I am not in to conspiracy theories, but what is up with officiating?

[T-RO]

Some times it feels like the refs job is to keep games competitive, not manage the game.

I saw some serious jersey pulls by the Commanders offensive line, at least 3 were ridiculous and no flag. 53 pass attempts and no holding calls on any of them?

Sometimes the refs seem intent on keeping the score close to keep viewership from tuning out.

The Cowboys emphatically get screwed some games like the Steelers game other games Dallas is the beneficiary of questionable referee work.

The Ravens were called for almost 100 yards more in penalties than Dallas on Sunday!

When there are billions of dollars in gambling flowing around on these games and on fantasy...there is just no way you are going to have humans calling the plays/games with unsullied motivation.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I think they should ween him into a TE. He can block pretty well and he's got the speed of a WR. I would love to have a TE like a Jordan Reid.

Other than that, they took another long run away from Zeke with a BS call.

I know nothing about Mayle's ability to run routes. Unless the team has been hiding a crown jewel for two years, more than likely he can be a nice niche player. Which is fine. Everyone can't be a star.

 

[Zordon]

There was a play and I can't remember if it was the 3rd or 2nd quarter but Tyrone crawford nearly had his jersey ripped off chasing cousins and nothing, no call. The cowboys sideline went crazy. It was as obvious as it gets. and they picked up a first down on the play and scored a few plays later.

Infuriating......

 

[gimmesix]

Our receivers are getting mugged right infront of the refs, facemasks not getting called, getting body slammed to the ground, getting pushed, shoved, and even slapped in the helmet after the plays, ect.....

AND NO FLAGS

Seriously, did Jerry not let Blandino get lap dances in the party bus this year so this is payback?

My conspiracy theory is that the league is trying to cut down on penalties so the officials are letting a lot more go than they used to, particularly concerning defensive contact. I think officials are under a mandate to ignore most contact. I don't think the Beasley face mask falls into that category, but if you're no longer paying close attention to corners and receivers shoving on each other, you miss some of that stuff.

 

[DandyDon52]

To me let the coaches challenge these non calls..... Its their time out to lose, and would really highlight some of the unequal treatment going on right in front of our eyes.

I agree.....but they wont even let coaches challenge certain things, and I dont really see why.
They get the 2 challenges and should be able to use them on any play to have it reviewed.

 

[Plankton]

Babe talked throughout the game yesterday about how Norman's whole game is built around holding and grabbing. he said watching film of him he gets away with holding and grabbing on every play and expected a number of calls on him yesterday.

During the broadcast he was shocked they were not getting holding penalties on the washington DB's.

This is the whole Seattle type of model for playing corner that has worked so well, and is actually brilliant.

They will literally hold or interfere on nearly every play. They do this knowing darn well that the officials will not call it on every play, otherwise the game will grind to a halt in terms of pace. Yes, the officials need to do a much better job of policing it, but it's understandable what the strategy is.

 

[VACowboy]

It looks like to me that the league has decided to deemphasize contact down the field.

 

[DandyDon52]

Infuriating......

Well each ref has a area to look at, and they can only look at parts, so they might not be looking at crawford
and see the hold.
Could be they need more refs, to be able to look at more .
Flagrant hold like this can only mean 2-3 things,
1.the ref didnt see it, was looking elsewhere, or bad angle.
2.he saw it, but didnt call it for reasons to many to go into, like they are controlling games.
3.Refs have decided to not call certain things, also called letting them play lol.

But this is obvious and to me should be called.
But I have see cowboy players not called too, like in one of the last 2 games, carr was mauling a guy in the end zone,
and it was really obvious, and no call.
he made alot of contact then held him by jersey, as he went for the pass, and no call.
So did they miss it? did they see it and let it go? if so why??

I have often felt refs were paid to control games in subtle manner with penalties to get certain results.
They are not for a team per say, but just control outcomes, or try to.
And that would mean the gambling industry is involved in some way.

 

[DandyDon52]

This is the whole Seattle type of model for playing corner that has worked so well, and is actually brilliant.

