League admits to using incorrect rules during SB

[Lavictoire]

a fix...just like 2007. Rationalize it any way you want...the grimy scummy fingers of Goodell were all over this fiasco.

A fix that extended to Bill benching Butler to help tip the game. He may not have wanted to do it but who knows what Goodell holds over him or how he was pressured. There was probably a meeting with Goodell,Kraft and Bellichick:

"Bill, it's business--entertainment- and all our paychecks. You know we have the right to intercede for the good of the league. Big time sports has always done that.Fans are leaving in droves; ratings are in freefall; fans are tired of the protests and of the Patriots winning all the time and are losing interest. Brady need not be in on this, he will play his heart out and make it look good trying to catch up. Didn't he tick you off this season anyway? Show him who runs the team. Pull the rug out.You control the defense however you want to do it.Maybe there is a key player you can bench that has it coming to him. The media will enhance your reputation saying it was Bill being stubborn Bill teaching a lesson to players who demand more money. We'll control the refs.If anyone says anything, we'll just say the catch rule is confusing and needs to be changed. We'll tell Coach Pederson to take chances, we have his back.As long as the Eagles win, everybody will be ecstatic.Nobody will care if the Pats lose. Pats fans wont like it, some will be suspicious, but like a crack addict they will keep coming back for more. Remember Bill, you owe us. We told Wells not to focus on you during deflategate. It will make an exciting game! Cheer up!"

 

[JMC00]

Here you go, Miss Cleo...
NFL: New catch rule was not used in Super Bowl

I mean it clearly was though. All you have to do is look at the Benjamin TD against the Pats being overruled and then the Clement TD.

They are either both TDs or both not TDs.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I mean it clearly was though. All you have to do is look at the Benjamin TD against the Pats being overruled and then the Clement TD.

They are either both TDs or both not TDs.

Oh, I agree. I told my wife this during the game as the review was happening - said that if the league wanted to be consistent they would overturn the TD, but it's the Super Bowl with the whole world watching, the league was already facing backlash over the prior overturns, and it would benefit the Patriots so I was doubtful they would overturn. Turns out my thought process was 100% spot on. The Ertz TD doesn't bother me as I saw it as being different than Jesse James; Ertz took a few steps before being touched and falling from what I could see.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I don't think the catch rules were changed for SB52.

What I think was changed (and was IMHO clearly changed for the entire playoffs) was the standard of review used to decide whether or not the call on the field should stand.

During the season Riveron was clearly (and incorrectly) using something much closer to a de novo standard than a deference standard. (I'm actually in favor of that, but only if the rules are officially changed to say so, which they were not).

But for the playoffs it's pretty apparent that he was told to return to the deference standard. Even though he and the league deny it. Just like they deny having drifted away from the deference standard during the season.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Did he bail? I mean, the guy had as many posts as me.... in a month.

Yeah all of a sudden he was gone, don't know what happened. Maybe there was a tinfoil shortage.

 

[TB_Helmet]

I don't think the catch rules where changed for SB52.

What I think was changed (and was IMHO clearly changed for the entire playoffs) was the standard of review used to decide whether or not the call on the field should stand.

During the reason Riveron was clearly (and incorrectly) using something much closer to a de novo standard than a deference standard. (I'm actually in favor of that, but only if the rules are officially changed to say so, which they were not).

But for the playoffs it's pretty apparent that he was told to return to the deference standard. Even though he and the league deny it. Just like they deny having drifted away from the deference standard during the season.

Right, they've obviously been talking about the new rule the past couple months. They didn't know what it was going to be until recently. But, the concept of what would be the new rule was certainly, intentionally applied in the Super Bowl. That's how I took the news yesterday; that's essentially what they were saying.

Their denial today is just "we didn't apply the new rule in the Super Bowl", which is true, because it didn't exist.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I honestly don't care. I feel like we lost on purpose. I really do. Just like the Colts tanked by not improving their qbs on the roster to get Luck, we did the same with Butler etc. 40 points in a game where our offense actually showed up. Suuure.

 

[maust]

I don't think the catch rules where changed for SB52.

What I think was changed (and was IMHO clearly changed for the entire playoffs) was the standard of review used to decide whether or not the call on the field should stand.

During the reason Riveron was clearly (and incorrectly) using something much closer to a de novo standard than a deference standard. (I'm actually in favor of that, but only if the rules are officially changed to say so, which they were not).

But for the playoffs it's pretty apparent that he was told to return to the deference standard. Even though he and the league deny it. Just like they deny having drifted away from the deference standard during the season.

^^This!
Absolutely. It's ironic that in season Riveron was applying a standard that should always have been the goal anyway, one that gets it right. 'Right' however has nothing to do with the replay rules as written even though it was millions of us seeing what was wrong in ever improving HD super slo-mo that led to the adoption of replay review in the 1st place.

