Officiating vs. NE

[MikeO]

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.

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.

[MikeO]

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.

[fyo]

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).

[MikeO]

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

[fyo]

^^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"

[EDGECRUSHER]

Even Bill Simmons thought the officiating was ridiculous.

[MikeO]

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.

[dolphins4life]

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

[EKnight]

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