They will literally hold or interfere on nearly every play. They do this knowing darn well that the officials will not call it on every play, otherwise the game will grind to a halt in terms of pace. Yes, the officials need to do a much better job of policing it, but it's understandable what the strategy is.

this can be a good strategy especially in playoffs, just dont do it on long passes.

 

[mattjames2010]

It seemed yesterday, they were just letting the players play. This would be fine IF this was a consistent thing. But it's not. One week there are 500 flags, then it's 5 flags the entire game.

 

[gmoney112]

This is the whole Seattle type of model for playing corner that has worked so well, and is actually brilliant.

They will literally hold or interfere on nearly every play. They do this knowing darn well that the officials will not call it on every play, otherwise the game will grind to a halt in terms of pace. Yes, the officials need to do a much better job of policing it, but it's understandable what the strategy is.

I think they'd quit doing it after two drives if it ended up with the other team scoring 14 points from 100+ yards in penalty yardage.

They're a very talented team, but I think the NFL and owners like having a smaller market team so competitive with their own "brand" of football. It's good for business and keeps the owners happy, so they tend to get more leeway.

Not a lot, but just enough for them to have their own "brand".

Now other teams are starting to use that style a little more, I'm guessing there was probably a league memo about contact or something, or an unspoken agreement. There's been a ton of non called contact this year.

 

[Little Jr]

I think yesterday's game was called pretty equal. They let both teams db's play.

 

[mahoneybill]

I agree.....but they wont even let coaches challenge certain things, and I dont really see why.
They get the 2 challenges and should be able to use them on any play to have it reviewed.

you and I are of like mind.

 

[DandyDon52]

It seemed yesterday, they were just letting the players play. This would be fine IF this was a consistent thing. But it's not. One week there are 500 flags, then it's 5 flags the entire game.

different ref teams, so a team should study the refs, and then they would know ok I can do this but not that.
Like the one team has ejected 6 players, so dont do anything that would get you ejected, when they are your refs, but the
next week you can.

 

[Idgit]

A certain percentage of calls are always going to be interpretable more than one way. There's no getting around that. Another certain percentage of calls are always going to be missed. And now we've got cameras all over the place, so every play gets recorded from just about every imaginable angle. It's bound to lead to every team having enough significant calls against it that it looks like a conspiracy sooner or later.

Add to it all the fact that crews going into the year making a point of enforcing certain penalties in preseason to make a statement, and that each crew has it's own interpretations of how to correctly call a game, put an idiot in charge of everything, and you end up with what seems like a circus of subjectivity. I'm not sure what the solution is, but they have to do something about it. Too often you have crews like we had in the PHI game where the refs insist on making themselves part of the narrative. It's a huge distraction from the enjoyment of the game.

 

[JJHLH1]

The Thanksgiving Day game was great, as evidenced by historic tv ratings. In general the refs seemed to swallow their whistles unless it was obvious. Sure they made mistakes but they made them for both teams pretty equally I thought, and the game had nice flow. I'd much rather watch this type of game as opposed to calling every ticky-tack infraction.

 

[TheHerd]

This is the whole Seattle type of model for playing corner that has worked so well, and is actually brilliant.

They will literally hold or interfere on nearly every play. They do this knowing darn well that the officials will not call it on every play, otherwise the game will grind to a halt in terms of pace. Yes, the officials need to do a much better job of policing it, but it's understandable what the strategy is.

This was the Philly model under DC Johnson. The players as much as said it on a few occasions.

 

[_sturt_]

This isn't the NBA, so I'm not as inclined to consider conspiracy theories b/c the evidence of playing fast and loose with whatever rules are necessary to generate more money for the owners is just not as clear and compelling. (I'm only half-certain about that where the NBA is concerned, actually. Unfortunately.)

But.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I see a lot of opportunity here.

That is, the more likely you can make it that Dak loses games, the more likely you build the drama and interest in the "When will they put Tony back in there" plot.

 

[RoboQB]

You don't see many 15 yard personal foul penalties picked up and waved off.

 

[cowboys1981]

We've managed to beat opponents and refs to be at 10-1. We're that good