Walt Anderson will be the DEN @ NE ref

Reiss said:

A few notes on Anderson, with an assist from ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert:

1. Entering Week 8 games, his crew averaged the fifth highest penalty total with 18 per game(including declined and offsetting). That number will most likely rise when Week 8 crew data is updated as there were 24 total penalties called by Anderson's crew in Sunday's Eagles-Cardinals game.

2. This is Anderson's second Patriots game of the season. His crew worked the Patriots-Dolphins season opener, as nine accepted penalties were called on the Patriots and four on the Dolphins. The Patriots had two roughing-the-passer penalties in that game, and Anderson's crew also called three roughing-the-passer penalties in Sunday's Eagles-Cardinals game.

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(you can read the other items in Reiss's post)

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...60/walt-anderson-referee-for-patriots-broncos

Sounds like another reason the defensive focus should be on physical coverage and throwing off the receiver's routes rather than aggressive pass rush. If they breathe on Manning in this game they're going to get 15 yards.

this game might end up hard to watch.

Well, at least its not Boger.

Don't know how I feel about this one. Eagles and cardinals had some pretty Ticky tacky DPI calls and ones that I didn't think should have been called.

While I have no idea what this has been like in previous years, this seems pretty disgusting:

from: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/p...t-these-nfl-games-are-soooo-long-er-wait-what

if this game is significantly influenced, either way, by the refs, I may stroke out on the spot

It is a pretty sad commentary about the state of the nfl (under Go-to-Hell) that the coaching staff now essentially has to have a REFEREE SCOUT TEAM; and to coach the team to play differently for each game based on what set of KEYSTONE KOPS are going to be out on the field each week.

The selection of this (ref) team to do this game, particularly after their performance vs Patriots in week 1; gives a clear indication that the NFL wants one particular 'emeritus player' to get his road to a singularly meaningful game 'well greased'.

Hopefully the patriots are up for some 11 on 14 basketball (up / down the field).

As long as he calls pick plays as closely as he did in Miami...

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath either.

Brady will get late hit 5 or 6 times and will get 1 call.

Manning will get form tackled a few times just after he lets the ball go and it will be called each time.

Incidentally, he was the head ref for Super Bowl XLV (2011, Packers vs Steelers) where his crew was considered to be a fairly conservative bunch. Of course, it is an entirely different crew now.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/36976/xlv-walt-anderson-is-your-referee

Now:

Then:

Gumby said:

It is a pretty sad commentary about the state of the nfl (under Go-to-Hell) that the coaching staff now essentially has to have a REFEREE SCOUT TEAM; and to coach the team to play differently for each game based on what set of KEYSTONE KOPS are going to be out on the field each week.

The selection of this (ref) team to do this game, particularly after their performance vs Patriots in week 1; gives a clear indication that the NFL wants one particular 'emeritus player' to get his road to a singularly meaningful game 'well greased'.

Hopefully the patriots are up for some 11 on 14 basketball (up / down the field).

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While I agree that the refs play too much a role in games now, I don't think NFL teams should coach their players differently based on who's officiating their game that week. As BB said, the rules haven't changed with regards to defense so the coaching and playing mechanics should be the same. If a crew is calling a bunch of penalties for some things during a game, you adjust.

Though I am of the thought that our DBs should just beat the crap out of the opposing WRs all game long and force the refs to throw a flag. They simply won't do it on every play. I can live with some 5 yard illegal contact penalties if it means NE is throwing off the timing and rhythm of DEN's offense all game long.

Walt Anderson called not 2, but 3 roughing the passer @ MIA on opening day (1 on Hightower, 2 on Ch.Jones). Those 3 calls led to 13 MIA points.

The 1st call (flag thrown) was made 13 sec after the play was over, while the last one was made 15 seconds after it.

Just awful.

Gumby said:

It is a pretty sad commentary about the state of the nfl (under Go-to-Hell) that the coaching staff now essentially has to have a REFEREE SCOUT TEAM; and to coach the team to play differently for each game based on what set of KEYSTONE KOPS are going to be out on the field each week.

The selection of this (ref) team to do this game, particularly after their performance vs Patriots in week 1; gives a clear indication that the NFL wants one particular 'emeritus player' to get his road to a singularly meaningful game 'well greased'.

Hopefully the patriots are up for some 11 on 14 basketball (up / down the field).

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Pretty much every major sport does this. I know the NBA does, to the point that some coaches outright schedule around the fact that they basically can't win games that are officiated by certain crews (Doc Rivers planned on any Bill Kennedy-reffed being a near-automatic loss if it was against good competition, and rested his guys accordingly. Same with Joey Crawford and the Spurs). In the MLB, knowing each ump's interpretation of the strike zone is crucial. I don't follow hockey closely enough to make a very informed comment there, but I would imagine that there's a similar dynamic at work, considering how important power plays are.

josh24 said:

Walt Anderson called not 2, but 3 roughing the passer @ MIA on opening day (1 on Hightower, 2 on Ch.Jones). Those 3 calls led to 13 MIA points.

The 1st call (flag thrown) was made 13 sec after the play was over, while the last one was made 15 seconds after it.

Just awful.

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If he's going to flag anything that looks remotely like RTP, then that might benefit us overall. They have DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller. We have Rob Ninkovich and Akeem Ayers.

His crew worked the Patriots-Dolphins season opener

Well, that's discouraging. Those RTP calls were a farce, not a single one was legit and the third one was a traveshamockery.

BradyFTW! said:

If he's going to flag anything that looks remotely like RTP, then that might benefit us overall. They have DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller. We have Rob Ninkovich and Akeem Ayers.

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Considering the ratio of Tom hits to Tannehill hits in week one vs. the ratio of calls against each defense, I don't share your confidence.

I guess they're saving a special guest ref appearance by Archie for the playoffs.

josh24 said:

Walt Anderson called not 2, but 3 roughing the passer @ MIA on opening day (1 on Hightower, 2 on Ch.Jones). Those 3 calls led to 13 MIA points.

The 1st call (flag thrown) was made 13 sec after the play was over, while the last one was made 15 seconds after it.

Just awful.

Click to expand...

Let's hope he makes it up to us on Sunday.

If anyone had doubts about claims that the NFL is trying to stack the deck for Manning, this should put an end to them.