Opponent Penalties

[olyfan63]

I for one find it hard to believe the NFL in this day and age would take the risk to use the refs to shape the game for their benefit. For that to happen think how many people would have to be in the loop. The more people that are aware of the plan the more risk that info gets leaked. If proof of this was leaked it would serious hurt the NFL beyond what took place with the one ref in the NBA and even FIFA.

Advertisers would pull out, Vegas would be in a up roar, the federal government would investigate, capital hill would be all over it, consumers would be pissed, heads would roll in the NFL, As its mentioned the owners are in it to make money, this happening would potential sink the NFL for a couple of years at least if not more.

I could see where a ref could be bias with one team and not another hence unbalanced calls but to think the NFL in this day and age would have a plan like that is serious tin foil hat territory. Pardon me now as I have an appointment with Elvis on his ship that is flying in from a nearby system in 45 minutes. I may get lucky this time and get to met his friend Bigfoot so we can discuss all of the top secret mind altering agents that are being displaced via the chemtrails from high flying jets.

:2:

It only takes one ref and a couple key calls to influence the result and/or betting line of a game.
We've probably all seen it said that holding could be called on every play.

And, if "proof" of this was "leaked", whoever leaked it would probably be mocked as a "tinfoil hat" wearer by true believers in the righteousness and good of the NFL like you. The "Federal Government" and "capital hill" (sic--means "Capitol Hill", i.e., congress) would be most likely to *ignore* any such *proof*, and any such "investigation" would be subject to political influence, and steer clear of the well-connected. (Memo: pretty much all NFL owners fit into the "well connected" category, and have for decades, and they have a nice ant-trust exemption from Congress as evidence.)

I think it's naive to believe that rich, powerful, well-connected persons don't band together to seek out every possible avenue to advocate their mutual interests. Just because some people can't relate to how the psychopathic (inability to actually *feel* remorse/empathy) mind works, it doesn't mean the psychopaths and narcissists running things aren't finding extremely clever ways to further their own interests.

The form of mockery you use has been employed for ages as a clever strategy to trigger people to switch off the critical thinking parts of their brain and investigate no further. You follow the template pretty much to the letter. It's much more effective than the "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" approach, which causes the opposite of the desired behavior.

Now stop annoying me with your silly rhetoric. I have a spaceship to catch; the little green men and I are going for a Bigfoot-spotting flight. Sort of like Pacific Northwest whale-watching, but higher end. And sorry to disappoint you, but Elvis is underground and worm-eaten and full of maggots and won't be joining us.

:2:

 

[scutterhawk]

Referees can shape the outcome of games, at the League's discretion?
Whoever would believe something like that? in this day and age, isn't that like Racketeering?

Also, if you believe in league wide edicts to shape the outcome of games just stop watchin now or reconcile that it's somewhat scripted entertainment

You bet, you'd have to be a fool to believe that the Referees haven't shaped the outcome of some crucial games, whether by mistake or by instruction to keeping the games somewhat close....Interference by poor, or questionable Refereeing happens all the time, they're not immune to making costly mistakes--Apology letters to Pete Carroll is proof of that.
It's like I've said in the past, "The Trending Numbers Don't Lie", there have been a LOT of game altering mistakes.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I'd say it's from a lot of factors, in no particular order:

1. Our offense doesn't run a lot of plays. Fewer chances to get defensive penalties.
2. Our offense doesn't throw a lot. Most penalty opportunities come from PI/Contact. Fewer chances to get defensive penalties.
3. Our receivers generally aren't outstanding at getting contact.
4. Wilson is more careful with the ball and generally more accurate. Decisions on where to throw typically don't involve plays where defenders can generate PI calls. Fewer chances to get those.
5. Silent counts. Over the last few seasons, the drop off in procedure/false starts at home has reduced drastically. We commit far more neutral zone/procedure calls than opponents at home. Seattle also is known to be jumpy and teams will focus on trying to catch us offsides. It's not necessarily bad -- as our rush is pretty outstanding. But it's definitely something opposing OC's are gameplanning for. If teams go into Seahawks week preparations focusing on that -- it's likely to decline overall.

There are a lot of generic reasons for the lack of opponent calls that is a byproduct of how we play. I don't think it necessarily indicates anything sinister. Nor has this disparity been ruinous for us. We play on the edge and sometimes go over it. But by playing on the edge, we play at a high level. So to me it's the cost of being the team that we have. Take the good and the bad.