What refs?

[Southpaw]

Somebody did not want one iota of "controversy" during that game. The rules of the game be damned. If those guys were the best the NFL has I am bewildered. That game set officiating into a downward spiral. When the euphoria is over I would hope someone has the cajones to dissect that shameless display.

 

[crisper57]

Meh. They let them play. I didn't have a rooting interest, so I wasn't influenced by wanting the refs to act a certain way (as I normally do with Cards games). I saw maybe one blatant missed call that should have been seen in real time. I prefer this method of officiating to the crews that continually insert themselves into the game 20+ times.

 

[moklerman]

Loved the outcome of the game but the officiating was pretty poor. The TD to the Eagles RB would have definitely been called back during the regular season. The hit on Cooks that knocked him out would have too. The Ertz TD would possibly have been overruled. Probably more that I'm forgetting.

I hate "letting them play" when they take it to such extremes and call a totally different game than how teams were forced to play all the way up to that point.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

It was called like a football game, which I enjoyed.

The fact we are all primed to figure out why those aren't catches, etc is part of the problem with the NFL.

 

[Dback Jon]

Meh. They let them play. I didn't have a rooting interest, so I wasn't influenced by wanting the refs to act a certain way (as I normally do with Cards games). I saw maybe one blatant missed call that should have been seen in real time. I prefer this method of officiating to the crews that continually insert themselves into the game 20+ times.

Yup - the refs were for the most part invisible. A couple of close calls could have been call on the Patriots.

Got the replay right as well.


On the first TD, as I said in game thread, not enough to overturn
Not sure on the Ertz TD how anyone would think that WASN'T a TD. He ran five yards with the ball. He was a runner then, just needed to cross the plane of the goalline.

Great no call on the hit on Cooks - he was not defenseless, and a runner. Perfectly legal hit

 

[oaken1]

I will give ya this... I was expecting to see the officials blatantly favor the Pats,...just like they did against jacksonville...
but they didnt, and if anything they favored Philly

the only thing I saw for certain was the TD at the back of the endzone... the foot landed on the line... the Ertz TD was a score every day of the week...worst they could say was he fumbled, but he recovered it anyway... the hit on the wr was legal,...dude was a runner at that point and the defender lead with his shoulder... but the league may levy a fine for it anyway

 

[moklerman]

I just think it's unfair to every team involved when games aren't officiated consistently. Which isn't to say that I think the regular season officiating should be how the SB should be called. But, changing things midstream is blatantly unfair.

Overall, not that many calls went against the Patriots but I think at least a couple did. Which just goes to show how a call here and there can make such a huge difference. Patriots have built a dynasty with those couple of calls usually going their way.

 

[Southpaw]

On the final hail mary pass there were a half dozen calls not called alone. A game without rules is just chaos.

It was embarrassing. The catch / no catch rules are simple to follow. The outcry about the "rule" is unwarranted. An almost catch is not a catch. The NFL is becoming the NBA with the refs. Scripted. Wait for the outcry when it will be legal to bet on all games and not just in Vegas.

 

[oaken1]

I just think it's unfair to every team involved when games aren't officiated consistently. Which isn't to say that I think the regular season officiating should be how the SB should be called. But, changing things midstream is blatantly unfair.

Overall, not that many calls went against the Patriots but I think at least a couple did. Which just goes to show how a call here and there can make such a huge difference. Patriots have built a dynasty with those couple of calls usually going their way.

I agree... but there is a pretty long history of the refs "letting them play" in the SB...

But NE wouldnt have even been there had the refs called a good game when they played the Jags.... Pats Oline was holding like crazy to keep TB alive.

 

[Lorenzo]

I prefer the type of officiating yesterday as far as penalty flags go. the less calls the better. but you have to be consistent and you have to call the blatant obvious ones (like when you put a guy in a headlock). I also thought the refs let both the eagles DBs and pats DBs get away with contact on an equal basis. and both questionable TDs were good for me. I thought the first one was tough to call, but I'm ok with staying with what's called.

