28
Nov
2011
Jerome Simpson performs most blatant flop in NFL history (GIF)
From Sunday’s Bengals-Browns tilt, watch as Bengals WR Jerome Simpson turns in the most egregious flop in the history of organized football, after being pushed by LB Scott Fujita … (keep your eyes on the left of the screen):
(Image via mocksession.com)
Check out the extra leg kick for emphasis while Simpson is in the air, as though he had been shot in the chest with a cannon. And the worst part is, he actually drew a penalty against Fujita with this performance!!!
I mean, it’s a pretty decent Manu Ginobli impression, but let’s pray that the NFL doesn’t start going the way of the NBA and international soccer, with players taking dives like this at every chance the get in an effort to draw flags. It’s football, gentlemen. Let’s act like it.
2
Nov
2011
Ndamukong Suh speaks with Roger Goodell to clarify rules against his awesomeness
Suh was fined $20k for this hit on Andy Dalton during the preseason (Photo: BleacherReport.com)
Detroit Lions’ DT Ndamukong Suh sat down with commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday in New York, to help gain a better understanding of the NFL’s rules as it relates to Suh’s particularly physical style of play. Suh initiated the meeting himself, having been flagged for three personal fouls already this season, and fined three times (for a total of $42,000) for over-zealous hits since entering the league in 2009. As a result, Suh has started to gain a reputation as a dirty player, and was looking for some clarity during Detroit’s bye week as to exactly what he’s doing wrong.
This preseason, Suh hypothesized that he “put refs in a tough situation because of his strength” … in other words, he’s just too much of a beast for the pro game, and referees have no choice but to throw a flag when faced with his awesomeness. And there’s probably a bit of truth to that statement, since it often seems as though Suh simply overpowers opposing lineman on his way into the backfield and destroys anything that gets in his path. So, Suh understandably wanted to know if the issue can really be fixed by adjusting his technique, or if it’s an unavoidable result of the way he plays the game.
3
Oct
2011
Did the Refs Cost Arizona the Game on Victor Cruz’ fumble/non-fumble? (VIDEO)
Clearly nobody touched Cruz while he was on the ground (Photo: Getty Images via WashingtonPost.com)
This is undoubtedly the most controversial play of Week 4 in the NFL.
From yesterday’s Giants-Cardinals game, with New York trailing by 3 points and driving with 2:46 remaining, Eli Manning hit WR Victor Cruz for a 19-yard completion. At the end of the play, Cruz fell to the ground, put the ball on the grass and stood up to return to the huddle. One problem: Cruz wasn’t touched by a Cardinals defender while he was down, so theoretically, the ball should still be alive. Or that’s at least what most everyone watching the play assumed, and Arizona jumped on the ball, thinking they had secured a crucial turnover.
But not so fast. Referee Jerome Booger had blown the play dead, ruling that Cruz had “given himself up” on the play. Because of that ruling, and despite a challenge flag thrown by Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt, the play was not reviewable.
Watch the play for yourself, and decide if Cruz should have been ruled down:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
27
Sep
2011
Pretty Much Everyone Thinks Michael Vick is a Whiner (PIC)
(Image: NY Post via SportressofBlogitude)
Following Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants – which he left early with an injured right hand - Eagles QB Michael Vick took some time to complain about the officiating in the game, wondering why the hits he takes don’t draw the 15-yard penalty flags that most quarterbacks in the league get. Since that time, pretty much everyone in the world – including most current and former NFL QBs – have been rolling their eyes at Vick, and suggesting that he keep his mouth shut. The banner pic above was the back cover of today’s NY Post, in which the Giants players show no sympathy for Vick, and expresses what a lot of us have been thinking for the past two days.
Leading the charge is former super-bowl winning QB and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who seems to be making it his personal crusade to make sure that everyone knows how out of line Vick was with his comments. Yesterday, Dilfer went on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio to call Vick out, saying that a simple look at the numbers would prove that Vick draws as many penalites, if not moreso than the rest of the QBs in the league. He also suggested that Vick broke every QB man code in the book by complaining about hits, especially in a league that goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks.
And on last night’s Monday Night Countdown, when Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson started to defend Vick’s statement, Dilfer launched into another tirade, pointing out video of a helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons QB Matt Ryan from last week that didn’t draw a flag, and essentially calling Vick a big pussy:
“Michael Vick does not have a case here. It’s perception vs reality. He’s not taking any more hits than anybody else is taking from the pocket. It happens all the time, it’s a subjective call, and it’s not happening more to Michael Vick than anybody else. Frankly, I’m a little disgusted that a quarterback’s going to get up there and complain about that after the game when the Eagles have other issues.
