Why penalties have become so mind numbing

[Blackrain]

You are correct, there were bad calls 60's -90's but not to this point, it is to the point of really ruining the game. Look at how long it took to fix the catch rule. Kinda funny a blow to the head is and should be a penalty unless your a runner,then you can hit a player in the head, push his head back push his face mask, guess they don't care about safety when the ball carrier has the ball. So many rules with no clear what is and isn't a foul.

The whole sacking of the QB thing has me baffled . You cant touch the leg even if you are on the ground , you cant land on them. You some how have to stop yourself if they release the ball . Its a lot to ask of 300+ men to control momentum in such a way

 

[Brax]

The whole sacking of the QB thing has me baffled . You cant touch the leg even if you are on the ground , you cant land on them. You some how have to stop yourself if they release the ball . Its a lot to ask of 300+ men to control momentum in such a way

Safety is one thing, and I agree with you,I think the rules should be the same for every player, every time I see a QB go down I just wait for a flag, and like you I have no idea what the D is suppose to do. Hope you had a great holiday and have a great new year

 

[silvrNblue]

It's like the 2 calls that stood for TD's one against us and one the Browns. HITF does jumping over the line with just the ball crossing, getting it batted out NOT constitute a damn fumble? I'm sorry, THAT right there shows how stupid the game has become, when a player can jump up and simply place the ball on the line. It should have to read the WHOLE player and the ball...that's is just garbage TD's exspecially IF the ball is knocked lose, THAT should be considered a fumble by any means. Just think back to the catch NOT a catch play against Dez....I am sure like most I watched that 100 times and still say THAT was a catch. but they ruled it a non catch AND a fumble, but then it's allowed if you jump almost to the goal line and fumble to NOT be a fumble... Bob ole boy once again you nailed it. The league is full of numpties and most likely collage grad interns "making" the game "better".

 

[Kaiser]

The whole sacking of the QB thing has me baffled . You cant touch the leg even if you are on the ground , you cant land on them. You some how have to stop yourself if they release the ball . Its a lot to ask of 300+ men to control momentum in such a way

Why is this hard? You pull one of the flags that is velcroed to the QBs belt and pulling either the left flag or right flag ends the play.

 

[Blackrain]

Safety is one thing, and I agree with you,I think the rules should be the same for every player, every time I see a QB go down I just wait for a flag, and like you I have no idea what the D is suppose to do. Hope you had a great holiday and have a great new year

You to brother thanks. Cant wait for Sat night!!!!

 

[aikemirv]

That’s another rule where to my old eyes, it could be called almost every play. Again...what constitutes defensive holding? I used to know. It was grabbing a receiver. Now....eh...maybe. Depends on the ref.

Who knows. There was sever illegal contact on Beasleys TD.....

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

Too many lawyers running the NFL. Their whole lives are ambiguous, so they make rules that way. The defenseless receiver rule started out with good intentions--stop allowing them to get hit long after the ball stopped rolling. Now, if one jumps up & catches the ball, they're naturally going to be hit by a defender coming in to break up the pass. Penalty. Not what it was created for. The "Hitting the QB low" rule was intended to stop rushers from lunging forward & hitting the QB low-especially in the knees. Now, if a rusher is on the ground & they wrap their arms around the QB's legs--penalty. NFL rules, & the refs that enforce them, have me really close to sticking with college ball.

 

[IceBowler]

The NFL is ENTERTAINMENT, and not a sport. This is explained on the back of every game ticket and to everyone associated with the game from Day 1. The league has every right to entertain their viewers.

Having played and officiated, you won't mind if I respectfully disagree, I'm sure. Do you honestly believe the value of the NFL would stand if it was regarded as WWE Professional wrestling? The "Entertainment " caveat is posted as a means to duck some tax classification as I recall. But, the League in no way frames their games as a scripted affair. The ancient Roman games were "Entertainment" for the folks who filled the Coliseum but, I doubt the professional glaiators who fought to the death viewed it as such.

 

[IceBowler]

Too many lawyers running the NFL. Their whole lives are ambiguous, so they make rules that way. The defenseless receiver rule started out with good intentions--stop allowing them to get hit long after the ball stopped rolling. Now, if one jumps up & catches the ball, they're naturally going to be hit by a defender coming in to break up the pass. Penalty. Not what it was created for. The "Hitting the QB low" rule was intended to stop rushers from lunging forward & hitting the QB low-especially in the knees. Now, if a rusher is on the ground & they wrap their arms around the QB's legs--penalty. NFL rules, & the refs that enforce them, have me really close to sticking with college ball.

