These Officials Are Really Good

[Doomsday101]

In 2016, NFL teams ran more than 40,000 plays from scrimmage. The NFL Officiating Department meticulously reviewed and graded its officials’ performance on every one of them. Every play. Every game. And not just from one angle: Evaluators reviewed each play seven times — once for each of the seven officiating positions.

Each game averages about 156 plays, so a typical official who works 14 regular-season games is evaluated on nearly 2,200 plays in a single season. The Officiating Department reviews game footage looking for the calls that were made correctly — and also the ones that were missed.

There is nowhere to hide on the football field. Whether working a closely contested Super Bowl or the final minutes of an early season blowout, officials are expected to exhibit the same high level of excellence on every play.

They’re human, of course, so on-field miscues will occur. And while the 124 officials in the NFL aren’t always perfect, the evaluation process shows that they come very close.

“I happen to believe that the players don’t play perfect games, I really don’t think coaches coach perfect games, and I don’t think officials work perfect games. It’s not a game that is perfect.”
25-YEAR NFL OFFICIATING VETERAN MASON “RED” CASHION

They got it right 95.9 percent of the time throughout the 2016 season, according to the league’s evaluators. In almost any other career, that level of proficiency would be praised. Yet more is expected from NFL officials — not just from the players, the fans and the media, but from the officials themselves.

They are carefully selected, extensively prepared and rigorously evaluated to ensure that they call games correctly and consistently — so that the players, not the officials, determine the outcome. This process results in the outstanding officiating that players, coaches and fans expect and deserve.

Officiating an NFL game — making split-second decisions at full speed and at field level — takes decades of work and dedication. While fans may not always agree with every call, one thing is certain: These officials are good

http://operations.nfl.com/the-officials/these-officials-are-really-good/

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Yes, I'm supposed to believe that the league's evaluators have no bias.

Good grief.




YR

 

[jwooten15]

It's not just missing calls, it's how they subjectively (or maybe arbitrarily) choose to make/not make calls which infuriates everyone.

Obviously the catch/not a catch rule, phantom holding penalties on huge chunk plays which stalls momentum (when other, obvious holding penalties aren't called at all), and then choosing to flag Butler on an archaic, never enforced rule which killed a very important drive.

So even if you take the NFL for their word and the officials got 95% of the calls "right", those 5% that they missed can create drastic differences in the outcome of the game.

 

[Doomsday101]

It's not just missing calls, it's how they subjectively (or maybe arbitrarily) choose to make/not make calls which infuriates everyone.

Obviously the catch/not a catch rule, phantom holding penalties on huge chunk plays which stalls momentum (when other, obvious holding penalties aren't called at all), and then choosing to flag Butler on an archaic, never enforced rule which killed a very important drive.

So even if you take the NFL for their word and the officials got 95% of the calls "right", those 5% that they missed can create drastic differences in the outcome of the game.

Yes those 5% can but unfortunately it will never be 100% correct. I was reading an article from the NBA commissioner Adam Silver that their refs get 90% of the call right meaning 10% is wrong and these guys are full time. As I stated in another post full time is not going to make officiating any better or worse. What it will do is give the refs even more power and security than before. Not to mention they will be paid better.

I would also add there are calls like anyone else I would disagree with however I do not believe for a second they are out to get the Cowboys or any other team. Heck I saw ample non calls in some Cowboys games last season that I felt we got away with. I think the job that these ref have is hard and under appreciated. Of course I don't expect many will feel as I do

 

[jwooten15]

^^ Very few fans probably feel as you do haha

But you're right, in the grand scheme of things, they do an amazing job at making the right calls on split second decisions.

 

[Longboysfan]

I guess the missing 4.1% was in the Green Bay Dallas playoff game.