13
Sep
2010
VIDEO: Alex Barron’s holding penalty costs Cowboys the game
Cowboys OT Alex Barron clotheslines Redskins DE Brian Orakpo (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Alex Barron is probably the least popular person in Dallas today.
In Sunday night’s NFC East 13-7 loss to the Washington Redskins, the Cowboys right tackle was flagged three times for holding, including the most critical of them all – on the final play of the game. What would have been a game-winning 13-yard TD strike from Tony Romo to Roy Williams was nullified when Barron grabbed DE Brian Orakpo around the neck, eliciting the familiar yellow hanky:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
13
Sep
2010
VIDEO: Calvin Johnson & Lions get screwed by ridiculous “going to the ground” rule
Apparently two feet, a hand and a hip down do not make a completion these days (Photo: Tom Cruze/AP)
This is the play that everyone is going to be talking about today: with :31 seconds remaining in the Lions/Bears game, backup QB Shaun Hill (in for the injured Matt Stafford), connects in the endzone with WR Calvin Johnson on what appears to be a game winning touchdown. But not so fast …
On the play, Johnson outjumps the defender to make the catch, gets both feet down in the endzone and then falls to the ground, landing on his left hip while holding the ball firmly in his extended right hand. He then places the ball on the ground as he got up to celebrate. Apparently that’s not good enough for a catch in the NFL these days, because the play was ruled an incompletion, even following a lengthy booth review. The Bears held on for a 19-14 win.
Watch the play for yourself, and decide if this is a completion:
VIDEO AND DISCUSSION AFTER THE JUMP
21
Oct
2009
SHOCKER: Mike Pereira defends Referees on Browns/Steelers call (video)
Every Wednesday on NFL Total Access, Mike Pereira – the NFL’s VP of Officiating – joins Rich Eisen for a segment called “Official Review” where they discuss the most controversial calls from the previous weekend.
Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? The problem is that Pereira is clearly a robot programmed to back up his part-time employees’ calls. No matter how egregious they are, no matter how much blatant visual evidence there is to the contrary, Pereira always seems to find a way to justify or rationalize the calls on the field.
The most recent example came this evening, when Pereira reviewed this astonishingly bad call from Sunday’s Steelers/Browns match-up:
Fair enough, Mike. The camera shot was definitely from an angle, which could account for a skewed perspective of the ball position on TV. So the other people on the field must have seen the same thing Anderson saw, right? Surely the Steelers felt they had gotten the first down, right? Not exactly:
Even Steelers center Justin Hartwig said the ball was “definitely short” of the first-down marker.
“I have no idea how they gave us a first down, but we’ll take it,” Hartwig said. “I’d say (it was short) by two chain links. It was obvious to everybody playing on the field. I don’t know how they called it the way they did, but … we’re not going to complain about it.”
“It was a close play – and we got lucky,” Roethlisberger told the Associated Press after the game.
Huh. That’s weird. I guess ole’ Walt must have had a better view than the center and QB on the play. Which was a QB sneak, mind you.
Uhhhh … Mike?
16
Sep
2009
Did the Raiders get hosed by the refs on Monday Night?
The Oakland Raiders put up more of a fight against the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night than anyone could have expected, losing 24-20 and forcing the Chargers to mount a last-minute drive to secure the victory.
Earlier the game, an apparent Raiders TD was taken of the board when the refs ruled that rookie WR Louis Murphy did not maintain control of the ball as he went to the ground in the end zone. Now, there’s no way to tell whether or not Oakland would have been able to go on and win the game had the TD stood, but a Raiders fan (clearly with too much time on his hands) made this video of the play, in an effort to prove that Murphy’s catch should have been ruled a completion:
In case you’re curious, here’s the official rule, as it is written:
Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 1 of the NFL Rule Book (page 51) states that “if a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact with an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.”
Definitely a close call, and I can see it going either way. HOWEVER, the play was ruled as a completion on the field, so I’m not sure how the officials (dressed in their best TGI Fridays uniforms) decided to overturn the call via replay. And at the end of the video above, you also see a similar play from the Patriots game from the very same night which was ruled a completion by the officials.
To no one’s surprise, the NFL has issued a statement backing up the reversal. But to fans, this is just further ammunition for the argument that the NFL needs to make their refs full-time employees, and work toward gaining better consistency among officials from game-to-game. Whether or not you agree with this particular call or not, it’s the stark contrast between the different crews that is maddening for teams, coaches and fans alike.
Note to Roger Goodell: pro football is a billion dollar industry, and yet you inexplicably continue to allow games to be determined by part-time employees. In the immortal words of Ochocinco, “Child, please!”
