Refs spotting the ball

[Coastie]

28 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Is it me or were they continuously shorting the Bills on the spot of the ball ?  The biggest one that comes to mind is when Josh slid directly on top of the marker and the referees decide to spot the ball a full yard behind it.
 

There was another really bad one in the Red Zone as well. I feel like this is becoming a trend since Kansas City last year. Having headquarters in New York quickly change the spot seems like an easy fix.

 

In a game of INCHES, I feel like the NFL should put more emphasis on this problem. 

 

They made a big deal about the high tech sensor for first down measurements and I said at the time it is just a smoke screen obscuring the real issue which is the refs misspotting the ball over and over again. Measuring a misplaced ball to the nearest millimeter is spurious and gives an air of accuracy to an inherently inaccurate process.

[BuffaloRebound]

NFL has the technology to have replay assist help the refs spot the ball real time.  It needs to move to that quickly.  Any play that results in 1st down or a yard or 2 short should be automatically reviewed upstairs.  

Edited September 8 by BuffaloRebound

[Success]

Just watching the replay - they also spotted Shakir short on that flip pass from Allen. He clearly got the 1st down.

 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

Also wanted to point out something on the series where Allen slid. I didn’t realize that on a slide, the spot is where the ball is located when the first body part touches the ground. This would’ve put Allen a full yard passed the line to gain. Also, the Bills got called for holding afterwards going from what *should’ve been a first down* and putting them at 3rd & 11 leading to a sack then a punt on 4th down. They got robbed out of possession at midfield. 

Edited September 8 by ChronicAndKnuckles

[Coastie]

3 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Also wanted to point out something on the series where Allen slid. I didn’t realize that on a slide, the spot is where the ball is located when the first body part touches the ground. This would’ve put Allen a full yard passed the line to gain. Also, the Bills got called for holding afterwards going from what *should’ve been a first down* and putting them at 3rd & 11 leading to a sack then a punt on 4th down. They got robbed out of possession at midfield. 

 

It is my one criticism of Josh last night. He made that first down and replay shows he made that first down. He DIDN'T make it impossible for the ref to screw it up and he should have. He had plenty or room to make it impossible to misplace the ball that badly.

 

Sad we have to expect the players to look at every first down as 1st and 12 to be sure the refs don't mess it up.

[T master]

1 hour ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Is it me or were they continuously shorting the Bills on the spot of the ball ?  The biggest one that comes to mind is when Josh slid directly on top of the marker and the referees decide to spot the ball a full yard behind it.
 

There was another really bad one in the Red Zone as well. I feel like this is becoming a trend since Kansas City last year. Having headquarters in New York quickly change the spot seems like an easy fix.

 

In a game of INCHES, I feel like the NFL should put more emphasis on this problem. 

Yep not sure where or who makes the decision of where it is places and would think that the booth should be able to correct something like that because those calls could change the out come of a game for sure and they did that last season against the Chiefs .

 

They need a chip in the ball and when the ball hits the sensor light up the poles on the side line that the chain gang holds then there is no doubt and can look at replay to determine where the spot is not a yard away from the actual spot . 

[HOUSE]

One of the worst job of spotting the ball in NFL history. Terrible 

[SoMAn]

7 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

The new tech doesn't tell refs where to spot the ball. All it does is once the ball is spotted it tells them if it's a first down or not

Unless the ball touches the ground, the spot is still going to be subjective according to where the official perceives the ball was when the knee or other body part determines the ball carrier is 'down'.  The best technology to make that determination is still high-res slo-mo with no obstructions.

[RyanC883]

The OP is right, spotting has been horrendous.  Not sure if this is league wide or not, but the one at the end of the game, even the ref in the booth was saying (in kind words) that the refs really messed up.  

 

Also, MCD needed to challange that spot.  Almost cost us the game.  He was standing right there.  

 

 

[LarryMadman]

How about when the Raven downed the ball on the 1 inch line but the refs said a thread from his glove touched the goal line. I personally didnt see that from the angles they showed but I was ok with that call. The refs in all games are terrible.

[GASabresIUFan]

3 hours ago, HOUSE said:

One of the worst job of spotting the ball in NFL history. Terrible 

The last KC playoff game was worse.

 

i have zero idea why this wasn’t a booth review on either spot.  I also don’t know why the Bills don’t have some intern watch the spots and radioing to McD after the terrible KC game?  It’s enough already.

[PayDaBill$]

4 hours ago, Coastie said:

 

It is my one criticism of Josh last night. He made that first down and replay shows he made that first down. He DIDN'T make it impossible for the ref to screw it up and he should have. He had plenty or room to make it impossible to misplace the ball that badly.

 

Sad we have to expect the players to look at every first down as 1st and 12 to be sure the refs don't mess it up.

Don’t we have a guy upstairs overseeing that too. It was egregious that ball was spotted a yard short and no one that mattered questioned it!

[Livinginthepast]

After the utter debacle of officiating vs KC you would think the billion $ league would fix the problem immediately. But no!! No replay assist for the Allen or Shakir plays and a dubious call on the Ravens punt downing.  Where is the chip in the ball and the VAR like measurement of where it is compared to the field? Year after year the NFL is the worst officiated pro sport.

[PromoTheRobot]

It may have something to do with rounding yardage to the nearest marker. Joe Marino explained it on one of his podcasts.

[Warriorspikes51]

this continues to get more blatantly wrong every season to the point one must suspect refs / review are intentionally spotting based on who they are told to favor pregame

[MJS]

I guess I don't understand the slide rule, because I thought they spotted it when you begin the slide, which was clearly before the 1st down marker and where they spotted it, but then the rules expert guy said it should be spotted when his knee touched the ground. So, I thought the refs got it right, but they said he got it wrong.

[Thrivefourfive]

5 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

They didn’t want to make it obvious they wanted the Bills to win last night

That crew got an A+ for that

[Matt_In_NH]

It’s you.  They mess up equally for all teams.  

[Artful Dodger]

It would be simpler if the refs would just use separate eleven-yard chains when Buffalo has the ball.  

[billsfan89]

5 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Refs definitely will always have a place, but you’re right. It’s time to let technology handle certain things. Most importantly, the spot of the ball. Put a chip in there and be done with it. 
 

It’s not just because the Bills got shafted. I wouldn’t want my team to win on a terrible spot either. 

 

Aren't they supposed to have the tech tennis uses but it is for challenges only? Seems like it might be too much to do it for every little spot, but I say have the tech do it for any close calls within 1-2 years of a first down either way. I think for the obvious less consequential spots keep the game moving and let the refs handle it.