These replacement refs are a gong show

[Raiderz4Life]

Maybe, I was probably too busy shaking my head in shame though.

[njx9]

after they spent 20 minutes bashing the refs at every opportunity? i can't imagine they'd have stopped short of showing replays.

[ShutDwn]

From Rick Gosselin's twitter:

RickGosselinDMN
Replacement refs seemed affected by crowd -- calling 26 more penalties against the road teams (104) than the home teams (78) thus far.

RickGosselinDMN
@lunger24 Last year there was a 66-penalty difference for the entire season between home and road, an average of almost 4 per week.

SEE GUYZ, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.

[nobodyinparticular]

Originally Posted by ShutDwn

From Rick Gosselin's twitter:



SEE GUYZ, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.

This message has been brought to you by SSSI.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by ShutDwn

From Rick Gosselin's twitter:

SEE GUYZ, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.

because one game is statistically significant.

who were the home teams? who were the away teams? does one or the other trend to have higher penalties? seattle was an away team. they also received the second highest number of penalties last season. arizona committed less penalties last year. but no, clearly we can see a correlation, so there must be causation. i mean, there must be if you're utterly and completely incapable of rational, coherent thought. rick gosselin is a ******* idiot.

[bucfan12]

I actually like these replacement officials. They really haven't given guys like Brady the "special " treatment the regular officials have in the past.

On serious note though they've improved significantly. I think they only get better. I say the good outweighed the bad this opening weekend but there were soon doozy calls (4 timeouts given to Seattle ).

[Eazy Picks]

to me it seems the new refs are a little less confident in their ability and will hold that flag in their pocket for an extra sec and think before they do it. they are also not as well-versed in all the nuances of NFL rules, which plays into why they take a sec to think...But honestly I dont have a problem with that. And based on 1 week of action, Im seeing less BS penalties where a guy lays a finger on someone and gets whistled, theyre lettin em play more and I like that. Id be interested to know what the average amount of total penalties per game is with old v new refs.

[BeerBaron]

Out of everything I saw, the worst call of the weekend was giving Seattle the extra timeout, but that ultimately proved meaningless as Arizona still managed to win the game.

The worst officiated game was the Packers/49ers, but the amount of blown calls seemed to affect both sides more or less equally in the end. (Yes, GB got a punt return TD they shouldn't have, but the 49ers avoided having a couple of drives killed when they weren't flagged for obvious false starts.)

Overall though...it wasn't horrible. Some of the crews blended right in to the point where, as I've been saying all the long, if you didn't know they officials were replacements, you wouldn't have been able to tell.

[killxswitch]

If anything (and yes I realize this is ironic coming from a Colts fan) I thought the refs were too quick in the Colts/Bears game to call PI on our DBs. There was some PI but some of the calls were pretty ticky tack.

[T-RICH49]

if the NFL can sit back and say the officiating for this MNF games was OK then Goodell needs to resign ASAP

[A Perfect Score]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

Out of everything I saw, the worst call of the weekend was giving Seattle the extra timeout, but that ultimately proved meaningless as Arizona still managed to win the game.

The worst officiated game was the Packers/49ers, but the amount of blown calls seemed to affect both sides more or less equally in the end. (Yes, GB got a punt return TD they shouldn't have, but the 49ers avoided having a couple of drives killed when they weren't flagged for obvious false starts.)

Overall though...it wasn't horrible. Some of the crews blended right in to the point where, as I've been saying all the long, if you didn't know they officials were replacements, you wouldn't have been able to tell.

I thought the Baltimore-Philly game was fairly poorly called, but that could just be me being bitter. Not that Baltimore didn't get calls too, I just thought they were very questionable all game.

[Prowler]

Players should start taking dives like in Soccer. These refs are guessing. If players start falling down like they were shot and grabbing their knees at every tiny bit of contact, then they will probably be rewarded with late flags. Maybe if enough of those type of things happen, then maybe the NFL would just go ahead and pay the real refs to come back.

*Technically, players should just try and get a concussion due to poor refereeing. If we can get one player who is hurt by shoddy refereeing, then they can sue the league for failing to provide a safe environment.

[G Mobile]

We need the old refs back soon. These replacement refs are getting worked by the coaches and the players on the field. They are guessing sometimes. The just don't seem like authorities on the field and have almost completely lost control in the MNF game and the BAL/PHI game.

[BeerBaron]

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Until the NFL starts losing it and it can be directly correlated to the replacement officials, they aren't going to cave.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

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Until the NFL starts losing it and it can be directly correlated to the replacement officials, they aren't going to cave.

Most strikes/lockouts usually have a certain shelf life. Both sides posture for 2 or 3 weeks and then they get serious and hammer something out. I've been part of a few unfortunately and they are very unsettling.

You're right it's all about money but the integrity of the game matters. They'll be back in a week or two.

[descendency]

The worst call I've seen so far was the Patriots and Cardinals game where they spotted the ball as if it were a catch but ruled it incomplete. Basically, they got a 9 yard gain on an incomplete pass. It seemed to me that one referee called it complete and another called it incomplete (the pass came loose and touched the ground, but it was really hard to see without replay), but instead of conferencing about it the referee that called it a catch just spotted the ball. [The ruling on the field was an incomplete pass, which was challenged by the Cardinals, even though they were given the yardage somehow...]

There were other bad mistakes in the games. Offensive pass interference is not called anymore. Both NE and Arizona ran screens as if it were the college game (blocking down field well before the ball was thrown). It helped Arizona score their passing TD and Welker get a long gainer.

