Zebra Report Week 11: BUF vs. NEC

[Freddie's Dead]

1ST QTR

 

12:02 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Ref making the call was docked in his paycheck.
10:59 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Weird. The Cheats O-line just doesn’t false start.
10:28 Offsetting penalties, holding on Graham, and illegal formation. GOOD CALLS. The illegal formation was ticky-tack, but correct. A later replay before the second half shows Graham with a chunk of Gronk’s jersey, which caused Gronk to bobble it into the hands of Rambo
8:55 PI on Gilmore. GOOD CALL. He grabbed him when he didn’t need to. Stupid PI.
2:41 Illegal formation on Seantrel. GOOD CALL. Seantrel was sloppy lining up, similar to the Cheats tackle getting flagged earlier.
2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.

 

2ND QTR

 

9:27 PI on Cheats for Hogan pass. BAD NON-CALL. Chung hits Hogan in the arms clearly before the ball arrives and does not look back for the ball. This is textbook PI.
3:52 Holding on Cheats declined for the sack. GOOD CALL.
2:00 Tyrod throws a strike to Hogan, but Cordy Glenn moves before the snap. BAD NON-CALL. We got away with one there.

 

Refs starting to show some cracks, but the fun is about to begin.

 

3RD QTR

 

14:56 Offsides on Manny. GOOD CALL. He came up to the line and was in the NZ.
13:54 Cheats get inadvertent whistle. HORRIBLE CALL. The whistle occurred while the ball was in the air, so it should have been replayed. The refs compounded their error by calling the interference penalty on Rex because the ref was off the white and in the green. Yet all the post-game coverage said that the Cheats got screwed out of a TD, because we all know that Amendola would have outrun Darby to the end zone (please).
8:48 No PI on deep pass to Sammy. BRUTAL NON-CALL. Butler clearly contacts Sammy well before the ball gets there. Sammy would have helped by slowing down to draw the PI. No hustle back to the line and the Bills burn a TO.
5:55 Illegal sub on Cheats TD? No. I looked at the replay to see if the Cheats subbed. They did not. Chandler runs on and off the field, but never reached the inside numbers. The rule is that the player must reach the inside numbers to be considered a sub. Cheating? Stretching the rules? You be the judge.
3:41 Cheats holding. GOOD CALL. Jerry got tackled.
0:00 Facemask on Cheats. Flag picked up of course. BAD NON-CALL. Stills posted on the internet showed that Ninkovich definitely had a chunk of LeShady’s face mask.

 

4TH QTR

 

12:35 Seantrel downfield. GOOD CALL. Stupid play yet again.
12:01 PI on the Cheats, finally. GOOD CALL.
9:20 Cheats holding on Blount run. GOOD CALL. Bryant got tackled.
0:46 Sammy ruled out of bounds on catch. BAD CALL. Automatic replay overturned it, but again the refs blew it.
0:22 Refs take their sweet time spotting the ball after the Tyrod fumble is recovered. Whistle blows at 0:32 and the ball isn’t spotted until 0:17. We don’t spike it, and burn another 10 seconds snapping it.
0:02 No stopping the clock as Sammy goes OB and they don’t even review it. At least Tirico calls it like it is. Pereira tweets the Bills should have had another play. Others on NFL network say Sammy went backwards, WHICH IS NOT ANYWHERE IN THE RULES. TERRIBLE CALL. We should have had a chance to run Big Ben.

 

This will be my final zebra report. I’ve done enough to know by now that the officiating in the NFL is abysmal. I just don’t have the time to spend 2-3 hours after every game going over the tape, only to see the same mistakes again and again. I’ll confine myself to discussing the calls in the game thread. Thanks for those few of you who supported this effort.

[FireChan]

1ST QTR

 

12:02 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Ref making the call was docked in his paycheck.

10:59 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Weird. The Cheats O-line just doesn’t false start.

