Do you wonder if the league is fixed?

[ExiledInIllinois]

[Freddie's Dead]

Donaghy Hochuli says hi.

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, JerseyBills said:

I believe officials manipulate games for sure

They hire their kids. Try that in the real world for us slobs. They keep the wealth in the family. Meritocracy gone awry...

[Aussie Joe]

The NFL exists just to screw over Bills fans …

[BobbyC81]

1 hour ago, The Red King said:

 

That's the problem.  The NFL finally realized there's nothing we can do, which is why the bad officiating is so obvious this season, all around.

The playing of the game has also been mediocre overall this season.  I used to like watching other games with QBs like Brees, Peyton Manning, Rodgers, Rivers, etc.  Now, we’re lucky to see a couple games that are worth watching.  
 

Even Brady agrees with me.

[ExiledInIllinois]

You have sons of ex-refs working the game.  Nepotism is real. Of course it's corrupted!

 

Fixed straight up, no. Buy they push outcomes. 

 

Owners are fined. Ralph was fined $50k in 1998 for speaking out about the "Just Give It To 'em" game in Foxborough.  They were building a new stadium in New England at that time on Krafty's own dime.

 

 

What's amazing is we are building but can't buy a break.  You'd think the League is setting us up to fail...  Or are we just too loyal they know they have us on a leash?

1 minute ago, BobbyC81 said:

The playing of the game has also been mediocre overall this season.  I used to like watching other games with QBs like Brees, Peyton Manning, Rodgers, Rivers, etc.  Now, we’re lucky to see a couple games that are worth watching.  
 

Even Brady agrees with me.

Did you see Alex Smith on this topic? Skewered Brady and rightly so!

 

https://x.com/_mlfootball/status/1728808103553204251?s=42&t=fcgz37_PnkvXe-Cr_UaALg

[Aussie Joe]

2 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Y

 

 

What's amazing is we are building but can't buy a break.  You'd think the League is setting us up to fail...  Or are we just too loyal they know they have us on a leash?

Yet the Bucs are “permitted” to win two SBs?

 

The Bills might have a small home market( which sells out and travel’s to away games ..) but they have fans all over the country since Josh Allen…

 

Now their season is in the toilet with 6 weeks remaining… makes no sense ??

[ExiledInIllinois]

2 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

Yet the Bucs are “permitted” to win two SBs?

 

The Bills might have a small home market( which sells out and travel’s to away games ..) but they have fans all over the country since Josh Allen…

 

Now their season is in the toilet with 6 weeks remaining… makes no sense ??

Yeah...

 

This points to external forces. Refs, that pushing outcomes is real:

 

 "The Bills are the 40th team since 1970 merger to have 500 yards, 10 third down conversions, and a positive turnover margin in a game. They are the first team to lose in that scenario. Teams were 39-0 entering today."

 

What more can a coach and his players do? Walk on water. Turn water into wine?

 

 

[ToGoGo]

4 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

Yet the Bucs are “permitted” to win two SBs?

 

The Bills might have a small home market( which sells out and travel’s to away games ..) but they have fans all over the country since Josh Allen…

 

Now their season is in the toilet with 6 weeks remaining… makes no sense ??

I think about this a lot. Why not fix it for the Bills today? 
 

What I’ve come to learn is that it’s not always obvious who they choose and why. 

 

I think there are a few different flavors of fixing. 
 

1. A certain team MUST win. Think tuck rule. 
 

2. They prefer a team to win but if the other team is too good, just let the blowout happen. Not worth the obvious phony calls. I think that was what happened today in the 1st half. 
 

3. Affecting the gambling line. 
 

4. They don’t care who wins, just keep it close and let the game come down to a late drive. This is most of them. Very common in the NBA too (extending series to 7 games). 

[ExiledInIllinois]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-world-reacts-to-questionable-officiating-in-bills-and-eagles-matchup/ar-AA1kzeE8

 

[Chandler#81]

I never did and jump all over those who made such outlandish claims. Now? I’ve seen better fixes in the old WWF..

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

8 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

I think about this a lot. Why not fix it for the Bills today? 
 

What I’ve come to learn is that it’s not always obvious who they choose and why. 

 

I think there are a few different flavors of fixing. 
 

1. A certain team MUST win. Think tuck rule. 
 

2. They prefer a team to win but if the other team is too good, just let the blowout happen. Not worth the obvious phony calls. I think that was what happened today in the 1st half. 
 

