The Saints were jobbed

[Chapow]

I'd rather see a game end on a no-call with the refs letting the players play then refs getting involved and icing the game. If saints wanted to win, stop the rams from tying. Saints had the ball first in OT drove to midfield then threw an INT. Very winnable game for the Saints even after that no-call which was a horribly thrown ball and they were lucky Rams didn't intercept it. Niners lost the superbowl on a no-call 4th down blatant holding and everyone said suck it up refs let them play so tough luck Saints.

There's a difference between "letting them play" and and not calling a clear and obvious, egregious, foul.

I don't think anyone wants to see more flags in NFL games and I don't think anyone wants to see flags for questionable or ticky tack fouls that don't have any affect on the play. That is what people mean when they say they want the refs to "let them play".

But you can't allow the players to commit egregious, game changing fouls and not throw a flag. At that point, why even bother having refs at all?

 

[mikeak]

Not throwing that flag is the definition of letting the refs decide the game.

This wasn't incidental contact it was a full fledged tackle, helmet to helmet.

If he doesn't make the hit it is a likely TD. If he makes it it should be first down, run out clock, kick 3 / score TD

Game over

This is like my kid arguing with me about why he did something wrong. All I need to hear is - yes I am sorry shouldnt have done it but now it is done.

 

[AubHawk71]

Hahahahahahaha

Manipulation

These calls are the definition of being in an abusive relationship. 'But the few times when they are nice to me make up for...'

Our Lord and Savior Brady will get another notch before he retires. Great story line.

Don't fret Ram fans who are inexplicably here justifying the obvious. You will probably win the Pooperhole in two years against the Chargers at the super new fancy stadium in LA.

Marketing!

 

[chris98251]

Well I guess it's ok to incidentally stomp on the QB's Helmet when they are down now also, let them play, I am sure Suh would agree.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

As far as officials not wanting to decide the outcome of games, I agree with the theory that by not calling obvious penaities you are affecting the outcome of games.

Re making pass interference challengable. As a very avid CFL fan (I live here) I hope the NFL does it the right. I would make it only a booth review and only in the last 2 minutes or something like that. Here's the pandora's box you open with that challenge. By the rule, you can't contact the receiver or vice versa when the ball's in the air. So what do you do when the coach throws the flag, by the book it's PI, but it's not really egregious? You get "fishing expeditions" by coaches in this case. It will still lead to judgment calls with players, coaches, and fans throwing up their hands in frustration over the inconsistency

When the refs blow a call like that in the last couple of minutes, it's hard for the team on the short end of it to recover. If it happens earlier, you can argue the team has time to recover.
Bottom line - booth review last 2 minutes if they are going that way. And only to fix the really blatant once. And for the love of God don't make illegal contact on a receiver challengable. That was such a disaster they scrapped it.

Interestingly it was the same situation that caused the challenge to be implemented here. It was a playoff game in 2013. It was blatant PI in the endzone (Cris Carter's kid Duron was the intended receiver). Would have put the ball on the 1 first and goal in the last minute of the game. Remember with the yard the defenders have to give off the ball, first and goal at the 1 has a lot higher success rate in the CFL than NFL. It wasn't called, the team had to kick the FG to tie and lost in OT.

 

[justafan]

It was a horrible non call. The head contact bothers me the most. There were several penalties on that play. But if the saints would have ran the ball a couple of times that quarter they would have won.

But I will never feel sorry for the Saints or Payton after bountygate where they rewarded players for hurting other players. The Vikings NFC game was a travesty and refs should have been fired and the Super Bowl trophy stripped from that city.

I hate the Vikings but that game is a blackstain on the NFL yet nobody complains about the cheap shots that were allowed. Dirtiest team I have ever seen since the Raiders hay day.

 

[Ambrose83]

The missed facemask on Goff took 4 pts off the board.... That one call wasn't the only erogenous one..... Just the last one.... Saints lost that game... Not on that call .

 

[Uncle Si]

The missed facemask on Goff took 4 pts off the board.... That one call wasn't the only erogenous one..... Just the last one.... Saints lost that game... Not on that call .

I didnt see much in that facemask to be honest. There were certainly others that were missed on both sides.

 

[chris98251]

If it wasn't a drag down facemask and the new rule one then yeah it may have been missed, the swat pass move and grazing the face mask is a bogus call in my view because you did not intend to hit them, and that's why your have a facemask.

 

[olyfan63]

As much as I agree with the overall sentiment, and the Saints were inexplicably jobbed by the ridiculous no-call, the Rams then had to make 2 remarkable plays to win it. Johnson's pick of Brees (causes by the Rams pass rush) and then Zeurlein hitting a ridiculous 57 yard field goal.

