When you say “the fix is in” what do you mean?

[aluminum seats]

The officiating on Sunday night was atrocious, and one-sided. Unless you’re a rabid Broncos fan, this is something everyone agrees on. (And even on their boards, there’s this gritted-teeth thing going on where they accept that several calls were bad, but throw in the reflexive, “yeah, but they didn’t call holds against us!” whining.)

So, it sucked. And the league has shown a very real hostility towards the Pats.

But when I see posts here saying “the fix was in” on Sunday…apparently not used as hyperbole or just as an expression….well. Hmmm.

I think you can make the argument that the league (and league-wide, meaning other teams, fans, and as we heard about Sunday, press) has such a fixation on the Pats, and in many ways it’s a negative fixation, that the refs marinade in this stew and it shows up as bias against the Pats. We’re seeing Gronk agree with that one today... @JMC00 posting the SI cover with a hold…But as for a “fix” beyond that? A “ok refs, here’s what you’re gonna do….?” No.

But do others feel differently? That there is an actual fix going on? Not in the mood for a poll, just a question.

 

[Geezer Butler]

I feel like certain crews have certain "styles" and these tendencies are well noted. If you have a crew that is really tight with the PI calls, the team that has the most physical backfield is going to have a long day.

I absolutely would not put it past the NFL to assign certain crews to certain games for certain reasons. After this off season I believe the NFL has one loyalty and that is to the dollar bill. The front office is full of yes men who work for the owners. They are the public face to take the heat, that's why Goodell has a job sadly.

These other owners all want a piece of the pie, and the Patriots have broken football. They should not be this good, for this long, but they are.

So in my eyes, it's been pretty obvious since "spygate" and "deflategate" that the fix has been in for a long time against this team.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I think the NFL is doing what it thinks it can get away with re: officiating shenanigans to make it harder for NE to win.

The primary means (IMHO) are likely:

• If NE does X a lot and some crew calls flags on X a lot (against anyone -- i.e. the crew is actually fair), the NFL will when it can assign that crew to NE games.
• The NFL is indirectly signaling refs to screw over NE via league office biased grading of close calls.
• The NFL is telling refs (directly and/or by video conditioning) to target Gronk for OPI and to not call DPI against him.

 

[dannydyn]

When my JETS fans coworkers tell me that the Pats got robbed, yes you read correctly - JETS FANS, you KNOW the fix is in!

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

The officiating on Sunday night was atrocious, and one-sided. Unless you’re a rabid Broncos fan, this is something everyone agrees on. (And even on their boards, there’s this gritted-teeth thing going on where they accept that several calls were bad, but throw in the reflexive, “yeah, but they didn’t call holds against us!” whining.)

So, it sucked. And the league has shown a very real hostility towards the Pats.

But when I see posts here saying “the fix was in” on Sunday…apparently not used as hyperbole or just as an expression….well. Hmmm.

I think you can make the argument that the league (and league-wide, meaning other teams, fans, and as we heard about Sunday, press) has such a fixation on the Pats, and in many ways it’s a negative fixation, that the refs marinade in this stew and it shows up as bias against the Pats. We’re seeing Gronk agree with that one today... @JMC00 posting the SI cover with a hold…But as for a “fix” beyond that? A “ok refs, here’s what you’re gonna do….?” No.

But do others feel differently? That there is an actual fix going on? Not in the mood for a poll, just a question.

We're in litigation with the league. Goodell has proven to be an egomaniac that enjoys abusing his authority.

You really think these questionable calls taking over the games are just coincidental and not league shenanigans?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I don't believe the NFL is involved in encouraging the refs to be biased. I do believe the refs themselves were biased, likely due to the pressure of the home crowd. Whatever the reason, their calls should be investigated. This was probably the most one sided game I've seen since that Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I mean...the fix is in

 

[borg]

The Fix is almost always in....

.

Need a win....bring in Joey

 

[sb1]

I don't think Goodell is competent enough in his job to pull off something like this.

Like everything else he does, he'd probably find a way to screw this up too.

 

[aluminum seats]

You really think these questionable calls taking over the games are just coincidental and not league shenanigans?

Define league shenanigans...

 

[upstater1]

I don't think things are fixed BUT... you can easily tilt things against New England.

How?

1. You know what a big key Gronk is for the offense. He is the lynchpin to Brady's trigger.
2. You tell the refs to never allow Gronk to make contact with defenders.

You've effectively hurt the Patriots offense.


So the real question is, has anyone from Blandino's office told the refs to pay particular attention to Gronk?

If so, you can make the case in an indirect way that things are aligned against the Patriots.

