st pete gogolak

I’m not going to go down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but with all the money being bet on NFL games, the League HAS to do something to reduce the influence the officials have on game outcomes. Obviously, it will never be reduced to zero, but there has to be a way to at least reduce their influence. Here are my thoughts but very interested if anyone has a thought on this. Defensive PI. Move from spot foul to 15 yards. If “flagrant” PI becomes an issue, tinker with the rule the following year. Illegal contact. Increase area for contact from 5 to 10 yards. Eliminate ticky tack fouls. Contact has to be substantial and reduce receiver’s ability to contest for a catch. The call on the Eagles last night in the second half gifting the Chiefs a first down was a travesty. Defensive holding. Again, eliminate ticky tack foul. Holding has to reduce receiver’s ability to contest for a catch. Offensive holding. At least be consistent. Sick of refs determining outcomes. Thoughts?

TD aside, Hurts doesn’t look right. Playing like he’s concussed.

Outgained in 17 straight games and the #1 seed? Statistically. . . Improbable.

Shows how unlucky Bills were with the schedule this year. Broncos early and Bengals early or late are wins instead of losses. Tough to go into NYC on Monday night on anniversary of 9/11 with all the Rogers hype. Plus the London travesty. BUT a schedule doesn’t get you into the Super Bowl. We could have had three games against MAC opponents and it doesn’t turn this team into a Super Bowl contender.

Last year’s Minnesota game was maybe not the most heartbreaking but it was unique in that there were literally 20 or so plays where if Bills execute game is over or for all practical purposes over (failure to turn two Cousins interceptions into points, Singletary fumble, first Josh interception, Cam Lewis brain fart, Josh fumble, etc. etc.). Can’t remember any game like that, although this year’s Tampa Bay game felt somewhat similar.

It’s called complimentary football.

Should have hired Schwartz as HC instead of Ryan but that ship sailed a long time ago.

Thoughts the spots were consistently bad all game long.

Yeah. About 20 chances to put a nail in the coffin and every single time something bizarre happens to prevent the win. Has there ever been a “game over” play stranger than Phillips’ face mask call. I actually said game over when he got ahold of Mayfield. Only the Bills!

Hey, FC this looks like a better angle. He’s clearly more than a yard beyond the line of scrimmage at the time the ball is thrown. And . . .the red threw the flag. Again why pick it up? If the flag is t thrown no complaint. Calls missed ALL THE TIME.

I think I’m getting closer to an answer. No, the NFL isn’t going to give an explanation for picking up the flag (“just give it to them”). One poster speculated that it was a lateral, thus ok for linemen to be downfield. No, it clearly wasn’t. For what it’s worth, Stephenson was credited with 34 receiving yards, not rushing yards. Another poster, clearly a Pats lover, said it was a perfectly legal play because Belichek is a stickler for details (“ok lineman, go exactly one yard past the line of scrimmage but not an inch more”). Visual evidence refuted this ( lineman was more than a yard downfield). Again, again, not saying in the least that it cost us the game. We played like total crap. It is just so unusual to pick up a flag in that situation that it strikes me as bizarre. If the NFL comes out and says lineman was within a yard of the LOS at the time the pass was thrown, fine. At least that is the league explanation. Watched the end of the Colts Browns game. Two horrible calls at the end, especially the second pass interference ( ball was so uncatchable a fan in the stands had a better chance to catch it). Pick up the flag? Nope. Costs the Colts the game. You are correct as far as NFL/AFL. I’m guessing he was first in college as well. Is that correct?

Precisely. That’s why I was curious if NFL commented on it.

If your goal is to win the Super Bowl, the question the owner has to answer is whether I think my current coach is good enough to win the Super Bowl. Nothing else should matter. It’s why I thought Marv should have been fired after the debacle that was the first Super Bowl loss to the Cowboys. Say what you will about Marv but it was crystal clear at that point that he was never winning a Super Bowl with that team. Instead, we fire the best GM in franchise history. Should McDermott be canned if we miss playoffs this season? No idea but I’d like to think Pegula is asking himself the question posed above, i. e. is McDermott a good enough coach to win a Super Bowl?