10:28 Offsetting penalties, holding on Graham, and illegal formation. GOOD CALLS. The illegal formation was ticky-tack, but correct. A later replay before the second half shows Graham with a chunk of Gronk’s jersey, which caused Gronk to bobble it into the hands of Rambo

8:55 PI on Gilmore. GOOD CALL. He grabbed him when he didn’t need to. Stupid PI.

2:41 Illegal formation on Seantrel. GOOD CALL. Seantrel was sloppy lining up, similar to the Cheats tackle getting flagged earlier.

2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.

 

2ND QTR

 

9:27 PI on Cheats for Hogan pass. BAD NON-CALL. Chung hits Hogan in the arms clearly before the ball arrives and does not look back for the ball. This is textbook PI.

3:52 Holding on Cheats declined for the sack. GOOD CALL.

2:00 Tyrod throws a strike to Hogan, but Cordy Glenn moves before the snap. BAD NON-CALL. We got away with one there.

 

Refs starting to show some cracks, but the fun is about to begin.

 

3RD QTR

 

14:56 Offsides on Manny. GOOD CALL. He came up to the line and was in the NZ.

13:54 Cheats get inadvertent whistle. HORRIBLE CALL. The whistle occurred while the ball was in the air, so it should have been replayed. The refs compounded their error by calling the interference penalty on Rex because the ref was off the white and in the green. Yet all the post-game coverage said that the Cheats got screwed out of a TD, because we all know that Amendola would have outrun Darby to the end zone (please).

8:48 No PI on deep pass to Sammy. BRUTAL NON-CALL. Butler clearly contacts Sammy well before the ball gets there. Sammy would have helped by slowing down to draw the PI. No hustle back to the line and the Bills burn a TO.

5:55 Illegal sub on Cheats TD? No. I looked at the replay to see if the Cheats subbed. They did not. Chandler runs on and off the field, but never reached the inside numbers. The rule is that the player must reach the inside numbers to be considered a sub. Cheating? Stretching the rules? You be the judge.

3:41 Cheats holding. GOOD CALL. Jerry got tackled.

0:00 Facemask on Cheats. Flag picked up of course. BAD NON-CALL. Stills posted on the internet showed that Ninkovich definitely had a chunk of LeShady’s face mask.

 

4TH QTR

 

12:35 Seantrel downfield. GOOD CALL. Stupid play yet again.

12:01 PI on the Cheats, finally. GOOD CALL.

9:20 Cheats holding on Blount run. GOOD CALL. Bryant got tackled.

0:46 Sammy ruled out of bounds on catch. BAD CALL. Automatic replay overturned it, but again the refs blew it.

0:22 Refs take their sweet time spotting the ball after the Tyrod fumble is recovered. Whistle blows at 0:32 and the ball isn’t spotted until 0:17. We don’t spike it, and burn another 10 seconds snapping it.

0:02 No stopping the clock as Sammy goes OB and they don’t even review it. At least Tirico calls it like it is. Pereira tweets the Bills should have had another play. Others on NFL network say Sammy went backwards, WHICH IS NOT ANYWHERE IN THE RULES. TERRIBLE CALL. We should have had a chance to run Big Ben.

 

This will be my final zebra report. I’ve done enough to know by now that the officiating in the NFL is abysmal. I just don’t have the time to spend 2-3 hours after every game going over the tape, only to see the same mistakes again and again. I’ll confine myself to discussing the calls in the game thread. Thanks for those few of you who supported this effort.

I liked this.

[PatsFanNH]

1ST QTR

 

12:02 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Ref making the call was docked in his paycheck.

10:59 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Weird. The Cheats O-line just doesn’t false start.

10:28 Offsetting penalties, holding on Graham, and illegal formation. GOOD CALLS. The illegal formation was ticky-tack, but correct. A later replay before the second half shows Graham with a chunk of Gronk’s jersey, which caused Gronk to bobble it into the hands of Rambo

8:55 PI on Gilmore. GOOD CALL. He grabbed him when he didn’t need to. Stupid PI.