Unbelievable how that clear PI gets missed. Huge credibility problem for the NFL.

 

[olyfan63]

Why not just tackle every wide out at the end of games then? ukeface:

That's what the Seahawks should have done vs. Atlanta in 2012 Divisional Round Playoffs, up 1 point with 25 seconds left, Falcons on their own 30. Give up five 5 yard holding penalties taking 5 seconds each. Literally tackle any receiver that tries to get downfield. Game ends with ball on Seahawks 45. Game over.

Never seen it tried, but would have been better than what Seahawks did, giving up long Matt Ryan completions to set up the winning FG.

 

[chris98251]

So Sean do you think you deserve to go to the Super Bowl?

 

[seahawksny]

I've said it before and I'll say it again
A game is not won or lost on one call.

This is what's wrong with the NFL. Constant rule changes year in and year out because they expect referees to be perfect.

Didnt the rams hold one of the league's highest scoring offenses to 23 points?

Maybe that's why they lost the game.

 

[seahawksny]

The missed facemask on Goff took 4 pts off the board.... That one call wasn't the only erogenous one..... Just the last one.... Saints lost that game... Not on that call .

Thank you
This is the truth

 

[IndyHawk]

If it wasn't a drag down facemask and the new rule one then yeah it may have been missed, the swat pass move and grazing the face mask is a bogus call in my view because you did not intend to hit them, and that's why your have a facemask.

I know..I don't understand that rule at all..

 

[El Caliente]

Cats talk about the Goff face mask penalty, but completely wave off the fact that Nickell -Roby has an uncalled PI (on Ted Ginn) that forced the saints to punt, which led to that drive. Goff has no business getting that face mask call because he shouldn’t have been on the field.

As for the Drew Brees int, the image below is of that int. Let’s talk about face masked again.

I imagine with Sean Payton being part of the competition committee, and with Benson calling into question the integrity of the game, next season we will get instant replay on defensive pass interference that refs miss.

Go Pats!

 

[El Caliente]

It was a horrible non call. The head contact bothers me the most. There were several penalties on that play. But if the saints would have ran the ball a couple of times that quarter they would have won.

But I will never feel sorry for the Saints or Payton after bountygate where they rewarded players for hurting other players. The Vikings NFC game was a travesty and refs should have been fired and the Super Bowl trophy stripped from that city.

I hate the Vikings but that game is a blackstain on the NFL yet nobody complains about the cheap shots that were allowed. Dirtiest team I have ever seen since the Raiders hay day.

Wait, last years loss to the Vikings wasn’t Karma?

As for bountygate, didn’t a federal judge come hear both sides and say that Goodell overstepped his boundaries? Sorry, there was no Bountygate, players gave sworn testimony (in court) that it never happened, and the judge sided with them. Those players were fall guys for the league playing CYA.

 

[Mindsink]

Why not just tackle every wide out at the end of games then? ukeface:

That's what the Seahawks should have done vs. Atlanta in 2012 Divisional Round Playoffs, up 1 point with 25 seconds left, Falcons on their own 30. Give up five 5 yard holding penalties taking 5 seconds each. Literally tackle any receiver that tries to get downfield. Game ends with ball on Seahawks 45. Game over.

Never seen it tried, but would have been better than what Seahawks did, giving up long Matt Ryan completions to set up the winning FG.

I see a couple of problems with this.

1. A game can't end on a defensive penalty, so at some point you have to give up the tactic and play a "real" down.

2. This tactic can easily be countered by the QB simply spiking the ball to the ground as soon as he sees flags thrown. This would only eat like 1 or 2 seconds off the clock each time. Your opponent could march 50 yards on you through penalties, and you only eat 15-20 seconds off the clock. If that amount of time would effectively end the game, it would be better to just let the offense play and defend the sidelines.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

They were handed the Super Bowl, period. There is NO EXCUSE for not calling one of the most blatant PI calls we have ever seen. Pathetic.

 

[snackdaddy]

Before I say anything I will say yes, it should have been called. But try and think about what the refs are thinking in this situation. We already know they don't want that flag to define a game up to a certain point. When you look at that play in real time it didn't look as obvious. I remember saying "Boy, he almost got there too soon". Then when you look at it in slow motion its clear he did get there too soon.

Refs in that flash of a second have to decide if it warrants a flag in that situation. While in the back of their minds being cautious not to be the story line if they throw the flag. This time not throwing the flag became the story line. I can understand why in that quick moment they didn't throw it.


Again, yes there should have been a penalty. But looking at it in game speed real time it was not as obvious as slow motion showed it to be. I can understand what they were thinking when they chose not to throw it. They just got it wrong this time.