There must be a better way to officiate a football game!

[PUNT750]

The terrible calls are enough.  The calls that aren't made make it worse. Phantom holding in the backfield on critical 3rd downs, missed helmet to helmet contact calls are all over the field and roughing the passer is getting to be a joke.  It looks like some NFL officials feel they have to make a call to be graded well.

 

With all the technology we have including instant replay, slow motion, sky cams etc. can't someone figure out how to track each play or even each player instantly and get things RIGHT????  The players are too fast and too quick today for the officials on the field.  NFL officiating is killing a great game and pretty soon you are going to hear the word "FIX".

 

ANY IDEAS???

[Bangarang]

Only way to fix it is to let fans officiate the games from home.

[billsbackto81]

If you want to see better officiating that benefits your team become a Patriots fan.

[SinceThe70s]

16 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Only way to fix it is to let fans officiate the games from home.

 

Crowd-sourced officiating? Or are you going with everyone gets to pick their happy ending? Probably one and the same.

[Misterbluesky]

31 minutes ago, PUNT750 said:

The terrible calls are enough.  The calls that aren't made make it worse. Phantom holding in the backfield on critical 3rd downs, missed helmet to helmet contact calls are all over the field and roughing the passer is getting to be a joke.  It looks like some NFL officials feel they have to make a call to be graded well.

 

With all the technology we have including instant replay, slow motion, sky cams etc. can't someone figure out how to track each play or even each player instantly and get things RIGHT????  The players are too fast and too quick today for the officials on the field.  NFL officiating is killing a great game and pretty soon you are going to hear the word "FIX".

 

ANY IDEAS???

Watch a replay of any game..hit up frame to frame.Here's the bottom line,holding could be called on 90% of the plays,but it isn't for obvious reasons.

Another reason why soccer is becoming more popular (concussion issues not included).

Regards,

Pele

[Dadonkadonk]

Make every call review-able.  All turn-overs and scores are reviewed automatically.  2 challenges per game.

Make PI a 15 yard max penalty.  

 

[JohninMinn.]

2 minutes ago, Misterbluesky said:

Watch a replay of any game..hit up frame to frame.Here's the bottom line,holding could be called on 90% of the plays,but it isn't for obvious reasons.

Another reason why soccer is becoming more popular (concussion issues not included).

Regards,

Pele

1-0 1-0 1-0 popular? Never

[Charlottebillsfan2]

First question is why are the refs all so old. Its a young mans game why are the refs as old as the owners? Shouldn't the league have a way that 25-40 year old people can ref their sport?

 

My other issue is because of the camera angles I need to listen to Johnny announcer question every friggen play with the benefit of 10 different replay angles. Then they point out how the 75 year old ref missed a call. Its almost unwatchable due to the fact that I have to listen and watch every mistake. 

[PUNT750]

9 minutes ago, Dadonkadonk said:

Make every call review-able.  All turn-overs and scores are reviewed automatically.  2 challenges per game.

Make PI a 15 yard max penalty.  

 

I agree here.  With high speed computer re-play vs. officials chatting on the field about a call, then going to replay, then having an official review it and then having a challenge - - it would be quicker!

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

The refs couldn’t be worse if they tried. The single biggest problem the NFL, isn’t head injuries or protesting...it’s the officiating. Absolutely needs to be addressed and it needs to be rebuilt. Full time professional refs. Young 20-40 year old refs, not old men running around trying to judge lightning fast plays in real time. And just flat out less calls. Just less rules and less calls. Roger needs to sit these ***** down and tell these guys, be forgotten. 3-5 penalties a game. Not 20. Obviously Offside and delay of game will have to be called. But judgement calls have got to be egregious or don’t throw it. Holding and PI are going to happen on almost every play. Unless a player is tackled, let them go. Let the players decide the game. Not the officials. 

[The Wiz]

Make gambling on football illegal.  Otherwise nothing changes, even then it would only change a small percentage. 

