This is by no means a call for the return of the replacement refs, heavens no.
But what in the name of Lance Easley is going on here?
Is it just me, or are NFL officials having as bad a year as Mike Shanahan and RG3?
It’s not just me.
Look, we all recognize these are the best and the brightest zebras in the NFL jungle. But after further review, the age-old argument for full-time officials has been ignited again by obsessive player-safety rules that neither the men with whistles nor men with mayhem on their minds — who are forced to play kinder, gentler defense — fully comprehend.
That excuses only some of the calls of the wild that have lit firestorms in one city after the next this season on too many occasions.
Officiating is an incredibly challenging job, more so than ever, but it has gotten to the point where too many of us are beginning to wonder if the zebras looking under the hood at replays are looking instead for misplaced contact lenses.
The last thing the NFL needs is a critical misjudgment by the zebras in a playoff game where outraged fans of the aggrieved city and others (bettors and bookies for instance) are compelled to rant that the blind are leading the blind.
Or in the first New York-New Jersey Super Bowl.
But enough is enough already.
The confusion over the strike zone for defensive players on defenseless players has resulted in inconsistent and arbitrary calls by officials who disappear once the games end so they can show up the next day at their real jobs. The NFL does its best to train the part-timers, but with so much at stake — the integrity of the game above and beyond everything monetary — and so much more of a challenge now to get the calls right, the league should demand its officials to be every bit as committed and dedicated to protect the shield as its coaches and most of its players are. Raise their pay again. The league can afford it.
And a better implementation of the latest technology — it is called real time cyber-optic technology — is imperative.
And yes, make NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino the lead judge of a jury of several educated peers on gameday reviews. MLB, beginning next season, has decided that new challenges given to its managers will be reviewed not by the umpires on the field, but by the league’s central office in Manhattan. Voila!
And now comes word that the NFL has been observing from the NHL situation room, how that league has improved the replay process and, by extension, the fairness of its game.
“Our new real-time technology has been outstanding in speeding up our game and having fewer reviews,” NHL Senior VP of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy told the Toronto Sun.
After losing to the Eagles, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians sent 15 plays for review to Blandino.
“We’re here working our tails off this week,” Arians said. “These guys are back at their other jobs.”
Days later, Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss, lamenting the officiating, said: “It’s been the worst by far since I’ve been in the league.”
The non-call on Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly for obstructing Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski in the back of the end zone on an interception several yards in front of them by Robert Lester as time expired was ruled an uncatchable under throw by Tom Brady when the primary contact occurred. A flag was thrown, a huddle ensued, the flag was picked up. Television cameras showed a livid Brady raging at the officials walking off the field.
“I wouldn’t say that they were wrong,” Blandino said.
Patriots fans already were up in arms after a new rule prohibiting the pushing of a teammate into the opponents’ formation was enforced for the first time against Chris Jones, leading to the game-winning field goal in overtime by Nick Folk. The league office later declared the Jets (Quinton Coples) had been guilty of the same crime earlier in the game. Except umpire Tony Michalek didn’t see it or call it.
The infamous down-marker fiasco might not have prevented the Redskins from a 24-17 loss to the Giants, but a prime-time television audience witnessed how a first down inside the two-minute warning had been suddenly changed to a third down without Shanahan and Robert Griffin III being informed of it. Following a downfield incompletion on what the sideline down marker had indicated was first down, the Redskins learned that it was fourth-and-1 instead, and Giants safety Will Hill ripped a short completion out of Pierre Garcon’s hands to seal the victory.
Blandino later said that referee Jeff Triplette should have stopped play to have the chains corrected and inform Shanahan and Tom Coughlin of the mistake.
“Obviously they made a mistake and you live with it,” Shanahan said.
Making matters worse for Shanahan, he discovered that the officials missed what should have been a face mask penalty against Jayron Hosley on the Garçon fumble.
Triplette continued to come under fire when, in the absence of indisputable video evidence, he incorrectly overruled the call on the field that Benjarvus Green-Ellis had been down by contact at the 1 on fourth-and-goal and awarded him a touchdown that gave the Bengals a 14-0 lead over the Colts.
The Patriots were on the right side, finally, when a last-minute, 29-yard pass interference penalty in the end zone on cornerback Leon McFadden against Josh Boyce gave Brady the ball at the 1, and a 26-21 defeat became a 27-26 victory. The contact was incidental, and should not have been called at such a critical moment. Home cooking.
Then there was this:
Umpire Roy Ellison was suspended without pay for directing “profane and derogatory” language at Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams.
“You never expect that as a player going into a game to have to beef with the refs also,” Williams said.
Personal foul, swearing.
Fix it, Roger Goodell!
“Consistency is important,” Goodell says.
Inconsistency us inexcusable. If to err is human, boy, have these guys been human.