The Refs

[billsfreak]

I agree that the Pats get more breaks than any team in the league, but yesterday's game wasn't that bad. The majority of calls against the Bills were valid penalties. Look, we are one of the most penalized teams in the league, and we don't play the Pats every week, so it can't be all the refs. Our offensive line will jump off sides a dozen times a game even if there is no defense lined up against them. This is a very undisciplined team that has killed itself all season with dumb penalties.

[thebandit27]

I thought the holding call on Drayton Florence (when he actually didn't even touch Welker) was putrid.

 

I also thought the non-hold on Schobel was pathetic.

 

The pass interference call was borderline, but if the official who's 10 feet away doesn't call it, what place does the official who's 200 feet away have calling it?

 

Terrible officiating.

 

That said, I'm sure we'd have lost anyway.

[dave mcbride]

The officiating was terrible. Welker deserves an Oscar nomination for the "interference" call in the end zone. Holding not called, on Light, I believe. They did the replay several times to a chorus of boos.

 

Hey NFL, make it official:

 

-Give the patriots 5 downs on offense

-Give patriots opponents 3 downs on offense

-Penalize anyone who gets within 5 yards of Welker when he is catching the ball

-15 yards and an ejection to a defender who hits Brady below the shoulders

-Moss only needs one foot down with "questionable control" to make a catch in the end zone

-Give "creative license" to the patriots coaching staff to make independent films

-Let the Kraft family issue the guys in stripes a W-2

 

The refs are independent, right... BALONEY!

I thought that the refs were charitable toward the Bills, actually. Every penalty called on them was pretty blatant (including the Florence play - he clearly grabbed Welker's jersey, for God's sake), and the Bills dodged a huge penalty that should have been called on the bomb to Aiken. To me, it was pretty clear that the Bills' defensive strategy was to hold as much as possible to keep the Pats' passing offense at bay and accept the fact that they'd have some penalties that would hurt them. Despite the penalties, it pretty much worked - they held the Pats to 17 points. I'm sure there were a ton of non-calls (beyond the Corner-Aiken play) that we didn't see. Heck, I thought Florence interfered with Moss on that bomb where he didn't turn around and it hit him in the back of the head. He interfered with Moss before it got there.

[Rubes]

Losers blame the refs.

[DrDawkinstein]

Losers blame the refs.

 

dont think we're putting ALL of the blame on the refs, but the thread title is true. The Bills had 2 teams to contend with yesterday, and it was obvious.

[Astrojanitor]

These extreme homer "the entire world is against the Bills" threads that show up after we lose are embarrassing. Even more so than the current team is.

 

It's quite simple ... we suck this season, as we have the 9 before it. Hopefully big changes will happen soon that will start the long process of making something respectable out of this team. All the whining in the world won't change the fact that we were second best.

 

word. It's driving me crazy seeing all these Bills fans falling for some stupid conspiracy. We accept a decade of failure because "it's the refs in love with Brady--it's not our fault!"

 

yeah, every call on the Bills yesterday was 100% deserved. Oh, the Pats got away with a holding call? Maybe those dumbasses shouldn't have been committing penalties right and left--constantly drawing attention to their BS.

[5 Wide]

I think the part that always makes me furious is that you could probably call holding on every play along the lines. The thing is, the flags always fly one way. It always seems like once the game is decided, that's when the Patriots start getting flagged that way when you look at the synopsis, the calls don't look that lopsided.

[DrDawkinstein]

word. It's driving me crazy seeing all these Bills fans falling for some stupid conspiracy. We accept a decade of failure because "it's the refs in love with Brady--it's not our fault!"

 

yeah, every call on the Bills yesterday was 100% deserved. Oh, the Pats got away with a holding call? Maybe those dumbasses shouldn't have been committing penalties right and left--constantly drawing attention to their BS.

 

not at all, you guys are incorrectly lumping that all together. i agree that there are much bigger problems that the Bills need to worry about. and the reason for being bad for so long has little to do with the refs.

 

but on a game-by game basis, its OBVIOUS that the league calls a different game for it's "favored" teams. Bills fans are not the only ones to say it. Even recently, players such as Ray Lewis have spoken out publicly about the "different rules" those teams get to play by.