3. Affecting the gambling line. 
 

4. They don’t care who wins, just keep it close and let the game come down to a late drive. This is most of them. Very common in the NBA too (extending series to 7 games). 

AND there was an actual NBA ref scandal!

 

 

[ChrisWatson#21]

2 hours ago, Bferra13 said:

Remember the replacement refs in 2013 or whatever? Everyone made fun of those guys. Then when the union signed a deal I remember the first game where smug Steratore made the first call with the "real" refs back. He got a standing ovation. I puked in my mouth a bit at that moment. Those replacement refs would have been fine long term and drained the scum from the pond at the same time. Now Steratore is a schill for cbs and he still sickens me. Fixed or general incompetence, the NFL sees no reason to fix it or acknowledge it is a problem.

I remember in that season teams that traditionally got favorable calls were getting screwed over for once😁

[Vod Kanockers]

1 hour ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

You need more than owners and officials. What is the point of fixing a game? What money? Who is getting the money in your opinion?
 

People want a conspiracy badly. 

I am not going to answer your questions, because I would like for you to think for yourself. 
 

Here’s a better conspiracy for you.. 

 

How is it that a multi-billion dollar industry suffers from league wide poor officiating year after year, and yet do “nothing” about it? 
 

Why is it an automatic fine (and usually the most costly) when players and coaches speak out about the officiating? 
 

Why don’t the officials have to talk to the press after each game like the coaches and players? Surely the press would have some questions for them as well, since they largely impact the outcome of each game.. 🤷‍♂️

[reddogblitz]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

The Bills might have a small home market( which sells out and travel’s to away games ..) but they have fans all over the country since Josh Allen…

 

 

This dates back to way before Josh Allen. Even before Josh Allen was born.

 

This iscnot a new phenomenon. The NFL has long favored teams to win that miraculously get all the calls.  I remember the Bucs getting a lot of BS calls in their Super Bowl win over the Chiefs.  I also remember Super Bowl XL between Seattle and Pittsburgh.  All week on NFL Channel they were playing up it being the Bus' last game in his home town blah blah blah.  The officiating in that game was a lot like today's.

 

But now that the NFL is in bed with gambling I am more suspicious.  The referees huddling up with a direct line to New York smells bad to me as does the way games are called involving the glamour teams.  I quit watching the NBA a long time ago cuz their refs absolutely decide a lot of games. I don't want to quit watching NFL football too, but I do think I'm going to start taking it less seriously and  not get emotionally involved if I can.

[Scott7975]

I don't think the league itself is fixed.  I do think there are a lot of bad referees and also biased ones that obviously favor certain teams.  They may not outright fix games but they certainly do at least a little to sway it.  I've seen some horrible calls in my 40+ years of watching.  That extends to all games and teams, not just the Bills.  I think today was the most obviously biased crap I have ever watched in that 40+ years in any game.

 

The league does nothing to fix it.  The owners, teams, coaches, players can say nothing about it.  The referee's are not held accountable. It's like an untouchable mafia.  They just do what they want and it doesn't matter because there is no criticism or accountability that they have to face.  The worst that can happen is they might not be the ref's that get to call the superbowl.  Big deal.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Scott7975

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Tyler Bass' second miss looked shady last night, too. 

 

The other tweet I wanted to post refuses to embed, I get a little note that says "Twitter does not allow the embedding of that tweet." Interesting...

You see a player score a touchdown and try to throw the ball into crowd and is unable to do so because the ball clings to his glove! He then tries to shake the ball out of his hand and cannot do it. Finally he has to remove his glove and drop it to the ground, still attached to the ball. Someone later picks up the ball and the glove is still attached! Nothing to see there though move along.

https://twitter.com/Emme0703/status/1702358319979991218?t=WSXAkFIIpmFwKvGcifb-_g&s=19

 

[cage]

The refereeing was terrible throughout the game and especially in the first half.  

 

However, the league being fixed doesn't make a lot of sense based on this game.  What would be the goal of the fix?  To keep the league as competitive as possible to rack up more $$$$.  Secondly, according to many, its to help big-market teams.

