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

[borg]

Can't pass against NE.....change the rules
Can't stop Brady....suspend him
Can't stop Gronk......penalize him
Can't get in the end zone....throw a PI flag and give them a fifth down

 

[everlong]

The fix is in to me doesn't mean they flat out said to the officials make sure the Patriots lose. If that happened there could be proof and it could affect "the integrity of the game". However they can certainly assign crews that favor the home team in all their away games. Assign crews that call a loose game against teams that tend to have a lot of penalties. Have tight crews call games against finesse teams.

They can send out the weekly point of emphasis video reviews featuring Patriots players being the offenders. I would bet top dollar there's a Gronk OPI sent out every week.

All that said the last three weeks has even exceeded that. Against the Giants the phantom DPI calls against Chung and Butler were ridiculous and against Denver the OPI against Gronk stand out but more than that's it's the non calls against the other teams for infractions much worse. Vollmer's hands to the face was a correct call but on two of Denver's TD passes there was an even more blatant hands to the face and a hold that was more like a WWE choke out. Couple that with the call on Chung when Denver's corners were doing that on every play and it's ridiculous.

While not being told flat out to send the game to the opposition there's a message being sent. Normally I scoff at conspiracy theories but given the lubricious nature of deflate gate would anybody put anything past this regime?

I still blame Kraft. It makes me sick to see him even talking to Goodell. Bob's way too worried about his public image and now the other 31 see him. If he had maintained a strong stance from start to finish a lot of this crap wouldn't STILL be happening. And I'm not one of those who thought he would or should sue the league but football is all about leverage and so is negotiations. He has none.

 

[p8ryts]

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.

Pats fan since 1963. I am sick of the whining about the refs and the league targeting the Pats. First, Gronk, naturally other teams are going to tell refs to look for him pushing off. They did the same thing with Ben Coates and he started getting called more frequently. I'm certain Bill does the same. Gronk does run people over. This crap about not extending his arms is bs. He runs people over, stop doing it. Don't get me wrong, the refs stink but its incompetence. They are inconsistent. But it also depends on where they are looking or not looking. Our offensive line gets called for hands to the face. They did the same thing on the last TD in regulation and it didn't get called. It happens all the time. Refs were bad enough before replay, now they are gun shy. I was disappointed to hear Patriot players calling out Corrente saying his teeth were chattering etc. Shut Up!! Make the block, the catch, the tackle, quit whining. The good news is that Bill wasn't whining and he will tell the players to stop it. Locker room quotes from Jones and Butler show that is already taking place.

 

[aluminum seats]

Pats fan since 1963. I am sick of the whining about the refs and the league targeting the Pats. First, Gronk, naturally other teams are going to tell refs to look for him pushing off. They did the same thing with Ben Coates and he started getting called more frequently. I'm certain Bill does the same. Gronk does run people over. This crap about not extending his arms is bs. He runs people over, stop doing it. Don't get me wrong, the refs stink but its incompetence. They are inconsistent. But it also depends on where they are looking or not looking. Our offensive line gets called for hands to the face. They did the same thing on the last TD in regulation and it didn't get called. It happens all the time. Refs were bad enough before replay, now they are gun shy. I was disappointed to hear Patriot players calling out Corrente saying his teeth were chattering etc. Shut Up!! Make the block, the catch, the tackle, quit whining. The good news is that Bill wasn't whining and he will tell the players to stop it. Locker room quotes from Jones and Butler show that is already taking place.

Fair enough. Good post. I largely agree about whining about the refs--hate it. But deflategate was and is a horrendous abuse of power, and the refs were outrageously bad one way on Sunday. And Gronk is singled out more than other players. So disagree with you some too.

But good counterbalance to some of the other viewpoints. (I don't want to single this person out, but whoever posted about the Pats play calling being part of a conspiracy, or Gronk "acting" hurt? They need to go lay down for awhile.)

 

[QuantumMechanic]

When even someone like Football Outsider's Scott Kacsmar thinks both the Gronk OPI and the Chung illegal contact calls were bogus calls, you know the reffing was bogus.

 

[bobbutts]

But consider how we fare against the average (the NFL Parity Goal).

In the last 16 years (1999-2014) we are:

4 time Superbowl Champions. The average is 0.5 (Eight times as good).
6 time AFC Champions. The average is 1.0 (Six times as good).
12 time Winner of Division. The average is 4.0 (Three times as good).
12 time Playoff Team. The average is 6.0 (Twice as good).
21-8 Playoff record ~ 72.4% . Average is 50%. (Amazing!).
183-73 Regular season record ~71.5%. Average is %50. (Incredible!).