2:41 Illegal formation on Seantrel. GOOD CALL. Seantrel was sloppy lining up, similar to the Cheats tackle getting flagged earlier.

2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.

 

2ND QTR

 

9:27 PI on Cheats for Hogan pass. BAD NON-CALL. Chung hits Hogan in the arms clearly before the ball arrives and does not look back for the ball. This is textbook PI.

3:52 Holding on Cheats declined for the sack. GOOD CALL.

2:00 Tyrod throws a strike to Hogan, but Cordy Glenn moves before the snap. BAD NON-CALL. We got away with one there.

 

Refs starting to show some cracks, but the fun is about to begin.

 

3RD QTR

 

14:56 Offsides on Manny. GOOD CALL. He came up to the line and was in the NZ.

13:54 Cheats get inadvertent whistle. HORRIBLE CALL. The whistle occurred while the ball was in the air, so it should have been replayed. The refs compounded their error by calling the interference penalty on Rex because the ref was off the white and in the green. Yet all the post-game coverage said that the Cheats got screwed out of a TD, because we all know that Amendola would have outrun Darby to the end zone (please).

8:48 No PI on deep pass to Sammy. BRUTAL NON-CALL. Butler clearly contacts Sammy well before the ball gets there. Sammy would have helped by slowing down to draw the PI. No hustle back to the line and the Bills burn a TO.

5:55 Illegal sub on Cheats TD? No. I looked at the replay to see if the Cheats subbed. They did not. Chandler runs on and off the field, but never reached the inside numbers. The rule is that the player must reach the inside numbers to be considered a sub. Cheating? Stretching the rules? You be the judge.

3:41 Cheats holding. GOOD CALL. Jerry got tackled.

0:00 Facemask on Cheats. Flag picked up of course. BAD NON-CALL. Stills posted on the internet showed that Ninkovich definitely had a chunk of LeShady’s face mask.

 

4TH QTR

 

12:35 Seantrel downfield. GOOD CALL. Stupid play yet again.

12:01 PI on the Cheats, finally. GOOD CALL.

9:20 Cheats holding on Blount run. GOOD CALL. Bryant got tackled.

0:46 Sammy ruled out of bounds on catch. BAD CALL. Automatic replay overturned it, but again the refs blew it.

0:22 Refs take their sweet time spotting the ball after the Tyrod fumble is recovered. Whistle blows at 0:32 and the ball isn’t spotted until 0:17. We don’t spike it, and burn another 10 seconds snapping it.

0:02 No stopping the clock as Sammy goes OB and they don’t even review it. At least Tirico calls it like it is. Pereira tweets the Bills should have had another play. Others on NFL network say Sammy went backwards, WHICH IS NOT ANYWHERE IN THE RULES. TERRIBLE CALL. We should have had a chance to run Big Ben.

 

This will be my final zebra report. I’ve done enough to know by now that the officiating in the NFL is abysmal. I just don’t have the time to spend 2-3 hours after every game going over the tape, only to see the same mistakes again and again. I’ll confine myself to discussing the calls in the game thread. Thanks for those few of you who supported this effort.

Great work, and I am sure there is a ton of holding on both sides that did not get called. The refs were just BAD Last night.

[Captain_Quint]

Its disheartening to see the technology get better and better, to the point where you can see almost everything in the replays, yet still be hamstrung by bad officiating. Its not just us, its every game and every team.

 

The looks on those bozos faces when jackass #1 blew that inadvertant whistle said it all. Deer in headlights, and none of them had any clue how to make it right.

[BillsFan130]

Thanks for the input, great work

[Direhard Fan]

Excellent job your doing. Really bad night for us. I yelled at the screen all night. No more face guarding I guess. The refs should be fined a games pay for the job last night. Where is the NFL when the refs are so bad? A sad situation for a billion dollar company. It's all about the money honey. Thanks again

[Kelly the Dog]

Thanks for that. Just an abysmal game by the Refs on a lot of levels. We beat ourselves though more so.