[TtownBillsFan]

BM4J, I think there's some merit in what you said.  As they say, they could call holding on every play.  So either get rid of it altogether, or make it so only egregious holding is called.  That'd make the QB more safe (which they seem to want), make the sub-standard line-play we get better (if they can grab from the front and hold, just not from the side), lessen the number of calls per game, and speed things up.  Make it so Guards and Centers can literally hold the guys jersey in front of them, and not let them around, but the OT's have to play by the rules we're currently under.

 

That'd make premium edge-rushers even more valuable, make the blitz even more valuable, but allow you to have big road-graders in the middle that can do their job, while also improve the run game (given you now have big-mean-strong push-your-guy in the middle).  I've seen the idea of allowing holding altogether, and as long as you're not holding a receiver, I think it could work.  Yes, it'd change the game, but would it be worse?  I think not.

[PUNT750]

9 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

The refs couldn’t be worse if they tried. The single biggest problem the NFL, isn’t head injuries or protesting...it’s the officiating. Absolutely needs to be addressed and it needs to be rebuilt. Full time professional refs. Young 20-40 year old refs, not old men running around trying to judge lightning fast plays in real time. And just flat out less calls. Just less rules and less calls. Roger needs to sit these ***** down and tell these guys, be forgotten. 3-5 penalties a game. Not 20. Obviously Offside and delay of game will have to be called. But judgement calls have got to be egregious or don’t throw it. Holding and PI are going to happen on almost every play. Unless a player is tackled, let them go. Let the players decide the game. Not the officials. 

 

Great reply.  It's ruining the game for the fans and players.  Why are the referees so old??

[Passepartout]

Yeah as need to hire some referees that are younger or that of in the forties. To make it fair and square. 

[LSHMEAB]

9 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

Make gambling on football illegal.  Otherwise nothing changes, even then it would only change a small percentage. 

Yeah. Not like anybody breaks such laws.? I actually think widespread legal gambling leads to LESS funny business.

[TtownBillsFan]

1 minute ago, Passepartout said:

Yeah as need to hire some referees that are younger or that of in the forties. To make it fair and square. 

If you're trying to say they need younger refs, then yeah, agreed.  Younger, full-time, and more competent, with their jobs on the lines with multiple, egregiously bad calls (or non-calls).

[ThurmasThoman]

I've been beating this drum for 10 years now, and I'll keep doing it: the only way to fix the game is to eliminate instant replay. It has trashed the viewing experience. The thing that made the league so magical before was the impossible: did he REALLY just catch that while falling out of bounds and being hit by 2 defenders?!?! well, 99% of the time now, the answer is "no". I don't care if it costs the Bills or not, tbh--I'd rather see the Bills lose on a last second touchdown to the Pats, with the Patriots receiver having one foot ob that can only be seen in super slow mo HD... then put up with another season of "all scoring plays are automatically reviewed". Touchdowns used to mean "f*ck yeah, we're kicking their ass." Now touchdowns mean "I hope that counts".

 

 

[JoPar_v2]

Get rid of the old men and make them all full-time. No more ambulance chasers moonlighting as NFL referees. And de-unionize them

[Ol Dirty B]

31 minutes ago, JoPar_v2 said:

Get rid of the old men and make them all full-time. No more ambulance chasers moonlighting as NFL referees. And de-unionize them

 

I agree they need to get rid of old refs. But I'm pretty sure they finally made them all fulltime last year or the year before.

[KD in CA]

1) *****-can replay

2) Stop looking for excuses to throw flags on every kick/punt return and deep pass

 

That'd be a good start

[JoPar_v2]

3 hours ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

I agree they need to get rid of old refs. But I'm pretty sure they finally made them all fulltime last year or the year before.

 

I heard they made some full-time, but not all. Again, the golden oldies were grandfathered in.

[Bfanlc]

I don't care what you do calls will be missed. Its impossible to see every foul.

[Philly McButterpants]

http://via Imgflip Meme Generator

[row_33]

26 minutes ago, Bfanlc said:

I don't care what you do calls will be missed. Its impossible to see every foul.

