I've seen the Seahawks get robbed before, it was in a Superbowl with supposedly elite regular officials working the game.
As for the call, in slo motion it appears that Jennings initially had two hand possession at the top of grab while Tate had one hand on the ball and his other closed on it as they fell to the ground where both retained possession. Trouble is this wasn't reviewable by rule once the initial call was made of simultaneous possession, and in real time the guy who made the call was approaching from the front while the one who approached from behind seemed to be looking into the pile before he signaled time.
And as for the scrum pre catch, that is never called in a hail mary situation.
I get that the replacement reffing has been rough at times, and it's appeared worse because of the indecisiveness within crews in getting the call out and because of some ball placement miscues especially when ajudicating multiple offenses. There had been fewer offensive and defensive holding and PI calls until this week, and the uptick impacting defenses may be the fault of the league handlers who are coaching them up on the fly and may have emphasized to them to pay more attention to those rules where DPI and the chuck rule are concerned this week.
It was never going to be an ideal situation. But we forget that it never was ideal even with the vaunted regulars in charge. I think the coaches and players and media have done all they could to make the appearance seem worse than it is. And I don't believe it will get them what they think they want. Nor will they be happy when they eventually get back what they seem to miss.
If a regular official called that a simultaneous catch, and that is not something that would surprise me, it still would not be reviewable. What these guys lack is command of the game and a clear understanding of the tortured rules of engagement that the competition committee has adopted in this league over the last decade. But those rules have always been unevenly enforced. And obvious mistakes have always been made. There were calls for Ed Hoculi's head not long ago for totally screwing up a game he and his crew officiated. Anyone remember the famous non INT in the Colt/Steeler AFCC game that was somehow upheld on review? Or the faceguarding call against EHIII when no such penalty exists? Or the phantom Roethlisberger SB TD? Hell, for years Jeff Tripplette's crew was notorious for phantom game changing PI calls particularly in any Colt games they officiated.
The league is trying to either bring the NFLRA to heel or break it's union in part so it can do what fans and mediots have been wailing for for years, transition to full time officiating with the ability to replace guys who consistently make questionable calls and grade out poorly. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. They're not going to roll over just because of bi-polar, storyline driven media pressure to just settle, any more than they did when it was the actual players they were looking to regain control over. The NFL world won't end because of poor officiating in one season any more than it has in the past. More people than ever are watching the sport if only to see how many OMG calls they can identify game to game. It's becoming like a sport within the sport...
. Herm going ham on these guys on Mike & Mike lol. Why isn't this guy a game day commentator?
