The Refs Do The Bird Box Challenge
I’ll have more time to better formulate my thoughts on the Saints/Rams debacle later this week but for right now I feel pretty bad for fans of both teams, honestly. The Refs stuck a giant asterisk on this game. It very potentially took the win away from the Saints, and it put a black mark on what was honestly an amazing Rams comeback. Nobody is going to give the Rams as much credit as they deserve for winning ugly. I didn’t think they could win ugly but they did it. It’s not their fault the refs blew a call. The Rams should be proud.
But I can’t blame any Saints fan for being livid about that missed call. It was about as PI as humanly possible. Rammed into the WR before the ball got there? Check. Didn’t turn around or try to play the ball? Check. Textbook. Astoundingly bad miss. Normally we’re mad because the refs over-call games. For most of the game I was actually happy that the ticky-tack stuff was getting left alone. It honestly made for a better game to not have a flag after every other play. But you still have to call the obvious stuff. That DPI was so obvious that Sandra Bullock would have seen it, and she made a movie about not seeing anything. It’s called The Blind Side.
Bird Box was mediocre. It wasn’t bad, and I don’t regret watching it, but it wasn’t great. The framing device ruined the tension of the past events because we knew who died and who lived. I’m normally cool with vague monsters but they weren’t explained enough and they seemed inconsistent. Why were crazy people okay to see it? We needed a bit more information, even the metaphors are weak because of how little we know.
Anyway Todd Gurley is a fucking legend.
I don’t know what repercussions there are for an officiating crew that misses such a blatant, game-changing call. I hope the crew gets fired, really. The officiating was terrible all night. Yes it was good that the normal mediocre stuff didn’t get called, but there was still a lot on both sides that should have been. Saints got away with a delay of game and a couple blatant unnecessary roughness too.
The worst thing, though, is that the “The NFL is fixed!” crew are going to be out in force now.
And I can’t blame them.
Unlike their whining about O’Donnell’s picks supposedly being “on purpose”, at least this one will have a ground for them to stand on. It’s that bad.
That Vegas line of 3.5 and a non call that forced the Saints to settle for 3 and at best win by 3….I’ve been pretty ardent in defending the league, but something is just off there. I’d like to think there was no “fix” but everyone saw what happened. Except the refs of course.
Honestly, PI should be reviewable. It’s just as big a play (made or missed) as a catch. Unnecessary roughness should be, too, for player safety reasons, and to protect defensive players who play it perfectly but real-time-bad-angles screw them over. I’m not big on reviewing for most penalties, but those two are missed a lot– either as a bad call or a no-call– and involve player safety and the integrity of the game.
Dave must be an RLM fan, those were the exact same criticisms they made of Bird Box (and no, I’m not saying he ripped them off, or even being negative).
I do love RLM, I spent the entirety of that Half in the Bag nodding along and going “YES” and “I agree” and “Damn Mike is going to die soon”
But then where will Jay get the man milk that keeps him forever young?
As a fan of both teams, I thought there was no way I would not have some happiness over the results. I was wrong! Thanks referees… You found a way to ruin it for me.
Conspiracy time. The NFL wanted a Los Angeles team in the Super Bowl to help grow the fanbase of the 2nd largest market in the US.
Out of four possible permutations, this is the one with the lowest projected ratings. The NFL did not want this matchup to happen.
As a Saints fan, I just knew this would be today’s comic. I’m mad about the game. Not because we lost. We’re the Saints. We know how to lose….a lot. The Rams are a fantastic team who have had an incredible season. But that play ruined that whole game. After the no-call, I lost all interest in the game. I didn’t even watch the AFC title game because I didn’t want to see another missed call or something ruin that game too. It’s sad, right now I don’t even care if there is a Super Bowl. And I’m not saying that as a Saints fan. I’m saying that as a fan of good football. I mean, with all the rougher the passer calls (including the devastating hit on Brady last night) that were all called this season, how was that not called? Can we honestly have faith that a good game won’t get ruined?
The Saints got away with a lot. My argument is not about that. I’m just disappointed that a game I love so much could be ruined in ways that seemingly defy logic according the the league’s own rules. Roast me if you think I’m a bitter Saints fan. But if it happened to your team, think about how you would feel.
It did happen to my team in the play-offs. My defense called called for a roughing the passer call on a beautiful sack, and that breathed new life into the drive which would ended the game. Bummer dude.
Hey Dave, comic suggestion here.