 

Not if you watch every play inventing a reason to whine 

 

I guess pissing and moaning about the refs the whole game gives them a purpose in life

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by row_33

[SoCal Deek]

I’d like to see more flags picked up when the offense has NOTHING to do with the play. The head referee should be allowed to use more discretion.

[Mickey]

9 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

 "judgement calls have got to be egregious or don’t throw it"

 

Just what we need, a totally subjective standard that breeds inconsistency like rabbits. Fans have always and will always complain about officiating. Fans have always and will always complain that officials are ruining the game. Complaining is fun and refs are an easy target for fan rage after a difficult loss. The idea that "younger" refs would somehow be better than "older" refs is ridiculous. Good judgment, professionalism, adequate physical conditioning, even temperament and experience are the job qualifications and no age group has a monopoly on any of them.

 

The inescapable fact is that the rules are not and will never be completely black and white. There will always be a need for judgment and there will always be close calls that generate disagreement. The game of football can't exist without rules and those rules, the most critical of which are inherently subjective, have to be interpreted and enforced. All the league can do is insure that their officials are properly trained, adequately compensated and judged based on their performance. 

 

I have seen disrespect and abuse of officials at every level, from little league to the pros and in multiple sports. It is getting more and more difficult to find officials because who wants to sign up for that kind of abuse? 

 

Controversial calls, no-calls and bad calls are a part of the game.  All reasonable efforts to improve that aspect of the game should be made but in the end you have to accept that you can't completely eliminate uncertainty.

[machine gun kelly]

11 hours ago, Dadonkadonk said:

Make every call review-able.  All turn-overs and scores are reviewed automatically.  2 challenges per game.

Make PI a 15 yard max penalty.  

 

 

Good call Dad, and on NFR this week, they discussed at length how there should be ref in stadium, and reviewing all plays from the booth.  Get away from everything in NY and it won’t make the game go longer, but actually will speed it up as a both review can be done in two seconds.

[BuffaloBillyG]

They are trying to officiate the game the same way they always have. Issue is, players these days are bigger, faster and more action happens in a split second. 

 

First off, they should have better rules. Rules that don't rely on "judgement calls".  Stop changing rules every off season and then pushing the new ones as "most important" and often least understood.

 

There should be at MINIMUM 3 more zebras on the field. Reassign responsibilities of each guy on the field. This would help make up for the added speed of the game as opposed to how it was 30 years ago.

 

 

[GRHater69]

A few years back both Ed Reed and Mike Carey were discussing PI on Inside the NFL. The gist of the argument was that if the NFL made PI a 15 yard penalty the DBs would do it all day to WRs and that's why they place the ball at the spot of the foul. I hated to admit it, but I did have to agree. What drives me crazy as a fan is the way the subjective calls can suddenly change the flow, or worse, the outcome of a game........we all remember "Just give it to him". That's where the NFL leaves itself open to the most criticism and being accused of trying to keep Vegas happy.......or Robert Kraft. It happens every weekend, just ask the Eagles about that opening kickoff fumble against Dallas. Or for that matter ask the Chiefs and Rams about all the ridiculous flags for illegal contact on that Monday night barn burner a few weeks back.  

Edited December 15, 2018 by GRHater69

[PromoTheRobot]

A lot of football could be officiated with sensors, how far a ball advances, does it cross the goal line, even blows to the head. But people don't want to replace human calls with technology.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

 

Good call Dad, and on NFR this week, they discussed at length how there should be ref in stadium, and reviewing all plays from the booth.  Get away from everything in NY and it won’t make the game go longer, but actually will speed it up as a both review can be done in two seconds.

Reviewing all plays will speed up the game?  Right!  And you'll really enjoy watching it.

[NewEra]

14 hours ago, PUNT750 said:

The terrible calls are enough.  The calls that aren't made make it worse. Phantom holding in the backfield on critical 3rd downs, missed helmet to helmet contact calls are all over the field and roughing the passer is getting to be a joke.  It looks like some NFL officials feel they have to make a call to be graded well.