[Freddie's Dead]

Great work, and I am sure there is a ton of holding on both sides that did not get called. The refs were just BAD Last night.

Actually, my film review has shown that the Bills .25B D-line has largely not been held this year. There were a few games, like the first Cheats game, where they were held with no calls, but I didn't see holding last night that wasn't called.

[DC Tom]

Its disheartening to see the technology get better and better, to the point where you can see almost everything in the replays, yet still be hamstrung by bad officiating. Its not just us, its every game and every team.

 

The looks on those bozos faces when jackass #1 blew that inadvertant whistle said it all. Deer in headlights, and none of them had any clue how to make it right.

 

The truly sad thing was that it was easy to make it right, because THERE'S A RULE THAT SPECIFICALLY COVERS IT. Inadvertent whistle, loose ball, pass in the air counts as a loose ball...replay the down. What it doesn't say is: make up a result for the play, then tack on an extra 15 yards and blame the coach for distracting you into blowing the whistle. It's real a simple concept: WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, OWN IT. DON'T COMPOUND IT BY MAKING MORE MISTAKES.

 

Similarly, on the Watkins play...reports now are that they let the clock run out because THE LINESMAN FORGOT HE WAS IN THE PROS AND NOT COLLEGE. Great, you made a mistake. Own it. Stand up and say "The receiver was out of bounds, please put two seconds back on the clock." Don't say "He gave himself up before he went out of bounds (because we're never wrong.)"

[stevewin]

 

5:55 Illegal sub on Cheats TD? No. I looked at the replay to see if the Cheats subbed. They did not. Chandler runs on and off the field, but never reached the inside numbers. The rule is that the player must reach the inside numbers to be considered a sub. Cheating? Stretching the rules? You be the judge.

If they purposely ran a player out to give the defense the impression that were were subbing (and thus giving the defense the impression that they now had time to put their own subs in), but had him quickly turn around before he technically was inside the numbers and run like a bat out of hell back for the sidelines - this is another example of text book bull **** 'not playing by the spirit of the rules'. Now the NFL will need to close another loophole.

 

There were also 3 non-calls (besides the incomprehensible picking up of the shady facemask penalty) where Bills players almost had their heads ripped off with no call.

[xsoldier54]

There were a couple of non calls that made a huge impact on the final score. I counted at least twice on deep balls by Tyrod that the defender did not turn his head and there was contact before the ball got there. In my mind that's classic PI and both of the ones I saw were inside the NE 10.

[Haplo848]

1ST QTR

 

12:02 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Ref making the call was docked in his paycheck.

10:59 False start Cheats. GOOD CALL. Weird. The Cheats O-line just doesn’t false start.

10:28 Offsetting penalties, holding on Graham, and illegal formation. GOOD CALLS. The illegal formation was ticky-tack, but correct. A later replay before the second half shows Graham with a chunk of Gronk’s jersey, which caused Gronk to bobble it into the hands of Rambo

8:55 PI on Gilmore. GOOD CALL. He grabbed him when he didn’t need to. Stupid PI.

2:41 Illegal formation on Seantrel. GOOD CALL. Seantrel was sloppy lining up, similar to the Cheats tackle getting flagged earlier.

2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.

 

2ND QTR

 

9:27 PI on Cheats for Hogan pass. BAD NON-CALL. Chung hits Hogan in the arms clearly before the ball arrives and does not look back for the ball. This is textbook PI.

3:52 Holding on Cheats declined for the sack. GOOD CALL.

2:00 Tyrod throws a strike to Hogan, but Cordy Glenn moves before the snap. BAD NON-CALL. We got away with one there.

 

Refs starting to show some cracks, but the fun is about to begin.

 

3RD QTR

 

14:56 Offsides on Manny. GOOD CALL. He came up to the line and was in the NZ.

