Refs/Umps Season Opener Cowboys/Giants

[DaBronxPats14]

With replacement referees & umpires starting NFL games this season ( not that reguar ones are any better) How would you rate their overall game calling last nite with 1 being least and 10 bein best.

A BIG concern for me is them makin bad calls/non calls that will cost us seedings etc. I gave them a 7. There were flags thrown pretty frequently but they kept it on an even keel for both teams at least they were consistant with holding/false starts & delay of games.

Thoughts???

 

[wrangler]

I thought they did a reasonable job. Definitely no worse than some of the
games the regulars have called in the last year or five. My score 7.5.

 

[Rob0729]

They made a few mistakes, but nothing that we haven't complained about with the real refs. I think the real refs suck and last night's refs were no worse.

That said, it was only one game out of 16 games played this week.

 

[tatepatsfan]

I thought they did a decent job. I think there was a missed PI call (or at least defensive holding) that cost the Giants a TD. A few missed holding calls going both ways (but that happens with the regular refs too). It did seem to me that a few calls took a while to make and slowed the game up a bit, especially in the 4th quarter with the barrage of penalties.

 

[Sicilian]

Last night wasn't bad, and is probably what we should hope to get out of the replacements. The biggest impact they had was on the pace of the game, since they conferred more than the regular refs do. That should lessen with time, if we even need the replacements long enough for that to matter.

 

[PP2]

IIRC they only really blew two calls, one was a clipping that should have been a block in the back, and a missed holding call that would have negated the Giants TD.

 

[Gronkandez]

I thought they did a decent job. I think there was a missed PI call (or at least defensive holding) that cost the Giants a TD. A few missed holding calls going both ways (but that happens with the regular refs too). It did seem to me that a few calls took a while to make and slowed the game up a bit, especially in the 4th quarter with the barrage of penalties.

They also missed a pick play on a big reception for the NYG in the 1st Qtr. They blew the whistle for 12 men in the huddle, then said there was no penalty.
They called a clip on a punt that was actually a block in the back. The personal foul made it half the distance to the goal and therefore the yardage was off (according to Collinsworth)

I wasn't crazy about the Roughing the Passer call on Dallas but I guess that's the rule.

In a way I was actually hoping it would be an embarrassment so the Owners would cave but they were competent. I'm guessing this was their best crew given the high exposure of the game.

 

[TheBeers]

It didn't seem to me that they missed more calls than the regulars. But I agree that they seemed slow making a few calls and conferring to get it right. Overall I think they were ok.. just slightly more sucky than the normal refs.

 

[Deus Irae]

They were awful. I'll give them a 3.



Sadly, that'll probably be as good as it gets this week.

 

[Avenger]

It didn't effect the outcome of the game any more so than the regulars, that hold on Cruz was a tough call that the regulars would have missed too. There were a lot of calls on the Cowboys in the 4th quarter, but I haven't gone back to look at them so I will reserve judgement on those.

 

[Rob0729]

There was two big positives about last night's refs:

- They kept their flags in their pockets on the ticky tack stuff.
- They seemed to call the game evenly. Unlike with the real refs at times, when they screwed up and/or they looked the other way (especially on holding) they were pretty fair and even with both teams.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I thought they called too many holding penalties, you can call one on most every play and the regulars seem to limit the call to blatant ones. I give them a 5 which is better than I thought they would get before the game. Hopefully this isnt their best crew.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

IIRC they only really blew two calls, one was a clipping that should have been a block in the back, and a missed holding call that would have negated the Giants TD.

Agree with the above.

And to others...The penalties called were infractions by the teams so what could they do, not call them?

Missed what I thought were pick plays.
And missed a couple of what used to be PI but what do I know is the "emphasis" this season

All said they were equivalent to the old refs on a day with a couple missed calls, which is to me a typical day.

I'd prefer to have the regular mistake prone tools back but why should any employer agree to a lucrative defined benefit retirement these days?

 

[Rob0729]

I thought they called too many holding penalties, you can call one on most every play and the regulars seem to limit the call to blatant ones. I give them a 5 which is better than I thought they would get before the game. Hopefully this isnt their best crew.

Personally, I thought they let more go than they should have. There was a lot of holding going on in this game because I think they were testing the refs. I think the real refs would have called it far more. As Mathias Kiwanuka said today, he wasn't held as much as he was last night since he was a baby.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

There was two big positives about last night's refs:

- They kept their flags in their pockets on the ticky tack stuff.
- They seemed to call the game evenly. Unlike with the real refs at times, when they screwed up and/or they looked the other way (especially on holding) they were pretty fair and even with both teams.

Agreed, calls were consistant for both teams. With time and more games officiated they will get more intact with calls like pick plays etc.

 

[juny]

What I saw last night (did not see the entire game) looked a lot better than preseason. DBs are getting away with more contact than previous years.

 

[miltonpatriot]

I would put it as a question:

given that the replacement refs seem reluctant to throw flags, what plays / strategies should you run that you might not normally?

For me:

1) tons of pick plays with wide receivers

2) tell DBs to grab receivers at line of scrimmage

 

[lurker1965]

They were awful. I'll give them a 3.



Sadly, that'll probably be as good as it gets this week.

Ellis Hobbs agrees with you. Oh, you were not talking about the 2006 AFCC. Sorry, never mind.

 

[Wolfpack]

With replacement referees & umpires starting NFL games this season ( not that reguar ones are any better) How would you rate their overall game calling last nite with 1 being least and 10 bein best.

A BIG concern for me is them makin bad calls/non calls that will cost us seedings etc. I gave them a 7. There were flags thrown pretty frequently but they kept it on an even keel for both teams at least they were consistant with holding/false starts & delay of games.

Thoughts???

Yeah they trew a lot of flags but I can't think of an instance where they threw a flag that shouldn't have been thrown. It isn't the refs' fault the Dallas offensive line has no idea what the snap count is.

Overall they did very well. 8 out of 10. Last night they were no worse than the regulars. The missed defensive holding against Dallas cost them a point and the missed offensive pass interference against NY cost them a point. I'm giving them a pass for the fact that the clipping call was nothing more than an illegal block in the back

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I was pleased I guess. The clipping/block in the back miscue looks pretty bad for them but at least it didn't have a major affect on the game, that's what I'm looking at. I can live with an error here and there but did the errors have a major impact on the outcomes, and tonight they didn't IMO.

I found it kind of hard to believe that the Cowboys held on like 4 out of 7 offensive plays in one stretch while the Giants didn't hold all night.

The lack of defensive holding/PI calls didn't bother me too much, I didn't see any obvious infractions that NEEDED to be called but maybe I missed them. I did see some borderline contact that I was glad was let go. The pick play NY ran that got them a decent gain was a big miss, but I see the regular refs miss pick plays all the time, c'mon the Colts beat us in 2008 with 1 or 2 of those leading to TD's.

All in all, somewhat pleasantly suprised. Like I said, they didn't blow a major call to alter the game so that's a good start.