For my money, I really think that it can be said that the the Patriots "Broke Football".

I think depending on who you ask both of us are correct and I can't really disagree with your point. Obviously these are impressive numbers that weren't supposed to happen during Parity, so we're in agreement.
I see it all the time that many measure success only by Superbowl wins too though, so I'm not going to take back what I said either.

 

[Sfpat]

Essentially, when in doubt, call against the Pats (still not sure how they missed the Brady beheading)

 

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

"The fix is in"......... More commonly referred to publicly as "league parity". This league's source of POWER ($$$$$), is predicated on having untold thousands (millions actually) fans of each franchise fervently believing that their team has a chance to win it all every year. Nothing is better for the league than to have 26 mediocre teams duking it out for the "big prize" every year. It fills the seats, it fills the merchandise shopping carts. When 1-2, or even 3-4 team stands out too much, it can begin to "erode" support slowly from the rest of the fanbases, who may begin to become more passionate about supporting other local sporting franchises that are "more successful" (other sports, college, etc). Doubt this phenomenon, look at the "bandwagon effects" of recent teams like Seattle, Carolina.... Where were those fans 5-10 years ago. Watching other stuff.

The first step is creating parity is to "tilt" the scales towards teams that "suck" by penalizing better teams by making them "pick last" at the draft. Make them all only able to spend XX amount of $$ on there roster. When that is only marginally successful, you can manipulate the rules from year to year to help keep those stubborn "winning teams" in check (you never see rule changes that effect crappy teams, do you?). With this as the primary goal, it's not too far of a stretch to see the league taking drastic measures when 1 team has consistently thwarted every attempt to make them "average" like everyone else.

I've always viewed Spygate, deflategate as primarily just extensions of this "league parity" policy crap. Contrived "scandals that allows the powers to be hamstring the Patriots future (using draft picks mostly) to somehow level the playing field by hurting their ability to sustain success. It absolutely does not surprise me that the Broncos were "allowed" to win against the mighty Patriots. Look at the hype right now in Denver. The mighty Brock O era has begun , giving MILLIONS of fans hope to hang in there (keep spending $$) and that there will be "life after Peyton". Coming soon... Brock O jerseys flying out the door.

Krafty is a willing participant too, which allows him to bend over and let the team to take in the keister with the Deflate-gate fines/draft loses, yet still vigorously defend Tom and maintain his insistence that we "did nothing wrong". Everyone knows that at this point, but hey...... you are still to good, so we will take some draft picks away in order make it harder for you to stay good in the future. It's all s f@@king sham.......

So yeah........ The fix is in. Until we once again "suck" don't expect anything to change for our franchise.

 

[Observer]

I will guarantee you that Goodell will do everything in his power to prevent the Patriots from winning the Super Bowl including direct instruction to the referees. We have already seen the edict in effect against Gronkowski.

 

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

The thing is, though, the piss-poor execution of the AFCCG sting operation showed their utter incompetence. They didn't write down numbers, didn't make sure that a specific gauge was used, and so on. They were, however, VERY motivated to after-the-fact ramrod through their ridiculous interpretations & conclusions, so while they are powerful and devious, they are not particularly thoughtful or well-organized.

I think that actually FIXING NFL games, while minimizing the risk of a fix be exposed to near-zero, would be well beyond their level of competence.

But somewhat more subtle nudging of the outcomes of games in their desired direction is very likely to be going on, by, as examples,

-choosing ref crews that have certain tendencies that go against us
-asking the refs to "emphasize" offensive pass interference when large men go out for a pass (especially when they are wearing uniform #87)
-asking the refs to "emphasize" tight calling of so-called pick plays when teams that are not wearing orange uniforms use them

That type of stuff is not beyond them, can achieve their desired results, and is unlikely to throw up enough bright red flags for their shenanigans to be exposed to everyone

They didn't write down any numbers because the balls came in at the legal limit. If they were really concerned with catching the Patriots in the act, they would've had that information and collected more, prior to this game.

The majority of the nation hates the Patriots, because their annoyed with they're success, but they hide behind the "they're cheaters" claim. All the public needed to hear was that the Pats cheated again, who cares about proof anymore. This story was much ado about nothing, until league sources leaked to Mort that 11 of 12 balls were well below the legal limit. With the media in the NFL's almighty hands, they twisted, rehashed and recycled this story for weeks, until the sheep, I mean, the republic ate it up. Deflategate got as much coverage as ISIS on major news networks for weeks. So the NFL is not that incompetent, they know what they are doing.