 

[Kontradiction]

It's either corruption or sheer incompetence, IMO. Either way, behind the over saturation of the NFL, the Deflategate ********, an incompetent boob of a commissioner, and a gutless wonder of an owner who'd rather dish out tight hugs than even barbs, this sport is not all that fun to follow anymore. So no, I can't say for certain that it's fixed. If I could, I wouldn't be posting this right now.

 

[JMC00]

When the Pats get called for stuff that the broncos didn't, that's when I'm sure there is home cooking going on.

Examples

4th quarter on the same drive-
Vollmer gets called for illegal hands
Jackson gets called for a hold on a 50 yard pass (which Von Miller had an illegal hands to the face that wasn't called)

Kills the drive.

But then on the the broncos go ahead TD drive before the Pats tied it up

There was an illegal hands to the face on the broncos TD pass that wasn't called and the blatant hold on Thomas 40 yard catch.


Chung hold in the EZ. Going by how they call it against Gronk that was more OPI than holding. Then there was also the clear hold in OT that Talib wasn't called.

Also missed was a blatant hold on the game winning TD.

 

[dales804]

I don't know about fixing games. Maybe if a referee crew did such a bad job they get demoted and pulled off another game and assigned to NE would I believe it. Wait.....what?

 

[bobbutts]

I feel like certain crews have certain "styles" and these tendencies are well noted. If you have a crew that is really tight with the PI calls, the team that has the most physical backfield is going to have a long day.

I absolutely would not put it past the NFL to assign certain crews to certain games for certain reasons. After this off season I believe the NFL has one loyalty and that is to the dollar bill. The front office is full of yes men who work for the owners. They are the public face to take the heat, that's why Goodell has a job sadly.

These other owners all want a piece of the pie, and the Patriots have broken football. They should not be this good, for this long, but they are.

So in my eyes, it's been pretty obvious since "spygate" and "deflategate" that the fix has been in for a long time against this team.

I feel like we're getting too much credit here. Yes, it's been an amazing run, but note that there were 10 years between the Superbowl win in '04 and 14'. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying "broke football" is taking it too far when describing the Patriots' success.

 

[Triumph]

OK

Do you guys recall how the NFL shafted the Seahawks in the SB vs the Steelers?

How about the Ray Lewis going away party SB? A Ravens player pushed a referee and was only not ejected, there was no penalty. Cary Williams explains shove of Super Bowl XLVII ref - NFL.com

The NFL does not want 1 team winning all the time. They want the Brock Osweiller story and the Cam Newton story.

 

[Mark.]

I don't know about fixing games. Maybe if a referee crew did such a bad job they get demoted and pulled off another game and assigned to NE would I believe it. Wait.....what?

I was just thinking this exact thing. You demote a crew and send them to the NE game. Why not the Browns or Jaguars?

 

[ViperGTS]

I feel like we're getting too much credit here. Yes, it's been an amazing run, but note that there were 10 years between the Superbowl win in '04 and 14'. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying "broke football" is taking it too far when describing the Patriots' success.

They "broke it" by being abnormally successful in an age where that can't happen, unless it's a "chosen one". There were a lot of BS calls in the postseason at critical junctures that derailed Pats teams that weren't good enough to to overcome them, but good enough to to win a championship. PI on Troy Brown. Eli's miraculous escape. Baily in Denver that should have been a touchback.

There are a lot of examples.

 

[Kontradiction]

OK

Do you guys recall how the NFL shafted the Seahawks in the SB vs the Steelers?

How about the Ray Lewis going away party SB? A Ravens player pushed a referee and was only not ejected, there was no penalty. Cary Williams explains shove of Super Bowl XLVII ref - NFL.com

The NFL does not want 1 team winning all the time. They want the Brock Osweiller story and the Cam Newton story.

Faceguarding in '06 as well.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

I think the NFL is doing what it thinks it can get away with re: officiating shenanigans to make it harder for NE to win.

The primary means (IMHO) are likely:

• If NE does X a lot and some crew calls flags on X a lot (against anyone -- i.e. the crew is actually fair), the NFL will when it can assign that crew to NE games.
• The NFL is indirectly signaling refs to screw over NE via league office biased grading of close calls.
• The NFL is telling refs (directly and/or by video conditioning) to target Gronk for OPI and to not call DPI against him.

This is what inevitably happens when corporations/big money get its way in handling any competitive sport. It's naturally going to do whatever it can get away with to maximize profits and any notions of "competitive integrity" are, at best, just for show.

Sometimes a whistleblower will come forward like Tim Donaghy did in the NBA to confirm what we already suspected all along but what good does that do? Did the NBA stop making money as a result of that revelation?