 

it's not a "conspiracy" as much as I believe it is the NFL looking out for it's own interests as a company. it may not be a "we need to make sure this team wins no matter what" type deal, but it sure is a "we'll give them that call since they are so good" thing.

[DrDawkinstein]

I think the part that always makes me furious is that you could probably call holding on every play along the lines. The thing is, the flags always fly one way. It always seems like once the game is decided, that's when the Patriots start getting flagged that way when you look at the synopsis, the calls don't look that lopsided.

 

yep, just like you can call Offsides on every single kickoff if you wanted to.

[CodeMonkey]

it's not a "conspiracy" as much as I believe it is the NFL looking out for it's own interests as a company. it may not be a "we need to make sure this team wins no matter what" type deal, but it sure is a "we'll give them that call since they are so good" thing.

con·spir·a·cy - An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.

 

Since it involves more than 1 game, and more that 1 set of referees, and another group of people in the NFL front office, what you are describing is actually a conspiracy by definition.

[MattM]

not at all, you guys are incorrectly lumping that all together. i agree that there are much bigger problems that the Bills need to worry about. and the reason for being bad for so long has little to do with the refs.

 

but on a game-by game basis, its OBVIOUS that the league calls a different game for it's "favored" teams. Bills fans are not the only ones to say it. Even recently, players such as Ray Lewis have spoken out publicly about the "different rules" those teams get to play by.

 

it's not a "conspiracy" as much as I believe it is the NFL looking out for it's own interests as a company. it may not be a "we need to make sure this team wins no matter what" type deal, but it sure is a "we'll give them that call since they are so good" thing.

 

 

See my comments above re: Donaghy, who said the same thing about the NBA. He's obviously got some credibility issues, but he may be right about that part at least. I've watched lots of Pats* games over the years and they get WAY more than their share of calls and players in the League seem to know it (witness Bart Scott and Ray Lewis's outbursts). If only you could get the media, most of whom work for outlets either with direct economic ties to the League via content deals or who need NFL access to do their jobs successfully, to look at this, even as a "it may not be true, but a lot of people seem to believe this", but I've long ago given up on even that......

[DrDawkinstein]

con·spir·a·cy - An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.

 

Since it involves more than 1 game, and more that 1 set of referees, and another group of people in the NFL front office, what you are describing is actually a conspiracy by definition.

 

right. technically, if you want to argue semantics, then yes it would be a conspiracy.

 

i meant that i dont think it is Goodell and Kraft and Jerry Jones in a secret conference room, ringing their hands and saying "yes, yes, this is how we will make the league do our bidding! MUWAHAHAHA!"

 

as much as it is a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink. the NFL wouldnt mind it if the Pats won this game for playoff implications"

[CountDorkula]

It was the exact type of play that Brady injured his knee. It was also the exact type of play that got the rule which disallows defenders diving at the QB at or below his knees (i.e., the Brady rule). In those cases where Brady is whining about it...he knows the rules and is just trying to get an extra 15 yards. As much as we hate that wuss, we'd be just as ok with it if the Bills QB was doing the same whining.

 

There were some clear missed calls & non-calls yesterday, but I don't think the refs affected the outcome.

 

 

I understand your point, but if i do remember Schobel was chopped by the running back and he went flying through the air and landed at ol Tommy Boys feet, and touched his little piggy toe, and Tom ran all the way home to tell mommy about it...

 

I dont beliver the refs influenced the game as much as others but this guys whines about everything.

[judman]

Losers blame the refs.

 

I think I saw you at the game. Did you have a Welker jersey on?

[Red]

I was so pissed at the commentators for making a big deal out of that Schobel hit on Brady. How DARE he fall towards the mighty ones legs when he had his own taken out from under him.

 

I could not agree more.

 

There were about 2 or 3 plays when the Bills were finally getting some pressure that Brady would keep looking back at the official like some whiney 12 year old girl (no offense to whiney, 12 year old girls).

 

It seemed like the Patriots only had to shoot the officials a glare to get a flag on a couple of plays.

 

I don't think that Whitner made interference with Moss. I call it incidental contact. Whitner was falling on the play, and did not even try to grab onto Moss to keep from falling.

 

Welker's call is similar.

 

I have believed for many years that there is favoritism with the officiating in NFL games. I, and I'm sure most (if not all) of us believe in the game. We're not watching after all, the Vince McMahon comical XFL. However, this is an extremely large business, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line.

