Worst Refereeing I have ever seen

[SalemPats]

It pisses me off that people think Osweiler is good when he got handed chance after chance with the crappy calls

I guess touching Von Miller is always a penalty in this league as well.

 

[NashuaPats]

Remember - Blandino or his designee grades the refs. All it takes is to not downgrade them for a bad close call made against NE and downgrade them for a legit close call made for NE and they'll get the message.

Plus the league can do stuff like always use video of Gronk when giving the refs pointers on calling OPI. Even if the vid shows legit OPI on Gronk the underlying goal of subconscious conditioning is carried out.

I think you are exactly right. These are the same tactics that Tim Donaghy described the NBA using. He talked about how the league made the refs watch hours of defensive tactics used by Raja Bell that should be called as fouls. The refs were then conditioned to call fouls on him. Meanwhile, he had a rivalry with Kobe who obviously was someone the league actively promoted.

Donaghy also talked about the NBA's rating system and that the refs knew which teams and players to officiate favorably to help their own careers. As someone who used to watch a lot of NBA, I believe him. I thought the officiating bias was obvious and now rarely watch an NBA game.

I think similar things are going on here and it became obvious last night. It's no secret the league has a vendetta against the Pats.

 

[Galeb]

It pisses me off that people think Osweiler is good when he got handed chance after chance with the crappy calls

He's usually not a liability out there and he has potential to become very good. He's very tall, has a cannon of and arm and will stand in the pocket and he's tough. IMO, he gives the Broncos a better chance at winning than Manning does.

 

[SalemPats]

This wasn't just a couple of bad calls where you feel like you got screwed. There were several aggregious game changing errors by the refs. I hate complaining about the refs, but damn.

The pass interference on Gronk. Clean play. Game changing penalty.
The negated 50 yard pass completion called back. 60 yard swing. That was not a hold by Jackson. It was clean.
The defensive pass interference on Chung. If anything it should have been offensive PI. Chung played it cleanly. It should have been 3rd and long from the 14.
The hands to the face on the Denver TD pass, not called.
How about Brady getting tackled by his head? Blatant penalty.
Not a game changer, but how do you miss an obvious running into the kicker?
The Broncos O line was constantly holding. I don't blame them since the refs weren't calling it.

This wasn't just bad officiating, it was cheating on national televsion. The Patriots are too classy of an organization to make a fuss about this, but I sure hope the media turns this into an issue. The NFL needs to be called out and be held accountable. This can't happen again.

Not too mention touching Von Miller is a penalty and the blatant holding by the Broncos line (someone earlier posted pics). On TV i could tell this was holding

 

[pazrul72]

I didn't have a problem with that call. In the game against the Colts, the Patriots were the beneficiary of the same kind of call. When the Colts attempted an onside kick, the refs ruled the Patriots recovered even though a Colts player came away with the ball.

That's also why that Woods recovery in SB42 still ticks me off. He was down and had possession of the ball. When Bradshaw dove on him, the play should have been over.

In the interest of fairness I totally thought that was colts ball and the pats got away with one

 

[NashuaPats]

I mean... really?

 

[upstater1]

OK, I'll add one more bad non-call.

On one of Brady's long sideline throws to Chandler, he was chucked 10 yards downfield which made him stumble. He would have caught the ball for a long gain. This was on one of the last 2 drives, forget which one.

There.

 

[Mark.]

For what it's worth, boomer agrees with us:
Esiason Blasts NFL Officials For Letting Pats-Broncos 'Spiral Out Of Control'

 

[BradyTheGOAT]

I think you are exactly right. These are the same tactics that Tim Donaghy described the NBA using. He talked about how the league made the refs watch hours of defensive tactics used by Raja Bell that should be called as fouls. The refs were then conditioned to call fouls on him. Meanwhile, he had a rivalry with Kobe who obviously was someone the league actively promoted.

Donaghy also talked about the NBA's rating system and that the refs knew which teams and players to officiate favorably to help their own careers. As someone who used to watch a lot of NBA, I believe him. I thought the officiating bias was obvious and now rarely watch an NBA game.

I think similar things are going on here and it became obvious last night. It's no secret the league has a vendetta against the Pats.

This process should be completely transparent.

Not disclosing these grades is a threat to the integrity of football.

The fans should know which calls were wrong, right, which grades were given to which refs, and any explanations given. There is an actual precedent for this leading to corruption in another major US sport.

We should start a petition to have this info publicly released. There is no good reason why it should not!

 

[Galeb]

This process should be completely transparent.

Not disclosing these grades is a threat to the integrity of football.

The fans should know which calls were wrong, right, which grades were given to which refs, and any explanations given. There is an actual precedent for this happen in another major US sport.