 

That would best have been accomplished in this game by having the Bills win.  The Eagles are 9-1 and playing a non-conference game.  This is one that they could easily have afforded to lose without hurting big markets.  The Bills on the other hand needed the victory badly in an exciting AFC playoff race.  The league already has the Bills scheduled in prime time essentially through the rest of the season.  Upcoming games @KC and @Miami would become much bigger marquee match-ups if the Bills win.  Allen has become the NFL poster boy.  He played a great game and having him heroically beat Philly on he road, would have had more buzz than any other outcome.

 

Any "fix" should have favored the Bills.

Edited November 27, 2023 by cage

[UKBillFan]

2 minutes ago, cage said:

The refereeing was terrible throughout the game and especially in the first half.  

 

However, the league being fixed doesn't make a lot of sense based on this game.  What would be the goal of the fix?  To keep the league as competitive as possible to rack up more $$$$.  Secondly, according to many, its to help big-market teams.

 

That would best have been accomplished in this game by having the Bills win.  The Eagles are 9-1 and playing a non-conference game.  This is one that they could easily have afforded to lose without hurting big markets.  The Bills on the other hand needed the victory badly in an exciting AFC playoff race.  Allen has become the NFL poster boy.  He played a great game and having him heroically beat Philly on he road, would have had more buzz than any other outcome.

 

Any "fix" should have favored the Bills.

Stroud is the current poster boy, not Josh. Josh is seen as a glorified turnover machine.

 

And Kelce v Kelce in the Super Bowl with Swift in attendance must be a dream. Shame the 49ers keep blowing out teams at the moment…

Edited November 27, 2023 by UKBillFan

[cage]

Just now, UKBillFan said:

Stroud is the current poster boy, not Josh. Josh is seen as a glorified turnover machine.

 

Nonsense... Allen is the Madden cover, he's in commercials for the league.  I haven't seen Stroud in anything yet.  "Poster boy" means face that is seen all the time

[MJS]

It only looks fixed if you are trying to look for it. You'll find evidence because you want to find evidence, not because there actually is evidence.

 

The league is not fixed. How could you get all 32 owners on board? Why would some owners agree to always have a sucky team and never win a superbowl?

 

Now, are there individuals trying to cheat? You better believe it. And that can come from anywhere in the league.

[UKBillFan]

2 minutes ago, cage said:

 

Nonsense... Allen is the Madden cover, he's in commercials for the league.  I haven't seen Stroud in anything yet.  "Poster boy" means face that is seen all the time

The current storyline is Stroud. Maybe “poster boy” is the wrong term for him.

 

I agree with those who are saying it isn’t logical for the NFL to fix the game against the Bills. But the calls were ridiculously biased against them.

[BobbyC81]

4 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

You have sons of ex-refs working the game.  Nepotism is real. Of course it's corrupted!

 

Fixed straight up, no. Buy they push outcomes. 

 

Owners are fined. Ralph was fined $50k in 1998 for speaking out about the "Just Give It To 'em" game in Foxborough.  They were building a new stadium in New England at that time on Krafty's own dime.

 

 

What's amazing is we are building but can't buy a break.  You'd think the League is setting us up to fail...  Or are we just too loyal they know they have us on a leash?

Did you see Alex Smith on this topic? Skewered Brady and rightly so!

 

https://x.com/_mlfootball/status/1728808103553204251?s=42&t=fcgz37_PnkvXe-Cr_UaALg

That’s great!  When I first saw what Brady said, I thought “wait a minute, he just retired”.    It’s not like he retired 10+ years and is comparing eras.

[SoonerBillsFan]

5 hours ago, The Red King said:

(Please don't merge this with the thread complaining about the Bills/Eagles officiating.  This is different, with wider scope, and not limited to the Bills.)

 

There have always been suspicions that the NFL is fixed, but this year seems almost blatent.  There have been a ton, a ton of badly officiated games this season, and not just involving the Bills.  The NFL is in bed with Vegas and the gambling apps, that much is fact.

 

So, my question is, what do you believe?  I don't believe the league is outright scripted.  But I do believe they have preferences, and are not afraid to unleash the officials to get the outcomes they want, based on trends.

 

I hate to be that guy.  I hate to think about conspiracy theories.  But the officiating all around the league has been laughably bad/questionable the whole season.

When my wife says "even I can see those bs calls and non calls" something is wrong.  

[Pete]

Just Give It To Them Game- I have wondered ever since if it’s rigged

[PatsFanNH]

5 hours ago, The Red King said:

(Please don't merge this with the thread complaining about the Bills/Eagles officiating.  This is different, with wider scope, and not limited to the Bills.)

