NFL conspiracy theory?

[JR4]

Ok I was reluctant to buy into this but after listening to people tell
me it is true and considering some what I've seen/heard I am wondering.

here's some stuff to consider.

1. NBA is on record that refs take pay offs to influence game out comes
and the ref caught said he is not the only one doing it. Is it a stretch to
think there may be NFL refs doing it also?

2. PATs with an offense scoring 30+ points a game just finished off a team
with a pretty good defense in the playoffs with 40+ points and is held to
13 points by an old D.

3. The ratings for a Harbaugh vs Harbaugh Superbowl were off the scales.
There are billions involved here folks. With that much money at stake it is
possible some people were bought to influence the outcome of the game?

4. Tom Brady. Think about his body language. Did he seem like
he was really playing to win? To me he didn't have that fire in his eyes.
His body language seemed to say " I already know what the outcome will be .. so why try hard .. I'll just do what I'm paid to do"

Consider it all ask yourself ...
does it make sense that this offense is held to 13 points with NO points in the second half?

It almost seems like the no 2nd half points was
a rebellion to the game being fixed .... the only way that they could
say it was fixed without saying it verbally.

Thoughts?

 

[BrickPat]

My thoughts? Ok since you asked...

Please stop posting or ban yourself until the medication kicks in.

Thankee

 

[JR4]

My thoughts? Ok since you asked...

Please stop posting or ban yourself until the medication kicks in.

Thankee

since you are new here and you responded in a few seconds ...
maybe you're an NFL plant to squash such threads.

 

[Sivy]

People will bash you, but its the offseason for the pats so F it, its worth a discussion.

I think in order for the NFL to be rigged like pro wrestling, that to many people would have to be involved, and SOMEONE would have leaked it by now and made billions off of books and movies and what not. However, I do belive, 100% that the refs are told to try and influence games from time to time.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

No conspiracy.

It was however interesting to hear Eric Mangini discuss the keys to the game on Mike and Mike this morning.

Basically he said that it was obvious from early on that roughing up wide receivers was NOT going to be called, and that this disrupted the Patriots offense. He specifically pointed out an early no call where Lloyd took a two-handed shot to the face as he was trying to get off the line, and other instances where there was a lot of contact beyond 5 yards.

Mangini was giving the view of a defensive coach, mind you, and he wasn't really criticizing the officials but rather pointing out that the Ravens were extremely wise to take note of this and use it to their maximum advantage.

He further said that it was in fact very similar to his own approach, whe he was on the Patriots staff, to defending the Colts receivers in the games were Polian famously blew a gasket of the lack of calls for being too physical with Colts receivers.

 

[JR4]

No conspiracy.

It was however interesting to hear Eric Mangini discuss the keys to the game on Mike and Mike this morning.

Basically he said that it was obvious from early on that roughing up wide receivers was NOT going to be called, and that this disrupted the Patriots offense. He specifically pointed out an early no call where Lloyd took a two-handed shot to the face as he was trying to get off the line, and other instances where there was a lot of contact beyond 5 yards.

Mangini was giving the view of a defensive coach, mind you, and he wasn't really criticizing the officials but rather pointing out that the Ravens were extremely wise to take note of this and use it to their maximum advantage.

He further said that it was in fact very similar to his own approach, whe he was on the Patriots staff, to defending the Colts receivers in the games were Polian famously blew a gasket of the lack of calls for being too physical with Colts receivers.

Please note: the NFL assigned a ref and staff that was noted for "letting players play" If they knew this would doom the PATs is this not part of such a conspiracy?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Please note: the NFL assigned a ref and staff that was noted for "letting players play" If they knew this would doom the PATs is this not part of such a conspiracy?

The head ref was known for not calling a lot of holding calls during the regular season ("letting them play") but also for calling a lot of pass interference calls ("calling it tight in the passing game")

so your assertion is incorrect.

Also, regular season officiating crews are broken up to make "all star" crews in the postseason, so regulars season trends extrapolated to a postseason game based solely on the head ref are always dubious at best.

 

[Sicilian]

It's easy to see conspiracies when you're still recovering from an emotional loss that came in a fairly unexpected manner. More likely than an NFL fix, the Ravens are a tough, talented team and they just played better than the Pats did Sunday.

There were three plays that effectively killed the Pats chances in the second half, and none of them were effected by the refs: Welker's drop on 3rd down, Ridley's fumble (while he was probably blacked out), and the first interception that came on a tipped ball. If the NFL was fixing this game, the Pats may have been in on it.

 

[JR4]

You make good points. But NO points in the second half? come on while
Ravens D is good they are not that good. We have all seen PATs make
mistakes like you mentioned but come back stronger to over come.
(SF game to wit )

They seem to have no fight, no desire and that may
have had to do with Brady's body language.
Tell me this was the Brady you are use to seeing on the side lines walking
up an down firing player up?

 

[Steve102]

Ok I was reluctant to buy into this but after listening to people tell
me it is true and considering some what I've seen/heard I am wondering.


4. Tom Brady. Think about his body language. Did he seem like
he was really playing to win? To me he didn't have that fire in his eyes.
His body language seemed to say " I already know what the outcome will be .. so why try hard .. I'll just do what I'm paid to do"

Consider it all ask yourself ...
does it make sense that this offense is held to 13 points with NO points in the second half?

It almost seems like the no 2nd half points was
a rebellion to the game being fixed .... the only way that they could
say it was fixed without saying it verbally.

Thoughts?