You can make a follow-up comic to the one last week depicting Nfc East fans, where you have literally all football fans joining the sad Cows and Eagles fans, all mourning yet another Patriots Superbowl. You can toss in a bawling Saints dude in the front for extra effect.
#notALLfootballfans
Wasn’t there another blatant PI earlier in the game that they didn’t call?
Yeah, on the same player too. I let that one go as just part of the game. Saints got away with calls. It’s fair play and it’s good to let the boys go, but that last one…….
The roughing call on Chris Jones in the second game was equally ridiculous.
Yeah that was borderline one of the worst this year too
That “Blind Side” joke is pure gold.
Yeah I loved that one too.
No PI, it was all ball. And it was good the Saints didn’t win, because then Brees would’ve choked the SB. Rams Pats like I predicted. I think the Pats win on a late field goal and Gronk retires. Brady should retire, but won’t until he gets his head banged on the turf like Favre.
The ball never touched either of them, so it was a question of catchability, not interference. I don’t think you could argue it was uncatchable, but even if you could, he also went helmet-to-helmet on Lewis. It wasn’t intentional, but that’s still a personal foul and would have had the same net effect on the game as the PI.
The helmet to helmet wasn’t but the contact and attempt to get a DPI call were. Player admitted as much. He thought he was going to get beat for a TD. So he said he aimed to hit him and draw a flag. The ball was in the area to be considered catchable. In fact, had the defender just turned around, it was an easy pick.
not arguing his intent, but wouldn’t it have been a smarter move to let him score to save clock, and hope your offense can even things out?
Well generally the players are told and even coached to take a flag over a score. Most likely if the flag had been thrown, I think McVay would have allowed a TD just to get the ball back. His offense was playing well enough that he would likely be confident to try.
No PI, it was all ball. And it’s good the Saints didn’t get the call, because then washed up Brees would’ve choked the SB like he choked in OT. Like I’ve been saying, it’s going to be a rams pats Super Bowl. I see the pats winning on a late field goal. Probably the last one for Brady and the boys. Gronk will retire, Brady should retire, but won’t until he gets his head knocked on the cold turf like Favre.
You can think that, but former heads of officiating have said otherwise and the NFL has even said “we messed up”. Even the player himself admitted it. He said he targeted and it was DPI and that he got away with it. It was close enough to helmet to helmet that it should have been called for that atleast because the refs are suppose to err on the side of caution for player safety. If you didn’t see the penalty, your eyes are as weak as Eli’s arm strength apparently. This non call severely damages the integrity of the whole league.
I was kind of joking. I do realize the missed call was atrocious on many levels and essentially ruined the final outcome of the game. Although it wasn’t the reason the Saints lost, it could’ve guaranteed their victory and the NFL should be embarrassed about this. The Saints did get hosed, but I’m glad they did because Rams-Pats is the more exciting matchup. Good news is that soon these kinds of plays can be reviewed, so this will never happen again.
It’s cool. Truth be told, last year we had a 99% chance to beat the Vikings with minimal time left and we see how that played out. This could have gone the same way. But sadly, it didn’t. The biggest problem I have is that the Rams aren’t getting the credit they should for playing a great game because the Refs totally blew it. The call didn’t guarantee anything. But that call has to be made. Imagine if that happens in the Super Bowl. To Tom Brady no less. The northeast may explode. I would rather just the Saints blow it completely. They were doing a good job of that as it was. Now we have what ifs.
Without sounding too much like a crying NOLA fan here it is, I dont know how I can continue to support the NFL with these missed calls and over called games. If the script was flipped and the Saints won on that call theres not a chance in hell I would be proud of that. I wouldn’t be trash talking Rams fans and bragging about going to the Bowl. It was a great comeback I agree and they got back in the game but taking away what was essentially a game winning drive is too much. The roughing the passer in the following game on Brady? Its calls like that, that make me want to stop. Players and coaches are held accountable for their actions. Payton was pissed at the refs and cussed them out after the game, per reports, If that’s confirmed I wouldn’t be shocked if he had a fine or suspension coming his way. Blatant missed calls and imaganary penalties should make the refs subject to; fines, suspensions for repeated offenses, and firings. Give the coaches some sort of challange flag that let’s them challange one officiating call per game. Let the New York reffing team they always talk about and bring in to explain questionable calls and rules override the ruling. Some accountability needs to be held, and quite honestly investigate the officials every few weeks to make sure they haven’t been betting on games. Sorry I know its long winded but I’m just over it at this point and dont think I can watch anymore for a while until something changes. To anyone who read it all thanks!