 

With all the technology we have including instant replay, slow motion, sky cams etc. can't someone figure out how to track each play or even each player instantly and get things RIGHT????  The players are too fast and too quick today for the officials on the field.  NFL officiating is killing a great game and pretty soon you are going to hear the word "FIX".

 

ANY IDEAS???

Been saying this for years. The nfl makes too much money and there’s too much technology out there not to improve on this joke we call officiating.  

 

I’ve been calling for at least official in the booth.  Ref throws a flag, communicates it to the headset, ref in booth takes a quick look and if it’s a terrible call they can overrule.  

 

If thats too hand on, then I’m sure there’s another way to implement today’s technology  in order to get this right.  It’s been broken for a long time.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

3 hours ago, Mickey said:

 

Just what we need, a totally subjective standard that breeds inconsistency like rabbits. Fans have always and will always complain about officiating. Fans have always and will always complain that officials are ruining the game. Complaining is fun and refs are an easy target for fan rage after a difficult loss. The idea that "younger" refs would somehow be better than "older" refs is ridiculous. Good judgment, professionalism, adequate physical conditioning, even temperament and experience are the job qualifications and no age group has a monopoly on any of them.

 

The inescapable fact is that the rules are not and will never be completely black and white. There will always be a need for judgment and there will always be close calls that generate disagreement. The game of football can't exist without rules and those rules, the most critical of which are inherently subjective, have to be interpreted and enforced. All the league can do is insure that their officials are properly trained, adequately compensated and judged based on their performance. 

 

I have seen disrespect and abuse of officials at every level, from little league to the pros and in multiple sports. It is getting more and more difficult to find officials because who wants to sign up for that kind of abuse? 

 

Controversial calls, no-calls and bad calls are a part of the game.  All reasonable efforts to improve that aspect of the game should be made but in the end you have to accept that you can't completely eliminate uncertainty.

Reason is not permitted on this board.  Shame on you!

[transient]

Replace officials with those stupid Fox CGI robots and make all fouls punishable by death. The game will suffer but the capital punishment will increase ratings and therefore increase revenue, which is what really matters.

 

As an added bonus, given that they’re executing players on the field, owners can probably stop spending money to make people think they care about players’ health.  Keeping more money in the owners’ pockets, while it’s probably not that much in the grand scheme of things, will make Jerry Jones happy and therefore he’ll probably be less prone to nonsensical rambling at the owners meetings... and let’s face it, less crap coming from Jerruh’s mouth is a win for everyone. 

 

In a few years, with the money they save, they should be able to create some sort of neutral site, universal, automated playing field that they can control. Then they can morph the game into some Hunger Games-Thunderdome-Rollerball-Gladiator  hybrid that sucks as a sport. Ultimately, we won’t care because we will be so devolved by that point that the promise of watching acts of indecency and inhumanity will keep us drooling in our seats while Alexa repeatedly asks us every few minutes if we’d like to buy the various things that owners are prominently advertising In these contests, taking the slightest hesitation as a “yes” unless we were able to stay focused long enough to read the fine print and opt out ahead of time. 

 

Or maybe they should just spend the money, get better officials, do a better job of conveying what they expect of officials, and then do a better job of overseeing them to making sure that’s what they’re getting instead of letting their cheap-ass approach ruin their multibillion dollar game.  

 

Then again, who’s to say they’re not getting what they want?  Maybe they’ve seen that, despite the crappy officiating, ratings are up and people are talking. Why do anything until their hand is forced.?

 

...that took a turn, huh?  Yeesh! What the hell do I know, anyway?

[billspro]

3 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’d like to see more flags picked up when the offense has NOTHING to do with the play. The head referee should be allowed to use more discretion.

 

I always thought there should be a head referee in the booth that can review flags in real time. Quicker than the refs huddling up. He could also call a penalty if the refs missed something. I actually think that would speed up game play. 