 

There have always been suspicions that the NFL is fixed, but this year seems almost blatent.  There have been a ton, a ton of badly officiated games this season, and not just involving the Bills.  The NFL is in bed with Vegas and the gambling apps, that much is fact.

 

So, my question is, what do you believe?  I don't believe the league is outright scripted.  But I do believe they have preferences, and are not afraid to unleash the officials to get the outcomes they want, based on trends.

 

I hate to be that guy.  I hate to think about conspiracy theories.  But the officiating all around the league has been laughably bad/questionable the whole season.

No, because if they did the Bills and Dolphins would be neck and neck and both heading for the playoffs. Also the Jets would have managed to stay in the hunt till Aaron Rogers returned. The truth is simple, the refs have gotten worse and the cheap NFL has to make them full time employees and pay them to know the rules inside and out. 

[Pete]

20 minutes ago, MJS said:

It only looks fixed if you are trying to look for it. You'll find evidence because you want to find evidence, not because there actually is evidence.

 

The league is not fixed. How could you get all 32 owners on board? Why would some owners agree to always have a sucky team and never win a superbowl?

 

Now, are there individuals trying to cheat? You better believe it. And that can come from anywhere in the league.

Ever hear of Tim Donaghy?  Don’t be naive

[Ethan in Cleveland]

If you really do think it is fixed,  why do you watch?

[Matt_In_NH]

I don’t, no.  Officiating needs help from technology, it is not a job for humans in real time.  

[MILFHUNTER#518]

4 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

That roughing the passer call should’ve ended the game in our favor. It was a brutally bad call also.

 

 

Not to mention the horse collar not called. Allen's jersey was ripped for Pete's sake!

[BillsPride12]

17 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

When my wife says "even I can see those bs calls and non calls" something is wrong.  

Listening to WGR right now and a guy just called in that was at the game and said even the Philly fans in the crowd were clowning on how bad the Officiating was and couldn't believe they missed the horse collar call 

[Not at the table Karlos]

6 hours ago, Nelius said:

Agreed that it would be way too complex. Way too many moving pieces. These people prove themselves to be regularly incompetent, you can't then assume that they're such maniacal geniuses that they could pull something like that off in front of millions. I think that's largely what you're seeing with the refs - just regular every day incompetence and stupidity.

 

Although with the extreme rise in gambling you could get a few more bad apples Tim Donagy style. Not enough to fix anything, but lone wolf enough to do some weird damage to a game's outcome.

That right there is the easiest way to do it. You already believe it. 

6 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

I think it’s possible that officials ref games in such a way to make sure they stay close for long enough. Which really wouldn’t take some sort of conspiracy theory. You can call penalties on nearly every play and in doing so you can stop drives or start them with very little indication outside of “they’re only human”. It was certainly in the NFL’s interest for this to be a showcase event. It’s entertainment after all. As far as a literal attempt to work the calls towards one side, I don’t see the purpose. In this case the side that got the help was the side that needed it to stay close until they no longer did and magically the whistles slowed down. 

Few years ago there was a lot of blow outs and people weren’t watching the full games. Goodell mentioned something about it. Since then the officiating has been a complete joke with a bunch of calls to keep teams in the games and have them go down to the wire. They’re most definitely influenced by the refs. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Not at the table Karlos

[Not at the table Karlos]

5 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

The problem with fixing anything is keeping people quiet. You’d need thousands of people to stay quiet. It’s not happening. Thats why I don’t believe it’s possible. 
 

Heck, look what happened to Michigan. When too many people know about something it’ll always get out.

Why would you need thousands of people to stay quiet? You would need the refs and maybe a couple people in the league office. The players and coaches get in trouble if they call out the refs at all. That’s a huge red flag. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Not at the table Karlos

[peterpan]

5 hours ago, paulmm3 said:

I will never bet on the NFL again after tonight. Seriously. That is by far the most biased officiating I have ever seen in 20 years. There's not much other explanation for how it could be so bad. I obviously can't prove games are fixed, but I'm also not going to bet on a league where I think they might be.

I told my gambling buddies to put their life savings on the eagles in the Econ’s quarter.  It was obvious who the refs would allow to win, bet accordingly.

[MILFHUNTER#518]

1 hour ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

Tyler Bass' second miss looked shady last night, too. 

 

The other tweet I wanted to post refuses to embed, I get a little note that says "Twitter does not allow the embedding of that tweet." Interesting...