Not saying it determined outcome of game or Bills played well enough to win. Just curious if NFL said anything about the call.

Any explanation why flag for ineligible lineman downfield picked up? Do they have to give an explanation or is it too bad so sad?

Everybody’s way too serious. This thread was half-goof. The point was the fact that depth at OLB is close to nonexistent but with Miller healthy and AJE emerging, we have an over abundance of talent at DE. Just wish there was a way to get our best 11 players on the field at the same time.

Don’t disagree with most of the comments to the thread. Just throwing some “out of the box” thinking. One comment I do agree with is occasionally having him on the field with two DE’s. One I disagree with is that the majority of his career has been as a 4 - 3 DE. Didn’t Denver run a 3 - 4 for most of his time there?

Most of Von Miller’s career has been OLB in a 3 -4. I understand that OLB in a 3 - 4 is apples and oranges to an OLB in a 4 - 3, or a 4 - 2 - 5. Nevertheless, is it crazy to try a completely healthy (big if) Von Miller in Milano’s spot? It keeps Floyd, Groot and/or AJE on the field. I’m sure he would be fine against the run and most likely a liability in pass coverage. It would, however, be neat to move him around and put even more pressure on opposing QB, similar to how Dallas uses Parsons. I’m guessing the answer is maybe five years ago but not at 34 after two knee surgeries.

The 60 yard FG from Butker is more gasoline on the fire why thought process in 13 second game was so abysmal. KC gets to just inside midfield and KC has a chance to tie the game. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

If we draft Overshown, can we please, please, please have Keegan-Michael Key do player introductions at least one game!

Beane's strengths are drafting franchise QB's, mid-round WR's and DB's. His weaknesses are drafting DL, OL and RB. Do we really want him playing to his strengths?

Most folks disagreed when I posted that there needs to be a salary cap carve-out for QB's but here's more proof. Mind-numbing deals ($40 million for Daniel Jones?) shows that the system is totally out of whack. It's brutally unfair to RB's on top of other things, especially first round picks where the club retains a fifth year option. Look at Barkley. Franchise him for $10 million? No brainer.

If Carr signs with the Jets, maybe the dominos will fall into place for them.

KC OL should have been collectively Super Bowl MVP. Mahones was ok, especially gutting it out on an ankle that wasn't 100%, but I didn't see any spectacular throws or for that matter I didn't see any KC receivers with great catches (maybe the shoestring catch by Kelce). The OL gave Mahones a clean pocket pretty much all night long, against a DL which was supposed to be the second coming of the '85 Bears. Reddick was a non-factor, so was Hargroves. If you recall, our OL got destroyed in the AFCC game two weeks before KC's line got destroyed by Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl. KC's GM went out and got Thuney, Brown, Humprey and Smith in the same offseason, creating one of the two or three best OL's in the game. What did our GM do? It is so obvious that significant resources need to be put into the OL this offseason. Nothing else comes close in importance. I know a lot of posters keep talking about adding another top flight WR but look at KC. Basically a couple of JAG's at WR. Keep Diggs, Davis, Shakir, Knox and Morris together for another year. Davis is in a contract year. Sometimes that inspires good to great years (Edmunds had his best year in contract year). If Allen has the time to throw and a legitimate running attack that doesn't involve Allen being leading rusher two thirds of the games, we will be more than fine.

Assuming we don't do anything in FA because of cap issues other than resign Edmunds or sign Edmunds' replacement (would love to pry Bobby Wagner from the Rams to provide some vet leadership in the middle), would it make sense to draft Robinson if he is available? I don't follow college ball but if he is truly a top #5 or top #10 prospect, yes. An elite running back is something we haven't had since McCoy. Draft OL rounds #2 and #3 and live with the WR's you have (Diggs, Davis and Shakir), hope Spencer Brown is better. Not a foolproof plan but there isn't one of those out there.