Understand completely, except that NCAA D-1 ball is far more corrupt than the NFL.

 

[IceBowler]

It is pitiful Bob!!

Reviewing every TD is disgusting too.

Maybe we should review all penalties as well?

If like on TD we’re going to call it under a microscope why not penalties too?

Agree with you wholeheartedly! Most touchdowns these days are directly related to a crap penalty called to extend the drive at some point.

"... 4th and 13 and the pass is INCOMPLETE to Thomas !! The ball goes over to the Steelers on downs! BUT WAIT! There's a flag down on the other side of the field ... And the Saints benefit from another call at a crucial time in the game!"

You may feel free to substitute team and player names at will ... cause it's all bad.

Yada Yada Yada ...

 

[DenCWBY]

First of all, I’m not the kind of guy who blames the refs for ANY loss. EVER. Good teams overcome all obstacles including bad calls, so this post isn’t about us “getting screwed by the refs”. This post is actually about why the refs are screwing every team in the NFL with bad calls.

The reason IMO is actually pretty simple: The NFL can’t clearly define their rules which makes them hard to enforce.

I mean seriously, who knows what a catch is anymore? What really constitutes pass interference? Offensive holding? They could call it every play but for some strange reason it is only called once in a strange while. And roughing the passer? I challenge anyone to explain how that rule is being enforced this year. The list of unclear rules and enforcement could go on and on....

If this is ever going to get better, the NFL needs to simplify their rules. I’ve been watching NFL games since 1964, and trust me when I say games in the 60s-90s were much less dominated by strange penalties that made people scratch their heads. Sure you got bad calls- like the ridiculous call against Benny Barnes in SB XIII...but I digress.

Bottom line- the bad calls we are seeing in mass quantities are a direct result of the NFLs poor job of clearly defining its rules. It needs some serious work!

The other thing is that with the recent legal heat coming down on concussion protocol, the NFL has directed the refs to make the calls even if the offense is questionable or situational on some penalties. The sad part is that there seems to be no continuity or consistency between each officiating crew or within each member of each crew as to the enforcement of the rules.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

First of all, I’m not the kind of guy who blames the refs for ANY loss. EVER. Good teams overcome all obstacles including bad calls, so this post isn’t about us “getting screwed by the refs”. This post is actually about why the refs are screwing every team in the NFL with bad calls.

The reason IMO is actually pretty simple: The NFL can’t clearly define their rules which makes them hard to enforce.

I mean seriously, who knows what a catch is anymore? What really constitutes pass interference? Offensive holding? They could call it every play but for some strange reason it is only called once in a strange while. And roughing the passer? I challenge anyone to explain how that rule is being enforced this year. The list of unclear rules and enforcement could go on and on....

If this is ever going to get better, the NFL needs to simplify their rules. I’ve been watching NFL games since 1964, and trust me when I say games in the 60s-90s were much less dominated by strange penalties that made people scratch their heads. Sure you got bad calls- like the ridiculous call against Benny Barnes in SB XIII...but I digress.

Bottom line- the bad calls we are seeing in mass quantities are a direct result of the NFLs poor job of clearly defining its rules. It needs some serious work!

The really frustrating ones are because of rules ambiguity but the sheer volume has more to do with the reduction of practice in the last CBA. That is what is mindnumbing to me. The first few weeks of a season are unbearably sloppy nowadays.

 

[IceBowler]

The other thing is that with the recent legal heat coming down on concussion protocol, the NFL has directed the refs to make the calls even if the offense is questionable or situational on some penalties. The sad part is that there seems to be no continuity or consistency between each officiating crew or within each member of each crew as to the enforcement of the rules.

THIS ^^^^^

 

[erod]

Too many rules

Celebrity-minded referees

Replay fatigue

There you go. It's crazy how they break down replay to pure minutia when so much else is just randomly happens with almost no thought.

 

[Bohuntr97]

Having played and officiated, you won't mind if I respectfully disagree, I'm sure. Do you honestly believe the value of the NFL would stand if it was regarded as WWE Professional wrestling? The "Entertainment " caveat is posted as a means to duck some tax classification as I recall. But, the League in no way frames their games as a scripted affair. The ancient Roman games were "Entertainment" for the folks who filled the Coliseum but, I doubt the professional glaiators who fought to the death viewed it as such.

Actually, the NFL dropped it's Non-profit status two years ago. They also now have 24 full time officials (full salaries with health benefits) to promote more integrity. They have also contracted with an independent third party to evaluate officials performance. I agree with many other posters that an ever changing 80 page rule book makes it difficult for any official. No conspiracies.