Kraft came to a deal with the other greedy owners and the tide changed in Brady's favor. Now America and half of the Pats fanbase still believe that Brady deflated balls without a shred of proof. "Who cares if he deflated balls, it's just not that big of a deal," they tell you. Even GQ magazine is still popping out that BS, while still crowning him one of their "men of the year."

Goodell hasn't lost much credibility, because "the Patriots got away with cheating, again." The fact that he keeps this case going, shows haters that Brady "did something." That's what the NFL want you to see. The OTL's report on ESPN, is what opposing fans try to use to crap on the Pats' dynasty, but I set them straight, every. Single. Time.

When the NFL loses its power from lack of interest from the public, which is going to happen sooner or later, with the refgates and new rules, the media is going to drop them like hot potato and expose them to the public, like they did the NBA and MLB. The media have sources who tells them stuff, but they keep it on the hush, until these League's have nothing else to offer. I'll give it about 2 years before ESPN drops the bomb on the NFL.

 

[Triumph]

Faceguarding in '06 as well.

Seymour getting choked around the neck on the Tyree catch in SB42.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

How about Easley getting a HTTF on the go ahead TD by the Donks AFTER the Pats got a drive killed by a phantom Hands to the Face


This was so subtle & hidden that the refs missed it

 

[The Brandon Five]

How about Easley getting a HTTF on the go ahead TD by the Donks AFTER the Pats got a drive killed by a phantom Hands to the Face
View attachment 11461

This was so subtle & hidden that the refs missed it

I think that's Chandler Jones.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

If the refs do a crappy job and NE gets screwed then it's up to the NFL to grade the refs. If they don't downgrade them then they're saying it's fine.

If they do a refs do a crappy job that screws the Pats opponents then it's up to the NFL, to downgrade them, if they do then they're saying you better not miss a call that favors the Pats.

All they need to do is grade them and the refs will get the message. If it's close, make the call against NE or you'll get a bad grade.

Blandino "there was no sting" is in charge of grades. He's already known to lie to try to harm NE. I have no reason to think his bias has changed, his loyalty to Goodell has changed, or that he has turned over a new leaf to not be a liar.

So IMO the question is, did Blandino change? I doubt it.

 

[alvinnf]

For me "the fix is in, means", the NFL is all too willing to use the NE patriots to puff up ratings on all platforms. Both good and bad, but at the end of the day they are unwilling to tolerate NE 's continued prosperity. Or in other words, whatever it takes to dis rail them. Along the way they are going to try and prosper in that demise.

 

[pazrul72]

I agree with all of those who say it would take too many people staying quiet for there to be a grand conspiracy with direct evidence and proof of a message "f with the pats" being handed down. There is however a most definite biased against New England that is more subtle but you see it in the everyday casual fans. When you hear day in and day out that the patriots cheat and you are not involved enough to read more then the headline it's human nature to be like I will show them. Then I would bet the house "points of emphasis" videos have a patriot player in them more then any other team. Its subtle but effective and is the slimy media kind of attack the league has a history of using. So when I say the fix is in do I mean the refs bank account is a little bigger? No. However I do think they, like the casual fan, have been brainwashed and are not involved enough to do the digging necessary to realize it.

 

[Tony2046]

I browsed through the Penalty stats for the NFL for each team and I looked at the Penalties for each Pats game. With the exception of Gronkowski's OPI's nothing really stands out. I cannot account for non calls.

btw: I am in @QuantumMechanic 's camp in that they have somehow conditioned the referees to throw flags against a few players in the league.

I'm not a tin hat type of guy or maybe I am and just don't know it yet but this is the first time I have ever watched an NFL game and thought something is definitely not right with the officiating.

I watched Monday nights game out of curiosity and sure enough the Raven's WR Kamar Aiken runs a 10 yard route, gives the CB a slight shove with two extended hands, cuts left and catches a TD pass. No Flag and right in front of the line judge.

Kamar Aiken stretches the distance for 15-yard score - NFL Videos

I'll post some of the stats I looked at:

1. Gronkowski is tied for 5th most penalized player in the league with 8 penalties (site states 8 but lists 9 penalties (1 was declined)). 5 OPI's, 2 False starts, 1 Offensive Holding, 1 illegal shift.