Tldr; me salty saints fan, want refs held accountable on all sides.
It’s not all on the refs. The NFL has to simplify the rule book, invest in better tech, and make reffing a FULL TIME JOB. quit half-assing it. put in the resources to get it right. personally i like the notion of limiting replay so that the ruling on the field stands more often than not, but I also think just about any damn play should be reviewable in order to prevent nonsense like this. also, make better use of technology. frex, it’s absurd we’re measuring first down with medieval siege technology.
I agree with you to a point. Something has to be done to prevent this, as you put it nonsense. Full time refs who are trained, coached and drilled every single week like the players are. This bullshit of part time refs who are left up to their complete discussion is old news. When there’s no proper training on their side. A few years ago the Nfl wanted to put in several, and by several I mean like 12, full time referees. People who that’s all they did every week. But I never heard much more about expanding or even utilizing that initial plan. All referees should be full time refs. The nfl has entirely too much money to not make this a full time position.
Did you say TODD Gurley is a legend? Lol maybe but that doesn’t change the fact that he had 4 carries for 10 yards and 1 reception for 3 yards. He did have the td but it was from 1 yard out and Anyone could have ran that one in. Great player who systematically disappears from game to game
Called him a legend because of his instagram post. Maybe learn and respect the feed? Thanks
What’s Instagram
Yeah that post was awesome. I laughed because the essence of comedy is tragedy plus time. I’ve alternated between those states a lot the last 24 hours.
My wife asked why the ref would agree to this and I said because he may not get another chance after that.
It was not real
In fairness to the Rams, the refs were absolutely terrible to them the entire game up until that point. Two face masks, two instances if a Saint player jumping directly on a downed opponent, a guy barrel rolled into Hekker’s plant leg, and three separate instances of delay of game were all overlooked before the non-call on the DPI.
It was a bad call, the refs missed it, but if the whole game is called correctly the Rams are winning that game anyway.
I saw where someone hit Hecker’s plant leg. If it is the play I’m thinking of, that was Taysom Hill and he was actually tangled up with a Rams player and they both fell over and rolled into him. I could see it being called but I didn’t see where it was anything too bad. On that play there was a flag on the Rams, and I was certain it would be cancelled out but wasn’t. And before the Rams went to a quick snap with a silent count, they had a few DOG penalties that could have been called. Delay of Game penalties are usually called if it’s glaring and obvious. The refs tend to be a little lenient there and they were very liberal in that game. If it’s all called correctly, it’s still a close and very good game. As a Saints fan, I’d still say we win but that’s more as a fan. The Rams played more than well enough to win without the non call. It’s a shame the game will be tarnished by that.
Yeah the Rams player kinda tossed him into the kicker which nulls the running into penalty. Likewise the reason the Saints passing attack stalled out in the second half was that the Rams DBs were allowed to play. If a PI gets called earlier in the game coverage loosens up and more than likely the DB doesn’t try to intentionally interfere on the last play. Probably would’ve made the Rams lives easier too.
Also, I posted your “Blind Side” joke on Facebook.
yet another blatant blown call on the turd pile that has been NFL officiating this season…
Lol the DB literally admitted that he intended to get PI to stop the TD
WE WAS ROBBED!!!!!!!!
I’m so mad right now I’m not sure I’m going to watch the Super Bowl this year. I don’t know if I can root for the Rams, but I’m also sick of NE being in it so much.
Being honest, I just can’t pull for the Rams. I like them. I’m not bitter. I just don’t accept the end of the game because it wasn’t decided entirely by the players. I don’t want to pull for the Patriots (I’m sick of them, but I don’t hate them). I just can’t get excited about it. I can’t say the Saints were robbed of a sure trip to SB. But they had a chance.
Full disclosure, I’m a Ram fan…but this reminded me of the Theirry Henry incident with Ireland 10 years ago. Player admits fault, but is also not the ref. Also, Rams had been 0-8 with that ref or something like that.
I saw somewhere it was close to that or like 0-10. Heck of a time to put one in the win column.
Apparently the ball was in play because he barely whiffed the ball. In one of the angles, you can kinda see him touch the ball, but even then, if he did touch the ball, he would have no chance at actually catching the ball. On top of that, Robey-Coleman said that he intended to inflict a PI to prevent a touchdown from happening on that play. So this was all the refs to blame on this one.
As an exceptionally petty Steelers fan who was told “good teams overcome bad calls” by a Saints fan a few weeks ago, I have to say that I enjoyed the end of that game.