The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I know that we didn't do all we did to close this game.  But make no mistake: the officiating cost us this game.

It all started with an incredibly bogus PI call that benefited Gronk.  It wasn't just that they got the call, but it was a 3rd down desperation play.  It gave the Pats points, rather than gave us the ball.

I don't even remember the 2nd awful call, but a bunch of us were bitching about it.  Someone fill me in.  ....in the game blog thread, several of us post in a row.  Also, the commentators said it was bad.

And lastly, the "batting", which is just horribly, horribly awful.

I don't think that the refs have it out for us or anything like that, but I definitely think that it's in the collective heads of the world that we are bad and the Patriots are good, so when in doubt, they're going to get opportunities.

I know that people will look and criticize us for not closing, but this is the NFL and all teams are good and frankly, the Pats are better.  We did enough to win.  We came out hot and poured it on.  We should've built an insurmountable lead early, but our momentum continued to be stopped by terrible referee interference.

I think that Philbin probably needed to get thrown out of the game by that third call.  Just go stand at midfield and scream in a ref's face until you get escorted off the field.  You have to make a statement when your team is getting abused and disrespected week after week.

As is, nobody will talk about this.  The Pats won by double digits, just like everyone expected, and the world turns on, because nobody cares about us?  Yet, last week the Pats got (screwed?) on a legitimate call and it's all anybody talked about all week.  You think that batting call was happening the other way?   ...that the refs would've stopped the Pat's momentum with a call like that against us?  No chance.  Philbin needs to be more pissed off -- it wouldn't have made a difference in that game, but hopefully, over the long run, we'll build a reputation for not just sitting there and taking the abuse.

The PI call against Wilson in the first half didn't hurt us much, but it was also a piss poor call.

I have really been thinking about this as of late and the calls are really hurting the league.  We have an epidemic of the Micheal Jordan effect (as I like to call it).  Jordan got all the calls.  If you breathed his direction it was a foul.  Same thing happens in the NFL.  The big names get all the calls in their favor.  Psychologically the refs must either feel some sort of peer pressure due to the fame of the players or maybe they just give the benefit of the doubt to teams that have a public perception of historically doing no wrong.

We have no famous players and the few we have plucked from other teams had the wrong kind of fame.  We do not get the benefit of the Michael Jordan effect and therefore we will remain losers untill we play good enough to get out of tight game situations and overcome public perception.

Agree about Philibin.  Actually I would have pulled my team off the field in protest.  They need to make a statement

I don't see how you can say that.  It directly gave NE 3 points, where we would've had the ball.  But, more importantly, it was their first points on a stagnant offense.  It broke the seal and gave them a mental edge.

The second call was Holding against Patterson when Dobson fell down on his route.  Patterson never even touched him.  Another 3rd down stop gave Brady an automatic first down.

Philbin needs to file a protest with the league office.  Doing something extreme like standing on the field is only going to get him fined and make him look like a clown.  I wouldn't be upset to see him screaming at some refs, but he is too even-keel for that.

They need to file some kind of grievance with the league, and the league will issue a "yup, oops, we got all those calls wrong" statement, and the refs will get a slap on the wrist and carry on next Sunday.

Nothing will happen with this, its ridiculous, and bullshit.  There will be no consequences.

Was watching ESPN this morning and all they could talk about was how great a comeback it was.  Even the highlight reels skipped the "batting" play as if it wasn't the most important play of the day.  They talked about last week's correctly called FG for 5 days, but it's as if this blatantly blown call never happened.

I think you need to use the media to your advantage.  Granted, you can't go complain to the media, but you can flip shit on the sidelines and get kicked out and get the media talking for you.

I don't really complain much about non-calls, because "if you didn't see, you didn't see it"...what can you do?  But for things like PI where there isn't PI, what are you calling?  You can't assume fouls just because of the reputations of the players involved, which is what is happening.

Oh, that's right.  Thanks....just terrible. 

It is ridiculous.  I am sick of it.  But I understand that Philbin won't handle it publicly.  He's doing the right thing.

I'd like to see him get fired up and scream at some refs, but he's raising a team with character.  He's trying to show how to take the high road.  He doesn't want a team full of Kevin Vickersons.  Leading by example.  I get it.

I think we need to get someone on the rules committee and I'm not joking. Shula's teams were always the least penalized in the league and I think part of that was that Shula was on the rules committe and the refs knew him and were lenient on the Dolphins.

Course all of this flies in the face of the zebras giving Rex a call last week against New England, maybe this week was make up week for Bill.

Of course it was a make up week!  That was the first thing I thought! 

He whined and griped about the call all week, and belly-ached about "waaah! you guys cost us the game" and right before the game, the league came out and said "yes, we missed the call when the Jets did the same thing"

There is no doubt in my mind!

Yea, I agree it was a make up week for the Pats. That's the only way you can explain those calls. Since they didn't get the benefit of the doubt last week, the NFL was going to make sure they would get it this week.

And it's at the expense of a team that's irrelevant so it won't make headlines.

BINGO.

No one cares if we screw the Dolphins because, well, no one cares about the Dolphins.  Right?

They have Pittsburgh next week.  You can't do anything then.

Of course ESPN doesn't talk about it.  Tom Brady has his game worn jock strap FedExed over to Berman and the other talking idiots so they can sniff it all week.

Florio posted some bullshit on PFT saying the batting call was the right call even if dolphin fans don't like it. Almost every comment after that, most not even from Dolphins fans, we're how we got screwed by the refs. The only people defending it were Pats fans.

Want to get someone on the rules committee, then you can't fire your coach every other year. Only "established" people safe in their jobs get on those committees.

I was laughing that right after the Cincy/Miami game NFL Network had someone on from the league to confirm that it was a safety on the final play. And Hartline had both feet in on his catch prior to overtime. They wanted to clear that up ASAP and not have any controversy. One of the perks of having your own Network, you can put any corporate suit on at anytime to get out your side of things.

The last couple of years of Mike Pereira's "rule" as officiating czar, at least some of the networks used him as an official expert to get a comment on rulings in games. Different networks seemed to take advantage of it in different ways and I haven't noticed anything like it since Pereira stepped down (he's with Fox now, of course, and while his comments are likely accurate, they don't directly reflect the NFL's official position). I don't even know who took over... (Dean Blandino, apparently, although it took an inordinate amount of google'ing).

^^This was AFTER the game and was an official NFL employee.

Which is exactly the same as the situation you described (which was my point).

Quoting you: "right after the Cincy/Miami game NFL Network had someone on from the league to confirm"

Even Bill Simmons thought the officiating was ridiculous.

Today vs Pitt the Pats got 2 gift PI calls that extended a drive that ended in a touchdown. Beating them in NE is very tough. They get home cookin no doubt.

I'm calling conspiracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, it was the refs that allowed them to score 55 points. Heard it all now. This is sour grapes from the rest of the league. You lose a close game, holding the opponent's offense in check and lose because of a questionable call or two, I'll buy that. You give up the most points and yards allowed in your franchise's history and lose, 2 questionable calls don't mean anything, and no one who doesn't have some sort of interest in the outcome (like fans of a division rival who blew a 2 TD lead against NE) is even mentioning officiating. In terms of the national media, officiating in Pats games is a page 12 story on a slow news Tuesday. -EK