(Interestingly Brandon Browner is 1st with 16 flags)

2. P. Chung is also tied for 5th most penalized. 2 DPI's, 2 D Holding, 2 O Holding, 1 Illegal contact, 1 illegal block. (how did he get 2 offensive holding penalties?)

3. Total of Pats penalties to opponent penalties. 84/97. Opponents have been penalized more often.

4. Total of Pats penalty yds/Opp penalty yds. 701/719.

5. Patriots have 28 4th Qtr penalties. (their most penalized qtr. ) Their opponents have 27 4th qtr penalties. (Denver had 1 penalty with 15 seconds left in the game)

6. Patriots have 9 OPI's. 5 Gronk, 1 each for: Edelman, Chandler, Martin and Dobson.

7. Patriots have 17 Offensive Holding Penalties. (Reflects the OL issues)

For each team in the league I looked at Penalties for vs Penalties against for a Net yards.

1. Broncos have the worst Net penalty yardage at ( - 338). They have been penalized for 338 more yards than their opponents have.

2. The Patriots have a + 18 Net yards. Pats 701 against and their opponents 719 against.

3. Arizona has the most positive Net penalty yards at + 370.

4. Arizona, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, N.Y. Giants, Green Bay, all have 100 or more positive net penalty yards.

5. Oakland , Cleveland, Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Atlanta, Denver, all have over 100 negative penalty yards.


NFL Penalties - 2015 League Penalty Stats - View by Total - NFL Penalty Stats Tracker - List/Statistics/Data of NFL Penalties - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

 

[The Brandon Five]

I browsed through the Penalty stats for the NFL for each team and I looked at the Penalties for each Pats game. With the exception of Gronkowski's OPI's nothing really stands out. I cannot account for non calls.

btw: I am in @QuantumMechanic 's camp in that they have somehow conditioned the referees to throw flags against a few players in the league.

I'm not a tin hat type of guy or maybe I am and just don't know it yet but this is the first time I have ever watched an NFL game and thought something is definitely not right with the officiating.

I watched Monday nights game out of curiosity and sure enough the Raven's WR Kamar Aiken runs a 10 yard route, gives the CB a slight shove with two extended hands, cuts left and catches a TD pass. No Flag and right in front of the line judge.

Kamar Aiken stretches the distance for 15-yard score - NFL Videos

I'll post some of the stats I looked at:

1. Gronkowski is tied for 5th most penalized player in the league with 8 penalties (site states 8 but lists 9 penalties (1 was declined)). 5 OPI's, 2 False starts, 1 Offensive Holding, 1 illegal shift.

(Interestingly Brandon Browner is 1st with 16 flags)

2. P. Chung is also tied for 5th most penalized. 2 DPI's, 2 D Holding, 2 O Holding, 1 Illegal contact, 1 illegal block. (how did he get 2 offensive holding penalties?)

3. Total of Pats penalties to opponent penalties. 84/97. Opponents have been penalized more often.

4. Total of Pats penalty yds/Opp penalty yds. 701/719.

5. Patriots have 28 4th Qtr penalties. (their most penalized qtr. ) Their opponents have 27 4th qtr penalties. (Denver had 1 penalty with 15 seconds left in the game)

6. Patriots have 9 OPI's. 5 Gronk, 1 each for: Edelman, Chandler, Martin and Dobson.

7. Patriots have 17 Offensive Holding Penalties. (Reflects the OL issues)

For each team in the league I looked at Penalties for vs Penalties against for a Net yards.

1. Broncos have the worst Net penalty yardage at ( - 338). They have been penalized for 338 more yards than their opponents have.

2. The Patriots have a + 18 Net yards. Pats 701 against and their opponents 719 against.

3. Arizona has the most positive Net penalty yards at + 370.

4. Arizona, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, N.Y. Giants, Green Bay, all have 100 or more positive net penalty yards.

5. Oakland , Cleveland, Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Atlanta, Denver, all have over 100 negative penalty yards.


NFL Penalties - 2015 League Penalty Stats - View by Total - NFL Penalty Stats Tracker - List/Statistics/Data of NFL Penalties - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

I would be interested in seeing the number for the Patriots before the Denver game.

 

[neuronet]

Pats fans are rightly paranoid about deflateBS, but have elevated to insane martyrs this week. It's lunacy here.

 

[Tony2046]

I would be interested in seeing the number for the Patriots before the Denver game.

What would you be looking for?