2019 NFL Season: Super Bowl LIV

[SFGiants58]

2 hours ago, rams80 said:

I have an unorthodox punishment for the Patriots: they get Jared Goff and his contract and can’t get rid of him until the contract runs out.

But he’s so elite! 
 

[oldschoolvikings]

Picture of the Chargers' home crowd today...

 

 

[infrared41]

58 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

There’s zero doubt in my mind that games are Influenced/tilted, and that’s one of the many tools the league has. 

 

There's about 1% doubt in my mind. It's one of those "I can't prove it, but I'm almost positive it's true" type things. I've seen way too many strange things happen during NFL games over the years. And at my age, that's a bunch of years. I suppose there is the ever so slight chance that officials are just that incompetent, but I doubt it. 

 

One game that stuck out to me over the years was the 1983 NFC Championship game between the Niners and Washington. This is how it's described on Wikipedia

Quote

"After the 49ers erased a 21–0 fourth quarter deficit, two controversial penalties against San Francisco led to the Redskins' kicker Mark Moseley overcoming an awful day and kicking the winning field goal. 

 

On second down and 10 on the San Francisco 45-yard line, Theismann threw a long incompletion intended for wide receiver Art Monk, but cornerback Eric Wright was called for pass interference at the 18-yard line. It seemed that nobody had a reasonable chance to catch the ball, which, under the rule, would have nullified any pass interference penalty. San Francisco head coach Bill Walsh was quoted after the game as saying "It could not have been caught by a 10-foot Boston Celtic."

 

On third down and 5 from the San Francisco 13-yard line, Lott was called for holding on what seemed to be a harmless act with Brown far away from where the pass fell incomplete.

 

"Controversial" doesn't begin to describe how bad that first PI call was. It was straight up bull-. Every replay angle of the supposed penalty showed the same thing...nothing. It sure as hell looked like someone simply decided that there was no way San Francisco was winning that game. I didn't have a horse in the race, but I remember being really pissed off that the officials basically handed the game to Washington. 

[infrared41]

1 hour ago, Kevin W. said:

And anyone who believes that the NFL is the only league that does anything of the sort is foolish.

 

It even happens in NASCAR. I've watched many races where a driver has a huge lead late and then out of nowhere we get the "debris on the track" yellow flag. Everyone bunches back up and they try for a more exciting finish. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the one thing that never happens is a camera shot of the debris that caused the late caution flag - which is odd because the debris that causes a caution on lap 27 is shown from 32 different angles. 

 

46 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Sure. A holding penalty on a run that went nowhere that stopped the clock and basically awarded 30 free seconds to Pittsburgh.

 

Makes sense!

 

Maybe NBC showed it and I just wasn't paying attention, but I don't recall seeing a replay of the hold either. (See NASCAR post above.) 

[dfwabel]

1 hour ago, Kevin W. said:

And anyone who believes that the NFL is the only league that does anything of the sort is foolish.

Infrared gave the NASCAR comparison and he is 100% correct.  NASCAR has "The Call" which varys from yellow flags to bunch the field of cars up for the next Green Flag to in 2002 when they penalized Mark Martin 25 points for "parts and/or equipment used in the event do not conform to NASCAR rules., which the series said was a front spring which was less than 1/4' off specifications.  Basically cost the guy, the 2nd most popular driver during his career, a championship.  

[The_Admiral]

1 hour ago, McCarthy said:

I think this finger on the scale stuff is also present in no-calls on the offensive line. They let preferred teams get away with holds, chip blocks, illegal picks, etc. (See: the Steelers get away with murder in the playoffs). Then if a team gets up by a couple possessions they start letting stuff slide for the other team to get them back in the game and make it more interesting. 

 

There's always holding, there are always illegal blocks in the back, it's just a matter of whether the refs deign to call it. The Seahawks exploited this well, Babcock's Red Wings did the same but for interference. And of course, spooky officiating occurrences always seem to surround the Patriots, Steelers, and Packers: like, oh, I don't know, a holding call on third down giving the Steelers a free forty seconds at the end of the game.

[AustinFromBoston]

All this talk with Spygate V2 really got me thinking, why doesn't the NFL punish referees for getting wrong calls in games? Or like in the Pats game last week where they don't review things like they should? 

 

Instead of creating new problems (like challengable PI) the NFL should focus on the source of the problem and fine or suspend refs when they miss blatant calls like in the NFC championship last year. 

[dfwabel]

16 minutes ago, AustinFomBoston said:

All this talk with Spygate V2 really got me thinking, why doesn't the NFL punish referees for getting wrong calls in games? Or like in the Pats game last week where they don't review things like they should? 

 

Instead of creating new problems (like challengable PI) the NFL should focus on the source of the problem and fine or suspend refs when they miss blatant calls like in the NFC championship last year. 

They are, the public isn't told about it. Last season, Down Judge Hugo Cruz was fired and officials lose game checks (starting at 9 grand) for incorrect calls.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/10/25/hugo-cruz-fired-nfl-referee-first-fired-super-bowl-era

 

[Cosmic]

1 hour ago, AustinFomBoston said:

Nice to see Buffalo actually earn their playoff berth, instead of having to rely on another team. 
 

Also is the division still in play for them? Or do the Patriots still have the tiebreaker even if they lose? 

