.

 

[Haimerej]

The constant crying of wolf just waters down actual discussion of bad calls when they are made.

Yep. They do happen, too.

I wouldn't necessarily call it crying wolf so much as refusing to accept human falliability. People like to attach intent to errors. That's why I'm a big believer in Hanlon's razor.

Edit- as an exercise in what I'm saying, I am not changing my misspelling of fallibility.

 

[ESisback]

Human error will always be an issue. There is no conspiracy against the Cowboys or with the league and the refs influencing games and who wins on purpose.

No organized conspiracy, but there IS a bias, and officiating that’s inconsistent. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Lebron, Jordan, the Steelers, etc., etc.—they get the calls.

 

[IceBowler]

Philosophically speaking, you're arguing for an impossibility here.

MLB umpires achieve a “got it right” percentage in the mid 90s range .. including balls & strikes. “Perfect”, no. A damn sight better than the garbage we are offered every week .. absolutely.

 

[75boyz]

No organized conspiracy, but there IS a bias, and officiating that’s inconsistent. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Lebron, Jordan, the Steelers, etc., etc.—they get the calls.

I can like both yours and CowboyRoys opinions here as I see you both have valid positions on this imo.

 

[Haimerej]

MLB umpires achieve a “got it right” percentage in the mid 90s range .. including balls & strikes. “Perfect”, no. A damn sight better than the garbage we are offered every week .. absolutely.

Balls and strikes seem much more black and white, imo. Angles and line of sight play a much greater role in whether an official sees a penalty. Not saying that consistency within a crew can't be established, but across crews seems like wishful thinking.

 

[CowboyRoy]

No organized conspiracy, but there IS a bias, and officiating that’s inconsistent. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Lebron, Jordan, the Steelers, etc., etc.—they get the calls.

Oh hell yah. Brady gets protected like the King of England.

 

[Aviano90]

No organized conspiracy, but there IS a bias, and officiating that’s inconsistent. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Lebron, Jordan, the Steelers, etc., etc.—they get the calls.

Just curious, have you looked at some objective data to determine if that matches with what you feel happens? For instance, did you know that Atlanta received more Roughing the Passer penalties than GB, TB, and KC combined? Matt Ryan is more protected from the refs than Rodgers, Mahomes, and Brady combined. I didn’t realize that.

 

[IceBowler]

Balls and strikes seem much more black and white, imo. Angles and line of sight play a much greater role in whether an official sees a penalty. Not saying that consistency within a crew can't be established, but across crews seems like wishful thinking.

The other issue I'd like to see addressed is whether or not the flag has any impact of the play or not. That would go a long way to eliminating penalties that are potentially game-changing that, were they not called, would have no effect on the player outcome whatsoever.

 

[Haimerej]

The other issue I'd like to see addressed is whether or not the flag has any impact of the play or not. That would go a long way to eliminating penalties that are potentially game-changing that, were they not called, would have no effect on the player outcome whatsoever.

I understand that to an extent. But that brings in a variable that can be quite subjective. You could argue a defensive holding shouldn't count because the QB threw to a different receiver while at the same time saying the hold caused him to progress to a different guy and give up the chance at a bigger play.

 

[IceBowler]

I understand that to an extent. But that brings in a variable that can be quite subjective. You could argue a defensive holding shouldn't count because the QB threw to a different receiver while at the same time saying the hold caused him to progress to a different guy and give up the chance at a bigger play.

You certainly have a point but, there are many instances when the play has gone well past the foul or, it's called on the other side of the field - that kind of thing .. and relatively easy to discern.

 

[ESisback]

Oh hell yah. Brady gets protected like the King of England.

Yeah, imagine Brady getting slammed like Romo used to!

 

[Walker]

The score is also showing the difference.

 

[ESisback]

Just curious, have you looked at some objective data to determine if that matches with what you feel happens? For instance, did you know that Atlanta received more Roughing the Passer penalties than GB, TB, and KC combined? Matt Ryan is more protected from the refs than Rodgers, Mahomes, and Brady combined. I didn’t realize that.

Wow, I didn’t either.