13:54 Cheats get inadvertent whistle. HORRIBLE CALL. The whistle occurred while the ball was in the air, so it should have been replayed. The refs compounded their error by calling the interference penalty on Rex because the ref was off the white and in the green. Yet all the post-game coverage said that the Cheats got screwed out of a TD, because we all know that Amendola would have outrun Darby to the end zone (please).

8:48 No PI on deep pass to Sammy. BRUTAL NON-CALL. Butler clearly contacts Sammy well before the ball gets there. Sammy would have helped by slowing down to draw the PI. No hustle back to the line and the Bills burn a TO.

5:55 Illegal sub on Cheats TD? No. I looked at the replay to see if the Cheats subbed. They did not. Chandler runs on and off the field, but never reached the inside numbers. The rule is that the player must reach the inside numbers to be considered a sub. Cheating? Stretching the rules? You be the judge.

3:41 Cheats holding. GOOD CALL. Jerry got tackled.

0:00 Facemask on Cheats. Flag picked up of course. BAD NON-CALL. Stills posted on the internet showed that Ninkovich definitely had a chunk of LeShady’s face mask.

 

4TH QTR

 

12:35 Seantrel downfield. GOOD CALL. Stupid play yet again.

12:01 PI on the Cheats, finally. GOOD CALL.

9:20 Cheats holding on Blount run. GOOD CALL. Bryant got tackled.

0:46 Sammy ruled out of bounds on catch. BAD CALL. Automatic replay overturned it, but again the refs blew it.

0:22 Refs take their sweet time spotting the ball after the Tyrod fumble is recovered. Whistle blows at 0:32 and the ball isn’t spotted until 0:17. We don’t spike it, and burn another 10 seconds snapping it.

0:02 No stopping the clock as Sammy goes OB and they don’t even review it. At least Tirico calls it like it is. Pereira tweets the Bills should have had another play. Others on NFL network say Sammy went backwards, WHICH IS NOT ANYWHERE IN THE RULES. TERRIBLE CALL. We should have had a chance to run Big Ben.

 

This will be my final zebra report. I’ve done enough to know by now that the officiating in the NFL is abysmal. I just don’t have the time to spend 2-3 hours after every game going over the tape, only to see the same mistakes again and again. I’ll confine myself to discussing the calls in the game thread. Thanks for those few of you who supported this effort.

 

That is NOT considered a substitution. However, it IS considered a simulated substitution, and so the refs should have stood over the ball, allowing the Bills to substitute as in the case of a normal substitution. It's in the rule book. Even after f***ing that call up, the play should have been whistled dead at the snap. If there's someone 15 yards in the backfield like Hughes was, the play is immediately whistled dead so that the player doesn't come from behind the ball runner and absolutely destroy them from an unexpected direction. The play should have been called dead and the penalty enforced then and there. It should have never been allowed to be run, and that TD should never have been allowed to stand.

 

So that's another TWO penalties added onto all the others that were blatantly missed or enforced incorrectly.

 

If these refs ever ref a game again, the NFL has does something VERY wrong.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Haplo848

[WheelsB10]

2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.



--The punt was partially blocked by a defender (got his finger on the ball) because of that there's no roughing the kicker.

[Kelly the Dog]

2:04 Cheats run into Schmidt on punt, no call at all. TERRIBLE NON-CALL. This is textbook roughing the kicker, contacting the plant leg. He was not blocked into the kicker either, he was running straight at Schmidt all the way.

 

No idea why the refs didn’t call roughing the kicker there. Would have given the Bills the ball on the Cheats 35 yard line. Other than that, a good quarter for the refs.

 

 

 

--The punt was partially blocked by a defender (got his finger on the ball) because of that there's no roughing the kicker.

Where did you hear that? It's the only possible explanation, but I hadn't seen or heard that anywhere. We were kicking from the 48. He had to get it off quick and he hurried the kick and got upended. That is reason enough for the ball to just get to the 26 yard line where it was downed, although it's very possible it was blocked partially. I didn't see that on the replay, the announcers didn't mention it, and the official play by play doesn't mention it. Was just curious why you said that.