So what will we see from the refs during the super bowl?

[QuantumMechanic]

Still grinds me that they changed the catch rule knowing it would benefit one team (Eagles)

How did they “know” it would only benefit PHI? And for that matter, why the hell would it only benefit PHI? NE receivers were just as capable of having borderline catches.

 

[Kontradiction]

What will we see from the refs during the SB?

As much pro-LA shenanigans as Park Avenue feels it can get away with.

People are naive fools to think otherwise.

So you have the Patriots taking an L and absolutely nothing whatsoever that the team does on the field will change that?

 

[mitsudriver]

Again, not looking for ref/NFL bias officiating, just if you think the game will be called more by-the-book or let them play by the refs. From what i've read it looks like the Rams play a bit more zone coverage than the Pats do. If the refs call a tight game (especially regarding pass interference) do you think this aids the Pats or the Rams?

My opinion is that it will benefit the Pats. The Rams receivers seem to be that prototypical get down the field type receivers. The Pats on the other hand have Gronk, who has to be manhandled every play because you can't cover him legally, and Edelman who thrives on the quick in and out type cuts to get open. IF the game is called tightly I think the Pats (maybe minus JC Jackson as he seems to be hated by the refs) should have the advantage there.

Also, if the Rams want/need to sit back in zone coverage we all know what Brady tends to do to teams lining up in zone continuously.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

NFL can't have the Rams win or don't want them after that missed call...I expect the refs to be on our side

 

[Kontradiction]

NFL can't have the Rams win or don't want them after that missed call...I expect the refs to be on our side

Nice. Love it when the fix is in for the Pats.

 

[mosi]

Gronk getting mugged and the refs calling HIM for offensive pass interference.

Pick play after pick play being run against the Pats followed by an offensive pass interference call against the Pats.

JC Jackson being called for pass interference for running next to Cooks.

Suh being fined 25K from the league for stomping on Joe Thuney (but no penalty in he game.

Donald being called for roughing the passer for waving his hand at Brady.

 

[turkeyneck]

Gronk getting mugged and the refs calling him for offensive pass interference.

Pick play after pick play being run against the Pats followed by an offensive pass interference call against the Pats.

JC Jackson being called for pass interference for running next to Cooks.

Suh being fined 25K from the league for stomping on Joe Thuney (but no penalty in he game.

Donald being called for roughing the passer for waving his hand at Brady.

Sounds about right.

 

[ViperGTS]

How did they “know” it would only benefit PHI? And for that matter, why the hell would it only benefit PHI? NE receivers were just as capable of having borderline catches.

Because the Pats are trained not to reach the football out etc. So yes, they changed it knowing it would mostly help the Eagles. And would you know it did.

 

[PatsDeb]

I hope we see a clean game that is fair to both teams, but we'll probably see a somewhat uneven game with a few questionable calls on both sides that the winning team's fans will forget about, but the losing team's fans will never forget and blame for the loss of the game until the end of time.

To tell the truth, I am a little worried about this crew. The Rams are undefeated when playing in front of the head ref and the Pats are not, which leads me to believe they are a defensive, "let em play" type of crew, which could pose problems for Brady, et al. It is what it is though. Go Patriots!

 

[captain stone]

So you have the Patriots taking an L and absolutely nothing whatsoever that the team does on the field will change that?

The Pats had to overcome both the Queefs and the zebras (and Brady's goal-line pick) in order to win last week; they will have to do exactly the same this week, because Parry will ensure that the rest of this "all-star" crew gets the message, as relayed to him from Park Avenue.

 

[Kontradiction]

The Pats had to overcome both the Queefs and the zebras (and Brady's goal-line pick) in order to win last week; they will have to do exactly the same this week, because Parry will ensure that the rest of this "all-star" crew gets the message, as relayed to him from Park Avenue.

LMFAO so why watch if you think that this is the on-field equivalent of the WWE? By the way, if a fix is truly in, the team that it's fixed against isn't supposed to win. That's not how a fix works.

 

[fan345]

During last year's Super Bowl (remember that? It seems a life time away.) the refs didn't call holding on the offensive lines and the game became a shoot out. I don't like those kinds of games because they are less interesting. Also, in those games, one mistake by the defense can win or lose the game. Last year, it was Elandon Roberts falling down on coverage.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

To tell the truth, I am a little worried about this crew. The Rams are undefeated when playing in front of the head ref and the Pats are not, which leads me to believe they are a defensive, "let em play" type of crew, which could pose problems for Brady, et al. It is what it is though. Go Patriots!

There is no "crew". The Rams have never played in front of the crew which will be reffing SB53. No team has.

 

[PatsDeb]

There is no "crew". The Rams have never played in front of the crew which will be reffing SB53. No team has.

Agreed; hence my reference to the head ref. Still worried, but at the same time the refs and the NFL will probably bend over backwards to make sure the Rams don't win "again" because of the refs, two games in a row.

 

[dannydyn]

I say Brady should throw every time at that goddamn POS Coleman, and keep on drawing DPI flags.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Because the Pats are trained not to reach the football out etc. So yes, they changed it knowing it would mostly help the Eagles. And would you know it did.

