CountChocula

Per PFT:

COMMISH TOOK KEEN INTEREST IN PATS-COLTS OFFICIATING

Jay Glazer of FOX reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had a closed-door one-on-one with NFL director of officiating Mike Pereira to review all of the calls from last weekend's greatest . . . game . . . ever.

The Patriots-Colts contest featured numerous bad calls against New England. Curiously, however, there has been little mention of the horrendous calls in the media. (Some Internet hack who also writes for SportingNews.com mentioned it last Sunday.)

Among other things, Pats receiver Randy Moss was called for offensive pass interference on a play in which he apparently didn't even touch the defender. Also, New England cornerback Ellis Hobbs was flagged for defensive pass interference after he was tackled by Colts wideout Reggie Wayne.

League insiders have attributed the phenomenon to one of three dynamics. First, the zebras simply got the calls wrong. Second, the officials were subconsciously influenced by the reputation of Colts G.M. Bill Polian for going bonkos when calls don't go his team's way. Third, the guys in black and white were subconsciously influenced by all of the criticism of the Pats for cheating and running up the score.

If the real explanation is the last one, the Pats might want to be ready for more bad calls moving forward. Their recent actions and decisions are making the Patriots into a team that is perceived by some as "bad guys," and the end result could be a chronic case of some of the same bad calls that teams like the Raiders have seen over the years.

You know, like the tuck rule play, from the game that arguably spawned the Patriots' dynasty.

Still, the point here is that the Commish seems to be intent on keeping factors like that from influencing the outcome of games.

bradmahn

My ******* God. Christ! Can we please ******* lay off it with the Tuck Rule Bull****! As the rule is written the ******* call is correct. Move along folks, nothing to see here.

But it's good to hear there is some attempt at accountability.

RayClay

He told them not to make it so obvious next time.

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Patriot_in_NY

As he should.................. it was the worst officiated game I've ever seen. *****ty calls are part of the game, but there has to some semblance of balance to them.

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Patroit_in_NY is now Patriot_in_ABQ

VJCPatriot

Well I'm glad he is at least taking SOME kind of official action. That was the worst officiating I've seen in YEARS. And the whole NATION saw that game. Goodell can't afford to have the credibility of NFL games look tainted by partisan officiating. Hopefully this minimizes the one sidedness of officiating against the Pats in the future.

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oldskool138

Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if the Colt and Pats both got flagged for about the same number of yards. But when you have a difference of 121 penalty yards it's blatantly obvious that the refs were calling more penalties on one team and not the other.

The leg whip, one of the PI calls, and a couple of other flags were legit. But even little things where they called the Pats for illegal procedure even though Hochstein checked into the game as an eligible receiver and the neutral zone infraction where a Colt flinched and the defensive players reacted but then reset before the snap. That's not even mentioning the horrible spots they were giving to the Colts and the called in-bound catch that the Pats had to challenge to get the call right.

Hopefully, Goodell set the zebras straight...We can only hope.

EDIT: All I want is for the officiating to be consistent.

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"You're all a bunch yahoos, hero worshipers and gutless suck-ups." - Tony Massarotti

HEY BRO! WHAT UP?

You mean, none of the PI calls. Hobbs was tackled and Samuel had good position. There must have been another call I don't know about.

MoLewisrocks

Gee, I'm relieved to see that league insiders didn't speculate the poor performance might have anything to do with insuring the under or not covering the spread...

Maybe when the official crews to come hear of this sit down with their boss and his boss they will think twice about throwing phantom flags or conversely ignoring opponents blatent transgressions.

TomBrady'sGoat

At least this shows Goodell isn't blind. Having the most watched regular season game in 20 years also be the most poorly officiated is not good for business.

I agree it does a disservice when you write about bad calls and then bring up the tuck rule, a correct call which (contrary to popular opinion) was called numerous times that year during the regular season.

Joker

yeah..the good ol' ex Jet employee commish looked into it..."what? Indy got all the calls and all the made up ones too??? oh well...that's fine!!!....integrity of the game is at stake. Tony...can you ask Peytie for an autograph for me?..."