Technically, the division is still in play if the Patriots lose out and the Bills win out. I think the Patriots would win the tiebreaker if each team goes 1-1, due to the Bills losing to the Eagles.

 

However, I don't see the Patriots losing to the Dolphins.

[AustinFromBoston]

Guess Bills Mafia needs to hope for another Miami Miracle then. 

......Wait, it's at home? Nevermind, they're screwed.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Picture of the Chargers' home crowd today...

 

 

 

So did they travel all the way from Minnesota or are they Vikings fans who happen to live in LA?

[dfwabel]

18 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

So did they travel all the way from Minnesota or are they Vikings fans who happen to live in LA?

If the seats are sold who cares?

 

40% of gate goes to the Total Football Revenue pool for the teams to divide.

 

I've been there for the Chargers... every seat is a very good seat

[GDAWG]

 

[ninersdd]

Speaking of weird loopholes, near the end of Seattle-Carolina, about 2:30 left, with the Hawks leading, they had the ball 3rd and long(plus no timeouts for CAR). Wilson rolled out and hit Lockett for a first down inbounds and the game should be over with the kneel downs after the 2 minute warning. However, the Panthers commited an illegal contact call on the play which obviously Seattle declined. Instead of the clock running down to the 2 minute warning, thanks to the penalty, the clock got to stop, which forced Seattle to run more plays and the Panthers could've got the ball again if they held them(which they didn't). Maybe it would make sense for the defense to thus commit a penalty where the clock would stop instead of it keep ticking.

 

In a weird way the Niners-Falcons game kinda reminded me of the last game at Candlestick against the Falcons 6 years ago, except the team lost this time. Should have been sure wins, but let Atlanta hang around and this time lost.(Though the 2019 Falcons are slightly better then the 2013 team). Hopefully the team shakes it off and takes their emotions out on the Rams on Saturday.

[DnBronc]

4 hours ago, AustinFomBoston said:

All this talk with Spygate V2 really got me thinking, why doesn't the NFL punish referees for getting wrong calls in games? Or like in the Pats game last week where they don't review things like they should? 

 

Instead of creating new problems (like challengable PI) the NFL should focus on the source of the problem and fine or suspend refs when they miss blatant calls like in the NFC championship last year. 

 

Because some of those missed calls are sanctioned by the league. They are allowed to fix their own games, and they do it more than you think.

[dont care]

2 hours ago, DnBronc said:

 

Because some of those missed calls are sanctioned by the league. They are allowed to fix their own games, and they do it more than you think.

Just stop

[Sport]

7 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

So did they travel all the way from Minnesota or are they Vikings fans who happen to live in LA?

 

Some Vikings fans probably used it as an excuse to vacation out of Minnesota in December, but I'd wager that most of them live in LA. When the Bengals played there last year it looked like every Cincinnati native who's relocated to southern California was there. I know of at least 3 of them. 

 

The Chargers basically exist to provide LA transplants with the opportunity to see their team in person. 

 

 

[MJWalker45]

12 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

 

Some Vikings fans probably used it as an excuse to vacation out of Minnesota in December, but I'd wager that most of them live in LA. When the Bengals played there last year it looked like every Cincinnati native who's relocated to southern California was there. I know of at least 3 of them. 

 

The Chargers basically exist to provide LA transplants with the opportunity to see their team in person. 

 

 

If we still see the same issues in a bigger stadium, it pretty much proves the NFL needed to tell Spanos to fix his issues in San Diego instead of getting the heck out out of Dodge. Instead, they were thinking of 16 weeks of home games in Los Angeles would get them more cash. Shouldn't the Rams and Raiders leaving in 1994 have told them having a team in LA wasn't that important, let alone 2? The Rams are doing well but at least they had a fan base that wasn't already over the age of 70 from the last time when they played there.

[Sport]

31 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

If we still see the same issues in a bigger stadium, it pretty much proves the NFL needed to tell Spanos to fix his issues in San Diego instead of getting the heck out out of Dodge. Instead, they were thinking of 16 weeks of home games in Los Angeles would get them more cash. Shouldn't the Rams and Raiders leaving in 1994 have told them having a team in LA wasn't that important, let alone 2? The Rams are doing well but at least they had a fan base that wasn't already over the age of 70 from the last time when they played there.

 

I think the Rams moving back to LA righted a wrong and they feel correct where they are. You need one team in LA and it might as well be the one with actual history there as opposed to like the Jaguars or something. Two, though? 

 

They also flubbed the Chargers to LA move with pure out of touch tone-deafness thinking San Diegans would still support the team and that they'd get all the fans from Chula Vista to Ojai. From what I can tell the number of San Diego natives who still root for the Chargers is fewer than 10% and the number of new fans they've courted in LA is puny small. They alienated all of a team's existing fanbase and have converted zero new fans. 

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, McCarthy said:

 

Some Vikings fans probably used it as an excuse to vacation out of Minnesota in December, but I'd wager that most of them live in LA. When the Bengals played there last year it looked like every Cincinnati native who's relocated to southern California was there. I know of at least 3 of them. 

 

The Chargers basically exist to provide LA transplants with the opportunity to see their team in person. 

 

 

not just the Chargers. Rams games are basically home games for some visiting teams too. It should probably be expected when your biggest markets are in the cold northeast, and there’s prime road trips in LA, SD (formerly), Mia, TB. Even Dallas sounds like a home game for the opposition when they play certain teams.