2 hours ago, No Place To Hyde said:

They are trying to officiate the game the same way they always have. Issue is, players these days are bigger, faster and more action happens in a split second. 

 

First off, they should have better rules. Rules that don't rely on "judgement calls".  Stop changing rules every off season and then pushing the new ones as "most important" and often least understood.

 

There should be at MINIMUM 3 more zebras on the field. Reassign responsibilities of each guy on the field. This would help make up for the added speed of the game as opposed to how it was 30 years ago.

 

 

 

Why do they have to be on the field? With today’s technology one off the field with a radio could be more effective. It so much easier to see the game from the broadcast than on the field.

29 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Been saying this for years. The nfl makes too much money and there’s too much technology out there not to improve on this joke we call officiating.  

 

I’ve been calling for at least official in the booth.  Ref throws a flag, communicates it to the headset, ref in booth takes a quick look and if it’s a terrible call they can overrule.  

 

If thats too hand on, then I’m sure there’s another way to implement today’s technology  in order to get this right.  It’s been broken for a long time.

 

Completely agree, the need to use technology to help out the officials. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by billspro

[Formerly Allan in MD]

6 minutes ago, transient said:

Replace officials with those stupid Fox CGI robots and make all fouls punishable by death.

One of these days it likely will be robots.  And robots will review the challenges. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

2 minutes ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

One of these days it likely will be robots.  And robots will review the challenges. 

 

...seriously?...a robot replacing Al Riveron?.........he is THE "robot of fairness".......ask him...............

[BuffaloBillyG]

16 minutes ago, billspro said:

 

I always thought there should be a head referee in the booth that can review flags in real time. Quicker than the refs huddling up. He could also call a penalty if the refs missed something. I actually think that would speed up game play. 

 

Why do they have to be on the field? With today’s technology one off the field with a radio could be more effective. It so much easier to see the game from the broadcast than on the field.

 

Completely agree, the need to use technology to help out the officials. 

Because off the field refs would be subject to only seeing what broadcasts choose to show. And having an official with the ability to review differnt camera angles would open the door to severly slow the game down with extremely late flags. 

[billspro]

5 minutes ago, No Place To Hyde said:

Because off the field refs would be subject to only seeing what broadcasts choose to show. And having an official with the ability to review differnt camera angles would open the door to severly slow the game down with extremely late flags. 

 

I don’t think it would slow down the game at all. Actually it should speed it up. Rather than having officials huddle up for 3 minutes an official in the booth could review the play in 10 seconds. They would also be reviewing the play in real time but would have an all 22 angle which is much easier to see penalties. If they felt the refs missed something they would radio down which would be quicker than running over to the head official. The only time they would use replay would be if the refs felt the need to huddle up. All reviews could be done by the ref in the technology booth and the head official would not have to run over to a screen. I bet it could save about 10 minutes of unnecessary ref conversation a game. There has to be a way to use technology to speed up game play.

[billykay]

15 hours ago, TtownBillsFan said:

BM4J, I think there's some merit in what you said.  As they say, they could call holding on every play.  So either get rid of it altogether, or make it so only egregious holding is called.  That'd make the QB more safe (which they seem to want), make the sub-standard line-play we get better (if they can grab from the front and hold, just not from the side), lessen the number of calls per game, and speed things up.  Make it so Guards and Centers can literally hold the guys jersey in front of them, and not let them around, but the OT's have to play by the rules we're currently under.

 

That'd make premium edge-rushers even more valuable, make the blitz even more valuable, but allow you to have big road-graders in the middle that can do their job, while also improve the run game (given you now have big-mean-strong push-your-guy in the middle).  I've seen the idea of allowing holding altogether, and as long as you're not holding a receiver, I think it could work.  Yes, it'd change the game, but would it be worse?  I think not.

I've said it before, it might sound a little silly but they could lessen the yellow flags by a couple a game. Just mandate that all Guards & Tackles must wear gloves similar to boxing gloves. This won't stop all OL holding but will at least get rid of the obvious grab & hold penalties.