Shaking my cane at the volume of Flags and Reviews

[Darrone]

I'll start by saying I want officials to get calls right, as often as possible.

BUT - the game is grinding to a halt. The NFL averaged 214 penalties per 16 game week in 2018, which felt like entirely too many already. It's been averaging 255 per week the first 2 weeks of the year, a 20% increase. Tack onto that all the time spent reviewing plays in order to assign a penalty like PI, something that is so subjective 100% of fans will either agree or disagree based on their jersey. Sure, we don't want another Rams/Saints obvious blown call, but are we really going to slow down every game, talking about whether two guys hand battling amounted to "interference"?

I really feel like the sport as a whole is at a tipping point. Great moments now have a ritual where you scan the field for yellow before you continue celebrating. Or worse wait for a huddled group of officials to decide what bar they are going to after the game before turning their mics on to make it looks like they really considered the holding call.

Maybe I'm old and want these new rules to get off my lawn. But this is a form of entertainment, first and foremost, and I want it to remain entertaining. There are enough forces in this world chipping away at Football's popularity, we don't need to destroy it from within.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

When the narrative changed from "wow what a play!" to "wait, was there a flag?", the boat already tipped. IIWII at this point, just have to hope they notice and loosen up a bit as the season progresses.

And it all started with the big bad Patriots beating up on Polian's coltsies.

 

[Pats1013]

I'll start by saying I want officials to get calls right, as often as possible.

BUT - the game is grinding to a halt. The NFL averaged 214 penalties per 16 game week in 2018, which felt like entirely too many already. It's been averaging 255 per week the first 2 weeks of the year, a 20% increase. Tack onto that all the time spent reviewing plays in order to assign a penalty like PI, something that is so subjective 100% of fans will either agree or disagree based on their jersey. Sure, we don't want another Rams/Saints obvious blown call, but are we really going to slow down every game, talking about whether two guys hand battling amounted to "interference"?

I really feel like the sport as a whole is at a tipping point. Great moments now have a ritual where you scan the field for yellow before you continue celebrating. Or worse wait for a huddled group of officials to decide what bar they are going to after the game before turning their mics on to make it looks like they really considered the holding call.

Maybe I'm old and want these new rules to get off my lawn. But this is a form of entertainment, first and foremost, and I want it to remain entertaining. There are enough forces in this world chipping away at Football's popularity, we don't need to destroy it from within.

NFL is in self destruct mode.Uncanny how dumb grown men can be in prominent positions.

 

[maust]

In terms of the overarching sentiment you are not alone. But then...

 

[mosslost]

I'll start by saying I want officials to get calls right, as often as possible.

BUT - the game is grinding to a halt. The NFL averaged 214 penalties per 16 game week in 2018, which felt like entirely too many already. It's been averaging 255 per week the first 2 weeks of the year, a 20% increase. Tack onto that all the time spent reviewing plays in order to assign a penalty like PI, something that is so subjective 100% of fans will either agree or disagree based on their jersey. Sure, we don't want another Rams/Saints obvious blown call, but are we really going to slow down every game, talking about whether two guys hand battling amounted to "interference"?

I really feel like the sport as a whole is at a tipping point. Great moments now have a ritual where you scan the field for yellow before you continue celebrating. Or worse wait for a huddled group of officials to decide what bar they are going to after the game before turning their mics on to make it looks like they really considered the holding call.

Maybe I'm old and want these new rules to get off my lawn. But this is a form of entertainment, first and foremost, and I want it to remain entertaining. There are enough forces in this world chipping away at Football's popularity, we don't need to destroy it from within.

Shaking your cane?.. I threw my darn false teeth at my TV yesterday!

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Agreement, when watching a play, I look for the flag graphic to pop up. And how many times do we here the announcer say, "NO FLAGS". Almost like they're hoping there aren't any too, so they can just do their job and call the game instead of filling dead time with reviews. That always seems like the time for the audience to hear about Dan Fouts latest dental appointment....

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Nothing in the rules is making the refs throw more flags. DPI and OPI are officiated by the same rules as before.

Nothing to do with making them reviewable is causing more delays, since, like always, it requires a coach's challenge, and those are limited. The exception to this second point is in the last 2 minutes of each half, where it is a booth review.

Getting things right is worth it, even if it hurts my team. Gordon's OPI yesterday was a pick 3 or 4 yards downfield, outside the 1-yard legal limit, so it ought to be called. Cut-and-dried. Just like the one on KC last year that wasn't called that Bill was so upset about.

We all want fewer flags. The culprit would seem to be more "points of emphasis" rather than more things being reviewable.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Shaking your cane?.. I threw my darn false teeth at my TV yesterday!

are you joe biden ??

 

[Nikolai]

That always seems like the time for the audience to hear about Dan Fouts latest dental appointment....

I'd actually appreciate it if, during one of those, in each game, he did a review of the bottle of scotch he's housing for the game. You know, really get into it, the various flavor notes, the smoothness, etc

 

[TB_Helmet]

The end of the Panthers Bucs game was excruciating.

The PI reviews change a lot because many TDs now have to look at 5-6 additional players on offense and what they might have done to free up a WR. These new rule changes might have made the reviews reach a tipping point. All because of one play that didn’t go the Saints way.