I can tell you you are not the first guy to think of this. I spoke with one of the guys here at work Monday AM, and he mentioned it as well. I will grant you he's a conspiracy "nut" to a certain extent. I think anytime there's a lot of money at stake, there is a level of mistrust by certain aspects of our society. I find it hard to believe that the NFL could be this dirty, but there have been rumors of NASCAR driver's getting "the call" for years. I am going to go with "no, there's no fix" but if some enterprising young Woodward and Bernstein type dug deep... who knows what they'd find. I would wager that if they pulled back the curtain of the NFL and we had 100% transparency, none of us would like the results. PED's, crooked Dr's, cheating, criminal activity and subsequent cover ups would likely get exposed. So in my mind, it's a case of how far do you want to believe the rabbit hole goes? I'm going to put on my officially licensed NFL gear, sit here and tell you to fix is not in. I simply do not like the alternative.

 

[The Gr8est]

It's easy to see conspiracies when you're still recovering from an emotional loss that came in a fairly unexpected manner. More likely than an NFL fix, the Ravens are a tough, talented team and they just played better than the Pats did Sunday.

There were three plays that effectively killed the Pats chances in the second half, and none of them were effected by the refs: Welker's drop on 3rd down, Ridley's fumble (while he was probably blacked out), and the first interception that came on a tipped ball. If the NFL was fixing this game, the Pats may have been in on it.

I still think Ridley was down by contact.

I agree though that if the Ravens' DBs were playing rough and not being called then the Pats should have done likewise. That's one of the keys to them beating the Rams in 2001.

Are the Pats DBs not physical?

 

[BrickPat]

You make good points. But NO points in the second half? come on while
Ravens D is good they are not that good. We have all seen PATs make
mistakes like you mentioned but come back stronger to over come.
(SF game to wit )

So the fact that the Pats actually lost a game indicates a conspiracy? Did Brady conspire with the D- lineman who swatted his pass for an INT? Did Ridley conspire with Pollard to get knocked out?

They seem to have no fight, no desire and that may
have had to do with Brady's body language.
Tell me this was the Brady you are use to seeing on the side lines walking
up an down firing player up?

So Brady was resigned that he was battling a vast conspracy and lost all hope and desire to rally his team mates? Is it within the realm of possibility that the Pats were simply outplayed and were unable to make adequate adjustments? Nah, that's a wacky premise...the conspiracy theory makes far more sense.

 

[robbomango]

You can build a story around any match-up IMO, Manning TB in the AFCCG would'v been a great story or Manning in the SB, a Rookie vs Rookie QB SB, etc...

SF and the Ravens are 2 really good teams and the Jerkbaugh's are 2 really good coaches, nothing surprising about this to me.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It's easy to see conspiracies when you're still recovering from an emotional loss that came in a fairly unexpected manner. More likely than an NFL fix, the Ravens are a tough, talented team and they just played better than the Pats did Sunday.

There were three plays that effectively killed the Pats chances in the second half, and none of them were effected by the refs: Welker's drop on 3rd down, Ridley's fumble (while he was probably blacked out), and the first interception that came on a tipped ball. If the NFL was fixing this game, the Pats may have been in on it.

Well put
Never attribute to complex conspiracy that which has mundane easily attributed ineptness.

Thread Ignore ON!

 

[Joker]

Never attribute to complex conspiracy that which has mundane easily attributed ineptness.


welp...looks like MY career here is over....sad day for Joe Kerr fans everywhere

 

[JR4]

So the fact that the Pats actually lost a game indicates a conspiracy? Did Brady conspire with the D- lineman who swatted his pass for an INT? Did Ridley conspire with Pollard to get knocked out?



So Brady was resigned that he was battling a vast conspracy and lost all hope and desire to rally his team mates? Is it within the realm of possibility that the Pats were simply outplayed and were unable to make adequate adjustments? Nah, that's a wacky premise...the conspiracy theory makes far more sense.

Right .. one of the best offenses ever held to NO points in the second half.
I am sure you believe that makes sense.
When defenders can hang on receivers and no calls made, what adjustments are to be made? Refs were deciding the game at that point
and the players knew it.

 

[BrickPat]

Right .. one of the best offenses ever held to NO points in the second half.
I am sure you believe that makes sense.
When defenders can hang on receivers and no calls made, what adjustments are to be made? Refs were deciding the game at that point
and the players knew it.

As a cop I learned a long time ago that there are two groups of people that you should never try to have a rational conversation with- drunks and those who fashion their hats out of tin foil.

Having said that I just cannot help myself...

Do you think that's why BB didn't want to do that post game interview...he was *gasp* afraid to blow the lid on the whole shadow operation?

 

[TheSparks1]

Consider it all ask yourself ...
does it make sense that this offense is held to 13 points with NO points in the second half?

It almost seems like the no 2nd half points was
a rebellion to the game being fixed .... the only way that they could
say it was fixed without saying it verbally.

Thoughts?

 

[Steve102]

As a cop I learned a long time ago that there are two groups people of which you should never try to have a rational conversation- drunks and those who fashion their hats out of tin foil.

Having said that I just cannot help myself...

Do you think that's why BB didn't want to do that post game interview...he was *gasp* afraid to blow the lid on the whole operation?

 

[Sicilian]

Right .. one of the best offenses ever held to NO points in the second half.
I am sure you believe that makes sense.
When defenders can hang on receivers and no calls made, what adjustments are to be made? Refs were deciding the game at that point
and the players knew it.

Peyton Manning had one of the best seasons in the history of the NFL in 2004, breaking (at the time) the single season touchdown record. The Pats then held him to 3 points FOR THE WHOLE GAME. And this was after the Pats had won two out of three Super Bowls, so I doubt the NFL was dying to see them get to their third. What happened in that game? The Patriots had a great gameplan, and they executed it perfectly. I choose to give them credit for that, and it would be hypocritical to turn around and refuse to give Baltimore full credit for taking care of business Sunday night.