You see a player score a touchdown and try to throw the ball into crowd and is unable to do so because the ball clings to his glove! He then tries to shake the ball out of his hand and cannot do it. Finally he has to remove his glove and drop it to the ground, still attached to the ball. Someone later picks up the ball and the glove is still attached! Nothing to see there though move along.

https://twitter.com/Emme0703/status/1702358319979991218?t=WSXAkFIIpmFwKvGcifb-_g&s=19

 

Interesting,  now the link has been taken down...🤔

[peterpan]

For everyone using the “it’s incompetence” excuse- why then in a game like last night - is it so lop sided??  If it were just incompetence, it would be more equal.  But when ALL the bad and missed calls - dozens of them - go 100% toward one team, it’s a bias showing.  It’s simple as that.  There was a bias showing through last night. 
 

imagine if  members of this board reffed a Bills game.  Our bias would show through I’m sure of it.  It’s no different. 
 

this happens in other things too.  Like this Israel Hamas war.  The media keeps reporting stories told to them by Hamas, like Israel bombed a hospital and killed 500z. The media has to keep retracting these stories because they are untrue.  But 100% of these retracted stories are anti-Israel.  If it were incompetence some of the retractions would make Hamas or Palestine look bad. But they are 100% in one direction only, and it’s because the media WANTS to believe Hamas and WANTS it to be anti-Israel and so they are quick to confirm their BIAS and report on things that an honest media would not report on, or report accurately.  Their bias is causing them to make bad calls. 

 

A similar thing we witnessed last night. 

[Buffalo Boy]

6 hours ago, The Red King said:

(Please don't merge this with the thread complaining about the Bills/Eagles officiating.  This is different, with wider scope, and not limited to the Bills.)

 

There have always been suspicions that the NFL is fixed, but this year seems almost blatent.  There have been a ton, a ton of badly officiated games this season, and not just involving the Bills.  The NFL is in bed with Vegas and the gambling apps, that much is fact.

 

So, my question is, what do you believe?  I don't believe the league is outright scripted.  But I do believe they have preferences, and are not afraid to unleash the officials to get the outcomes they want, based on trends.

 

I hate to be that guy.  I hate to think about conspiracy theories.  But the officiating all around the league has been laughably bad/questionable the whole season.

Yep

Those who call us crazy 🤷‍♂️

They put their toe on the scale just enough here and there.

The NFL is becoming the WWE and it is to the point that I’m almost done with it. I didn’t get the Sunday Ticket this year and am happy there is no game this week😕

[4th&long]

Definitely after yesterdays game. I have been noticing the bad officiating in other games also. With all the bad and missed calls on Philly yesterday I think it is obvious the officials want their cut off the loot!

[DasNootz]

Was the game outcome “fixed” - I doubt it.  They wouldn’t have called the Kelce false start in crunch time to move them back if it was truly scripted.

 

Are refs taking money to impact betting lines -  it would amaze me if it wasn’t happening given the amount of money involved.

 

Yesterday there were egregiously bad calls made.  New York needs to step in during these moments and correct the on field errors.  The technology and systems exist. It’s worth “slowing down the game” to make the correct calls in my opinion.

[bobobonators]

6 hours ago, The Red King said:

(Please don't merge this with the thread complaining about the Bills/Eagles officiating.  This is different, with wider scope, and not limited to the Bills.)

 

There have always been suspicions that the NFL is fixed, but this year seems almost blatent.  There have been a ton, a ton of badly officiated games this season, and not just involving the Bills.  The NFL is in bed with Vegas and the gambling apps, that much is fact.

 

So, my question is, what do you believe?  I don't believe the league is outright scripted.  But I do believe they have preferences, and are not afraid to unleash the officials to get the outcomes they want, based on trends.

 

I hate to be that guy.  I hate to think about conspiracy theories.  But the officiating all around the league has been laughably bad/questionable the whole season.

The Eagles were 9-1. They didn’t need this win. They’re making the playoffs. 
 

Dont you think the NFL wants Josh Allen in the playoffs?? He’s one of the most exciting players in the league. Of course they want him in the playoffs! 
 

The refs sucked last night. Thats not a Vegas problem. 
 

Also, if the NFL was “in bed with Vegas” you’d think the Raiders would have a winning record for once, no? 
 

This scripted/gambling narrative needs to die once and for all.