This crew was so pathetic, they needed their own post.
The Refs
- Let's just start with the ugly. This game needed refs to ref the refs. And just like that last sentence, the biggest problem in this game was too much f'ing reffing. Bad calls are one thing, but the disorganized gaffes are another.
- They let a play run as a fourth down play, even though it was a first down play and then they changed it back after that 4th er uh 1st down play was run. Confusing, yes, but it didn't need to be. Everyone knew what was going on except the refs.
- In the NFL, once a play is run, the previous one becomes etched in stone--except for this game, because this was not the only instance of the refs changing it after the fact.
- They reviewed Jacoby Ford's first down catch after they allowed the Raiders to spike and kill the clock. I went back and reviewed and you do not hear a whistle until after that ball is snapped. This is an insanely bad job by the Zebras.
- The influence of certain crews.
- There were the bad calls...lots of them and they were on both teams. My point is to not point out individual bad calls, but what is really beginning to stick out is the basketball effect.
- In basketball, you can often determine a winner by the crew reffing the game. I am not going to talk about bias here, but just the styles. Some refs call a tighter game than others. Well, I have noticed this in Raiders games. Some refs throw the flags in the secondaries much quicker than others. Refs that let the DBs play are always going to benefit the Raiders. Compare the calls in the Chiefs and Chargers game vs the Seahawks game. You wouldn't even think they were using the same rule book.
For all of the mistakes the refs made, some of them naturally balanced out. For example:
- At the end of the first half Stanford Routt was called for questionable holding on a 3rd and goal stop. This actually ended up saving the Raiders 3 points. The Chiefs likely would've converted the FG had that flag not been thrown and instead the possession ended in a INT.
- The review of Jacoby's third down catch after the Raiders had run a play actually ended up giving the Raiders an extra time-out.
Stupid Rules:
- What the hell was the call on Sam Williams for excessive celebration? You can't have two players jump into the stands after a TD? That is actually a rule? "You can only have one player celebrate with his fans after a TD." My God, who comes up with these and how many different anti-celebration rules are there? What are they trying to prevent with this one? There are so many questions here. I bet the person that sits and around and comes up with these rules is a real bundle of joy. Rule 18.9 subset 4.2-6a: A player scoring a TD can give 5 high fives, but players who did not score TDs may only give 3. Get over it, NFL.
- Also Williams didn't even jump into the stands, he just jumped into Ford!
- The Replay Rules: It's time for a tweaking. The rules, as they are set up, make coaches gage how they will challenge a play in regards to how bad the officiating is. Cable, who won his first challenge, shouldn't have to worry about challenging a borderline call in the first half, because the refs are sucking so bad he is likely going to need the challenge later. Even if he had got that challenge he only would've been awarded one more. It seems to me that teams shouldn't lose anything if the refs keep missing calls.
- Maybe replays should just go back to the booth. Take Nick Miller's "fumble" play. The refs spent enough time discussing it. It was obvious they would've benefited from replay and I don't think it would have taken any more time, but this play couldn't be challenged, because Cable had already pointed out one bad call and missed on another. Stupid, stupid rule. The point of replays is to get big plays right and that my friends was a big play. Had the Raiders not won, this play would've got its own post (probably lots of them).