 

That 60 minutes interview with the disgraced NBA ref opened some eyes, I'm sure. One thing he stated, which I totally can see- though the NBA denies it- is that the NBA refs were coerced to stretch out a playoff series if possible, because of the extra revenue it would generate. The NFL does not have playoffs in this format, but this is a huge business. I would like to believe that in an ideal world refs are infallible, but it is impossible.

[DrDawkinstein]

I could not agree more.

 

There were about 2 or 3 plays when the Bills were finally getting some pressure that Brady would keep looking back at the official like some whiney 12 year old girl (no offense to whiney, 12 year old girls).

 

It seemed like the Patriots only had to shoot the officials a glare to get a flag on a couple of plays.

I don't think that Whitner made interference with Moss. I call it incidental contact. Whitner was falling on the play, and did not even try to grab onto Moss to keep from falling.

 

Welker's call is similar.

 

This is exactly what Ray Lewis and Co. complained about. They said that all the Patriots needed to do was look over at the ref, and then the ref would throw the flag. Basically saying the refs were letting the players make their own calls. it's not a false statement either. ive seen lil Marsha look at the refs PLENTY of times this season, expecting a call, and either getting it or pouting about not getting it.

 

didnt Marsha's own former team mate, Rodney Harrison, even tell him to stop being a baby and play football?

[CodeMonkey]

as much as it is a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink. the NFL wouldnt mind it if the Pats won this game for playoff implications"

Gotcha. Let's assume for a minute that kind of thing goes on (and I'm not saying it doesn't some times). Do you really believe the NFL front office would be worried that the cheaters would not be able to beat the Bills yesterday without officiating help?

 

Even assuming that kind of thing does go on sometimes, I find it impossible to believe that came into play yesterday.

[Fewell733]

No one has mentioned it, but on the onside kick (Maybin genius move)... there's an official near the sideline who didn't have the best angle to determine who had the ball and that f***** pointed in the direction that the Pats had the ball. Anyone else see this? They'll never admit it but it's all crooked, the gambling... Dierdorf on his knees fellating Bob Kraft in the press box. If I were to ever go to another game, I only go if he's announcing and I go up to the press box and I show Dierdork the Bud Adams special... Kick me out of the game, I don't care, doing that is worth the price of admission. Dierdork is a rubber faced fata$$ed shill... that isn't the first time I've seen him as a blatant cheerleader of the opposition... I'd say worse but I'll stop.

 

I saw it. I had pretty much the same angle as the ref and the only thing it looked like was that the Bills had the ball.

 

that Welker interference was so outrageous. there was a ref 3 yards away that didn't call anything and the ref 15 yards away and behind the play throws the flag.

 

big market teams with marketable stars will get all the breaks. Also once the game was more or less over the refs finally started calling holding on the Pats - makes it look a little more balanced on the stat sheet I guess

 

regardless until we have a QB and a left tackle it's gonna be pretty tough to beat a team with a HOF QB who gets the calls - even if the rest of that team stinks.

[DrDawkinstein]

Gotcha. Let's assume for a minute that kind of thing goes on (and I'm not saying it doesn't some times). Do you really believe the NFL front office would be worried that the cheaters would not be able to beat the Bills yesterday without officiating help?

 

Even assuming that kind of thing does go on sometimes, I find it impossible to believe that came into play yesterday.

 

yes, the NFL knows better than anyone that there is a reason the games are played. anyone can beat anyone each Sunday. we almost beat them the first week of the season. anything is possible. that is EXACTLY why the refs are sure to help. since the Pats "should" win, we'll make sure they do.

[Dante]

I wasn't able to watch the game yesterday so I can't comment on it.

 

Normally I would say anyone arguing some sort of conspiracy or favoritism is full of poo. I'm a skeptic by nature. But just too much crap has happened in recent history. The refs pulled the "Tuck" rule out of their ass vs the Raiders. "Just give it too em" and the clincher for me, although it has nothing to do with the Pats, the SB Pitt vs Seahawks. I guess I could tolerate it if that was just a regular season game. But to have that one sided, brutal reffing in a SB? That stunk like a Don King title fight. Ever since then I'm open to any crooked ref conspiracy theories out there.