Is the NFL rigged?

[dolphins4life]

I am seeing more and more fans around the Internet saying these things.  Even on this board. 

[MikeO]

NO

[Phishfan]

Too much is involved in rigging an NFL game (short of having players just throw the game).

[Jim Gray]

I don't think games are rigged, but it sure looks like premier players receive special treatment, especially quarterbacks.  It may not be sanctioned by the league, but I wonder if the refs are reprimanded after bad calls.  If you don't hold the refs accountable, then you are implicitly encouraging it to continue.

[BigDaddyFin]

Players recieve special treatment and that causes it to a degree.  However I for one will always believe that the NFL encourages certain outcomes through the rule book.

Example:  Pass interference.  If they can't nail you for pass interference, there's always defensive holding.  If they can't nail you for any of that, they have illegal contact.  Now if you get past all three of those things, they can start that "while the quarterback was in the pocket" bullshit, which requires the same guy to be looking at two separate players moving in different directions at the same time. 

More games turn on these penalties and how well or poorly they're called than anything else. 

It's also not as much what the referees call as what they don't call...

For example how many times has a team gone on a four or five game run through the end of the season and deep into the playoffs, and they haven't had a holding penalty called on their offensive line in three games?  Or maybe there was one? 

The tuck rule was a great example of this also.  Supposedly it had been in the rule book for years.  Did you hear of it before Woodson tomahawked the ball loose from Brady in that playoff game?  Have you seen it called since then? 

They've done it several times with the replay booth as well.  Once the ball is snapped you're not supposed to be able to challenge the previous play...  I saw a game on Thanksgiving where three plays had gone by and the offense had moved 20 yards.  Suddenly they stopped the game and reviewed a play from three plays ago.  How to explain that?  In this day and age do you expect anyone to believe that in the relatively close proximity of a stadium and the vastly improved reliability of wireless technology that the Referee's pager hadn't gone off?

The easiest way to get rid of all this doubt about the integrity of the game is to simplify the rule book.  Take the subjective out of it.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

No it is not rigged. 

But the refs are human and make mistakes.

1.  On close calls the HOME team is more likely to get a favorable call than the away team.  This has been scientifically researched and is true through out all sports, it is also the single biggest factor in a "homefield adv." 

2.  Fans tend to remember the calls that don't go there way and accept the calls that go for their team.  This results in fans on every team feeling their team has been treated unfairly.

3. It is been my observation that if a ref realizes later that refs have screwed a team unfairly on one play they are more likely to make closes calls in opposite direction later in the game or in a future game.   

[dolphins4life]

The Pats have had four gift wins this season.  Is that a coincidence?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The Pats have had four gift wins this season.  Is that a coincidence?

None of those four games had blatant mistakes.  They did have some close calls that helped the Pats and some close calls that helped the other team.

The only blatant mistake was the blown call that game Carolina the game, when the ref picked up the flag. 

[Phishfan]

^^^ And that is debatable as many think that ball was uncatchable.

[Pappy13]

It's not rigged, but if you don't think that referee's are fans of the game too and favor certain teams/players then you are VERY naïve.

[Dave Gray]

I don't think it's a matter of refs being intentionally biased.  It's just that they give calls based on reputation.  If the Pats are known for last second comebacks, the refs get caught up in the excitement and assume that anything is contact, thus you get horrible PI calls.

I think that the league needs to step in and start letting all of that stuff be reviewed.  I don't care if they're judgement calls or not; they're bad, game-changing calls that benefit only the NFL elite.

You see the same thing with "running" QBs living by a different set of rules than "passing" QBs.  They assume that certain players will break tackles, so they don't blow the whistle as fast.

[dolphins4life]

Miami should be leading the AFC East right now, but the Patriots have been gifted four wins