We should start a petition to have this info publicly released. There is no good reason why it should not!

The NFL will never allow that because they use it as a tool to influence the outcome of games.

 

[alvinnf]

The game is over regulated. This happens all over the league every sun. The NFL is hanging itself. Look at the mediocrity of the league this year. Bad teams everywhere, why? Because this league has manipulated the game into a vaguely understandable fantasy football driven entity.

 

[JMC00]

I gotta say on the fumble with Ebner coming away with it, can't really complain about that one after Pats got the same benefit against the Colts

 

[DaBruinz]

In fairness to the poster, the ex-head of refs tweeted that all refs go by one rule. Unless you absolutely know the ball has been recovered by one guy, you hold your whistle and give it to the guy who emerges with the ball.

According to him, it was a bad call because he never saw the Bronco recover it unattached.

I agree here.. While the Bronco had two hands on it, Ebner had his arm between the ball and the Broncos' player's chest.

 

[hambone1818]

I gotta say on the fumble with Ebner coming away with it, can't really complain about that one after Pats got the same benefit against the Colts

That was my thought exactly. Broncos player had the ball clearly when he fell on it, who cares who 'emerges from the pile'? I'd rather they NOT dogfight in a huge pileup to determine who gets the ball, first clear possession takes it because the ball is down and possessed.

There were a LOT of awful calls--and I'll include the holding penalty on the Broncos lineman because that was terrible too. But the vast majority went against the Pats and absolutely killed them in the end.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think you are exactly right. These are the same tactics that Tim Donaghy described the NBA using. He talked about how the league made the refs watch hours of defensive tactics used by Raja Bell that should be called as fouls. The refs were then conditioned to call fouls on him. Meanwhile, he had a rivalry with Kobe who obviously was someone the league actively promoted.

Donaghy also talked about the NBA's rating system and that the refs knew which teams and players to officiate favorably to help their own careers. As someone who used to watch a lot of NBA, I believe him. I thought the officiating bias was obvious and now rarely watch an NBA game.

I think similar things are going on here and it became obvious last night. It's no secret the league has a vendetta against the Pats.

Yep. It took me a while to stop watching the NBA altogether during the regular season. Now I only casually tune in here and there during the postseason. The same is beginning to happen to me with the NFL. If you had told me a few years ago that I would turn off any Pats game because I didn't care anymore, I would have called you insane.

 

[JMC00]

Zolak said some Pats players told him that when they tried to talk to Corrente he was basically catatonic because of the cold in the 2nd half.

Guess that's what happens when you have a 64 year old retired school teacher from California doing a game in frigid weather.

League needs to have an age limit (I would go no older than 50) for their refs and go full time and put them thru extensive conditioning to be able to deal with any weather, whether it be -15 or 95 degrees with 100% humidity.

 

[Mark.]

Zolak said some Pats players told him that when they tried to talk to Corrente he was basically catatonic because of the cold in the 2nd half.

I heard that too. What do you bet he will be the ref in the divisional round at Foxboro?

 

[cavtroop]

Yep. It took me a while to stop watching the NBA altogether during the regular season. Now I only casually tune in here and there during the postseason. The same is beginning to happen to me with the NFL. If you had told me a few years ago that I would turn off any Pats game because I didn't care anymore, I would have called you insane.

I used to consume NFL games like crazy - I'd watch every game - thursday night, all 3 games on TV on sunday, and the monday night game. Didn't matter who was playing, I was watching football.

Now? I turn Redzone on, and keep a lazy eye on it. Sometimes. Usually I forget to turn it on. I'll watch every Pats game, but that's it. The NFL is quickly losing my interest, and games like last night are just pushing me more and more away. I have better things to do with my time than watch this trainwreck of officiating, defenders using their bodies as missiles, and obvious bias by the league office.

 

[GaryfromTO]

I heard that too. What do you bet he will be the ref in the divisional round at Foxboro?

if he is, and he calls another game like this, he won't make it out of Gillette alive

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

So you think the offensive pass interference scrutiny the Pats are getting is the same league-wide?

We're going to have to disagree on that.

Spot on......
I would bet Blandino is sending out " points of emphasis memo" or via conference call telling refs to watch Gronkowski for offensive PI. Translation to refs, " if you want to be graded higher and either ref in post season or keep your job, be sure to make sure you watch/call it on him"...
Like many predicted, the league is doing what they can to screw the Pats.. Would be nice if we had an owner who stood up to the bullying... (note to the Kraft apologists- " you're right we don't know what is going on behind the scenes but it ISN'T WORKING)
Anyone know how many OPI he had before this season???

The last OPI call was as ticky tacky as they come...