 

[primetime]

I don't think the catch rules where changed for SB52.

What I think was changed (and was IMHO clearly changed for the entire playoffs) was the standard of review used to decide whether or not the call on the field should stand.

During the reason Riveron was clearly (and incorrectly) using something much closer to a de novo standard than a deference standard. (I'm actually in favor of that, but only if the rules are officially changed to say so, which they were not).

But for the playoffs it's pretty apparent that he was told to return to the deference standard. Even though he and the league deny it. Just like they deny having drifted away from the deference standard during the season.

Right, this exactly. The new catch rules would not affect the Clement catch anyways. For him it was a question of possession and two feet, which hasn't changed. It may have affected the Ertz catch but frankly calling that not a touchdown would have been a travesty.

In any case, I think the officials are towards the end of a long list of reasons the Patriots lost. They lost because Nick Foles played impeccably, because they couldn't come up with stops in key situations, because they didn't execute early in key situations, because Brady didn't take care of the ball on the final drive. They were outplayed, simple as that. That they still had a chance to win at the end speaks to the coach and the quarterback, but it's hard to say the Eagles didn't deserve their victory.

 

[Triumph]

 

[moosekill]

The issue to me is both calls happened against the Patriots, so really we have no way of knowing if they would have used the same standard for the Eagles. This is why the league is so Fcked up right now. If they had sent a letter saying they were going to use a relaxed standard, then fine. Instead they changed the rule without notifying anyone, and one could certainly argue, incorrectly and unfairly made those calls. Both of which went against the Patriots. I am sorry, since the league didn't notify teams, they cheated and took the superbowl from the Pats. If you want to start talking about jail time and lawsuits, have at it. Think of how many Millions of betting dollars they ended up affecting. How can they prove they would have done it against the Eagles, how can they start to show they didn't affect the integrity of the game.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I felt that we deserved to lose with how bad our defense played. Yet there were a couple of close plays that were affected by this. Such as the bobble on the endzone touchdown by one of the eagle's receivers. That would have been overturned under normal rules.

You can't just change the rules applied during the current playoffs. You wait until the next season to do that. F Goodell and the League Offices. But time to move on.

 

[1960Pats]

The Pats have won before while being handicapped by the NYFL so there's no excuse this time. When they win it makes it much more enjoyable.

The first thing that came to mind, after a whiff of the latest stink coming from NYFL HQ, is that the story came from the latest Mort Distort and is confirmed by Sal Palomine-no. That's getting news straight from the horses' asses.

Doesn't it seem like the NYFL is striving to become an arena league but on a larger field? It isn't working for me.

 

[Froob]

There would be lawsuits if this had been the reverse.

 

[fnordcircle]

We need a thread somewhere in the forum where we keep **** like this tracked so the next time some idiot starts spouting off about league bias we can go "here's a bunch of articles you won't read that suggest the opposite" but then the person will just keep arguing and then say something clever like 'cheatriots'.

Nevermind, bad idea.

 

[Ring 6]

I thought it was bad when during Sb week Goodell said they wanted to change to rule so that what fans think is a catch becomes a catch. Riveron said the other day they want to give these players credit for the great catches they make.
It’s not about rules, it’s about QBs and WRs being rockstars and the calllong card of a game won by blocking and tackling being fantasy stats and finesse plays that excite casual fans.

 

[RDS11]

I thought it was bad when during Sb week Goodell said they wanted to change to rule so that what fans think is a catch becomes a catch.

You know, I for one believe Goodell is the devil, but in this case, what was he supposed to say ? Hey, come and watch our great product; sit down for 3 and a half hours and be entertained by the actual 12 minutes of game action and 15 minutes of catches reviews !

I can understand the whole point about having rules that make sense for the casual fans. That's the whole point of the product, entertain the masses. For 80 years the catch rules were fairly simples, then Bert Emmanuel happened, and the league went nuclear with the catch rules. Now they almost need video review of each single catch, looking at it frame by frame, to make sure it's really a catch according to the rules.

 

[Soliel]

Goodell is literally satan

 

[Ring 6]

You know, I for one believe Goodell is the devil, but in this case, what was he supposed to say ? Hey, come and watch our great product; sit down for 3 and a half hours and be entertained by the actual 12 minutes of game action and 15 minutes of catches reviews !

I can understand the whole point about having rules that make sense for the casual fans. That's the whole point of the product, entertain the masses. For 80 years the catch rules were fairly simples, then Bert Emmanuel happened, and the league went nuclear with the catch rules. Now they almost need video review of each single catch, looking at it frame by frame, to make sure it's really a catch according to the rules.

Having replay causes reviews not the catch rule.
Making the rule so a catch equals what casual fans, who can’t be bothered with learning the rule, want it to be instead of having a rule that requires a pkay to be completed to count doesnt help the game.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

So, we can legitimately state that the Patriots got screwed by the league.

...for the billionth time.