Then you have missed (blatant) defensive holding calls in the secondary. If someone is dominating you in the pass game, just grab their jersey and jerk them down. It is happening in almost every game. I can't say you can see it really easily on the TV shots, but you can with the coaches film. The cardinals got away with murder on Gronkowski. It was pathetic.

They did miss a few false start and (blatant) holding penalties as well. The one that sticks out the most was whoever was at LT for Arizona spun down Chandler Jones right in front of a referee.

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss (because both sides got screwed by bad calls). I'm just saying they are making a ton of very bad mistakes.

[killxswitch]

Originally Posted by descendency

The worst call I've seen so far was the Patriots and Cardinals game where they spotted the ball as if it were a catch but ruled it incomplete. Basically, they got a 9 yard gain on an incomplete pass. It seemed to me that one referee called it complete and another called it incomplete (the pass came loose and touched the ground, but it was really hard to see without replay), but instead of conferencing about it the referee that called it a catch just spotted the ball. [The ruling on the field was an incomplete pass, which was challenged by the Cardinals, even though they were given the yardage somehow...]

There were other bad mistakes in the games. Offensive pass interference is not called anymore. Both NE and Arizona ran screens as if it were the college game (blocking down field well before the ball was thrown). It helped Arizona score their passing TD and Welker get a long gainer.

Then you have missed (blatant) defensive holding calls in the secondary. If someone is dominating you in the pass game, just grab their jersey and jerk them down. It is happening in almost every game. I can't say you can see it really easily on the TV shots, but you can with the coaches film. The cardinals got away with murder on Gronkowski. It was pathetic.

They did miss a few false start and (blatant) holding penalties as well. The one that sticks out the most was whoever was at LT for Arizona spun down Chandler Jones right in front of a referee.

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss (because both sides got screwed by bad calls). I'm just saying they are making a ton of very bad mistakes.

It must vary greatly from crew to crew. The refs calling the Colts/Vikings game called offensive PI. And many more penalties, most of which were correct or at least understandably missed.

[BigBanger]

All I know is that these referees are terrible. Anyone who says you can't tell the difference between these replacement referees and the professional referees doesn't know what they're talking about, or they're just bashing the old referees for the sake of doing it.

I have been critical in the past of calls during games. I hate the favor Tom Brady gets and all the BS roughing the passer calls, because, well, he's Tom Brady. Missed calls like the Megatron catch ruled incomplete in week 1 last year, the BS tuck rule... yes, referees blow calls. It happens. It has directly impacted the outcome of games. And it is magnified and talked about, criticized by announcers, talking heads, ect. These replacement referees are going to be under a more watchful eye. They're replacements. Vegas knows this. Announcers know this. Fans know this. Everyone does. Why should fans, who produce this billion dollar industry and devote time and money into the NFL, be put through a water downed sport? I shouldn't have to sit through a longer game that's increasingly unfair or poorly called.

From every single game I have watched this season the officiating has been atrocious, and among the worst I have ever seen.

There are bad calls... no calls... terrible calls... mind numbing conferencing meetings in the middle of the field where no one can make a ******* decision... officials being persuaded into a PI by a receiver throwing his arms in the arm as he falls to the ground... spotting the football is difficult... not knowing the rules... forcing coaches to challenge things that shouldn't need be done... the game is a mess. Games are so much longer and it's become more and more tedious to sit through. Football has never been tedious. It's only difficult to watch if the offense is so terribly bad (think the Jaguars or Titans), or the officiating is so bad.

These officials are losing control on the field. The players are getting so frustrated with them so much that Mike Wallace is actually pushing them, and do they throw a flag on Wallace? No, they just act like it never happened. There are more brawls and fights after the whistle then I can ever remember seeing. These players know these officials have no control, and that's what this is about more than just anything. Control of the game. The game is pure chaos.

MNF, Broncos vs Falcons, was unwatchable. Forget Peyton Manning throwing wobblers into triple coverage... the officiating is just so ******* bad. I hate them. I hope ESPN and NFLN run endless loops of terrible calls. These referees are incompetent, they look stupid and we need the professionals back on the field. **** the NFL for making me watch this ****. **** them for telling coaches not to complain or be too hard on these guys. They're trying really hard (sob story). Boo ******* hoo. No, **** them. Call attention to it. Call as much attention to it as possible. It's the only way the NFL will get a deal done.

I really hate these division 2 referees. If I wanted to watch them I would buy a $6 ticket and go to a Colgate game.

EDIT: Not to mention, this also opens the door for bribing and corruption. This is really the last thing in the world that the NFL should be ******* around with.

[djp]

Harbaugh got an extra challenge today, couple real bad calls. So many delays today too. This has gone on long enough

[vidae]

The Chiefs / Saints game was one of the worst games I've ever seen officiated. On both sides. It was awful.

[J-Spot]

In the Eagles game, the refs took about 15 minutes to figure out a holding call.

[stillma7ic]

Saints (read: Drew Brees) got robbed of a couple td's today. My fantasy team weeps.

[WinslowBodden]

The Browns Bills game today was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen.

[diabsoule]

Originally Posted by vidae

The Chiefs / Saints game was one of the worst games I've ever seen officiated. On both sides. It was awful.

I was at the game today. It was a god damn fiasco. Twice I thought the fans were going to riot over some of the calls that were made. How many reversals were there today? 4? 5?

[killxswitch]

I've changed my mind. I watched the replacement refs get talked into throwing flags MULTIPLE ****ING TIMES today. These jokers are in over their heads. Get the real guys back please.