I guarantee you that there was never a conversation in the NFL front office that went "Hey the Patriots are trained not to reach the ball out, let's change this catch rule that we've been getting killed for all year to take advantage of that fact and increase the chances that the Patriots lose in the Super Bowl!"

I'm guessing that nobody in the NFL front office is remotely aware that "The Patriots are trained not to reach the football out".

I think that catch rule was changed because it was an absolute embarrassment for the whole year, and the league didn't want the Super Bowl to be decided that way and have that be what everyone was talking about after the game. As was mentioned above, it had an equal chance of hurting the Eagles as it did the Pats.

 

[ViperGTS]

I guarantee you that there was never a conversation in the NFL front office that went "Hey the Patriots are trained not to reach the ball out, let's change this catch rule that we've been getting killed for all year to take advantage of that fact and increase the chances that the Patriots lose in the Super Bowl!"

I'm guessing that nobody in the NFL front office is remotely aware that "The Patriots are trained not to reach the football out".

I think that catch rule was changed because it was an absolute embarrassment for the whole year, and the league didn't want the Super Bowl to be decided that way and have that be what everyone was talking about after the game. As was mentioned above, it had an equal chance of hurting the Eagles as it did the Pats.

The rule is the rule. You don’t play the biggest game under different rules than the entire league did all year. So what if it “sucks”. Those are your rules. And you make the mistake of thinking the league is a bunch of morons. They aren’t. It is talked about on broadcasts about the Pats and ball security. Has been for years. The league knows this.

I agree the rule change could have affected the Pats as well. However, the probablity of helping the Eagles was greater. That is a fact due to the Pats strictness to ball security.

Point is, I believe both the Philly Special and that non catch ruled a catch cost the Pats 8 points. How much did the Pats lose by?

 

[TB_Helmet]

The rule is the rule. You don’t play the biggest game under different rules than the entire league did all year. So what if it “sucks”. Those are your rules. And you make the mistake of thinking the league is a bunch of morons. They aren’t. It is talked about on broadcasts about the Pats and ball security. Has been for years. The league knows this.

I agree the rule change could have affected the Pats as well. However, the probablity of helping the Eagles was greater. That is a fact due to the Pats strictness to ball security.

Point is, I believe both the Philly Special and that non catch ruled a catch cost the Pats 8 points. How much did the Pats lose by?

I agree it was BS that they changed the rules before the game. That should have happened in the offseason.

I disagree that the league isn't a bunch of morons. Look at how dumb they were in the handling of Deflategate. Or anything else. They're ****ing idiots.

And there's a difference between understanding that the Pats value ball security vs knowledge of a very specific aspect of that which is being coached not to reach the ball over the goal line as they're being tackled. The former is widely known, the latter is much more subtle. And in terms of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is the most likely), it is far more likely that they changed the rule to avoid being embarrassed by catch / no catch than because they thought it would hurt the Patriots due to their tendency not to reach the ball out while being tackled.

Over the past week on this board, I've been harping on not putting forth conspiracy theories, since it's come up a lot with the missed DPI in the NFC game. I just think we're better than that. I always think it's dumb when other fanbases (especially the Steelers) think that the game is fixed. It's a bad look, and if I seriously thought that the league was instructing the league to call the game a certain way to make sure one team wins, then I'd stop watching immediately (and if other people think it's fixed and don't stop watching, then they're the biggest suckers on earth).

 

[ViperGTS]

I agree it was BS that they changed the rules before the game. That should have happened in the offseason.

I disagree that the league isn't a bunch of morons. Look at how dumb they were in the handling of Deflategate. Or anything else. They're ****ing idiots.

And there's a difference between understanding that the Pats value ball security vs knowledge of a very specific aspect of that which is being coached not to reach the ball over the goal line as they're being tackled. The former is widely known, the latter is much more subtle. And in terms of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is the most likely), it is far more likely that they changed the rule to avoid being embarrassed by catch / no catch than because they thought it would hurt the Patriots due to their tendency not to reach the ball out while being tackled.

Over the past week on this board, I've been harping on not putting forth conspiracy theories, since it's come up a lot with the missed DPI in the NFC game. I just think we're better than that. I always think it's dumb when other fanbases (especially the Steelers) think that the game is fixed. It's a bad look, and if I seriously thought that the league was instructing the league to call the game a certain way to make sure one team wins, then I'd stop watching immediately (and if other people think it's fixed and don't stop watching, then they're the biggest suckers on earth).

Oh, they are FAR from idiots. Far from it. That Deflategate issue wasn’t bad for them. It cemented their power. That was the singular goal of theirs as well as hurting the Pats. The league hasn’t suffered from anything as they are as popular and powerful as ever.

There is no harm in pointing out blantant missed calls and asking what was that about. These officials are pros. Simple calls such as are there enough men on the LoS? Did the defensive player clean out the receiver before the ball got there? These are simple calls that if not called are very questionable.

Just like Dee Ford. He was closer to the LoS than whatever Philly reciever was on the Philly Special. If they hadn’t called Ford, same deal.