 

[Lorenzo]

On the final hail mary pass there were a half dozen calls not called alone. A game without rules is just chaos.

It was embarrassing. The catch / no catch rules are simple to follow. The outcry about the "rule" is unwarranted. An almost catch is not a catch. The NFL is becoming the NBA with the refs. Scripted. Wait for the outcry when it will be legal to bet on all games and not just in Vegas.

I think a lot of this comes from video replay. self induced. now we expect every play to be perfect and reviewed to the letter of the law. it actually makes the game more difficult to enjoy for me. I think the NFL needs to go back to what we saw in the past. let them play in every game(not just the superbowl) so that we are used to that being the norm. and call the blatant calls only. but it is so hard...everyone has an opinion on this and rightfully so.

 

[Southpaw]

Yup - the refs were for the most part invisible. A couple of close calls could have been call on the Patriots.

Got the replay right as well.


On the first TD, as I said in game thread, not enough to overturn
Not sure on the Ertz TD how anyone would think that WASN'T a TD. He ran five yards with the ball. He was a runner then, just needed to cross the plane of the goalline.

Great no call on the hit on Cooks - he was not defenseless, and a runner. Perfectly legal hit

Incorrect on each take.

 

[crisper57]

Incorrect on each take.

If you don't mind me asking, how much exactly did you lose betting on the Pats?

 

[MigratingOsprey]

The tile of penalties not called on that hail mary are consistent with how hail mary's are called..... Always a ton of pushing and grabbing by everyone

The fact anyone can question the Ertz TD catch baffles me and just shows how much the NFL gets this wrong by doing frame by frame reviews of stuff that is basically subjective

 

[Southpaw]

The tile of penalties not called on that hail mary are consistent with how hail mary's are called..... Always a ton of pushing and grabbing by everyone

The fact anyone can question the Ertz TD catch baffles me and just shows how much the NFL gets this wrong by doing frame by frame reviews of stuff that is basically subjective

Including the one where Chris Hogan was tackled 12 yards from the line of scrimmage on that play? Considering that Gronk and Amendola were the only Pats near the end zone and the line of scrimmage was midfield, I would suggest that non call was not normal.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...ss-interference-call-on-super-bowl-hail-mary/


http://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2...nce-patriots-super-bowl-final-play-hail-mary/

 

[Dback Jon]

Incorrect on each take.

Nope. 100% correct on both. You are 100% wrong. Especially on the Ertz touchdown.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

There was illegal contact on Hogan as out appears Brady was still in the pocket, but he wasn't tackled.... Dude was at the goal line when the ball got there.

That type of stuff it's typical on hail mary attempts and typically isn't called

 

[TRW]

The officiating was lax both ways, in the end, the most egregious was the TD that would have been called incomplete ALL season.

But, the Eagles won the game and that's what will go down as a fact.

The Pats had plenty of opportunity to win but just didn't make the stops when needed.

I thought it was a great game. One of the best SB in recent memory.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

On the final hail mary pass there were a half dozen calls not called alone. A game without rules is just chaos.

It was embarrassing. The catch / no catch rules are simple to follow. The outcry about the "rule" is unwarranted. An almost catch is not a catch. The NFL is becoming the NBA with the refs. Scripted. Wait for the outcry when it will be legal to bet on all games and not just in Vegas.

Since when do they ever call PI on a hailmary?

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

There were two blatant PIs committed by Pats during the game. Both no-calls.

 

[wit3card]

Gosh Southpaw ... y

There was illegal contact on Hogan as out appears Brady was still in the pocket, but he wasn't tackled.... Dude was at the goal line when the ball got there.

That type of stuff it's typical on hail mary attempts and typically isn't called

100% true.

Southpaw, I don't know what you did loose or how strongly you detest the Eagles but, this wasn't a call you get normally. The pats could have got a holding call on o-line as well on that play. Didn't get called as well, as usual on hail marys.

When you look at such things, please look at the whole picture.

Officiating was very game oriented and all, but the both TD were okay, and I don't know how you can see that it was on the white line when no one can say that for sure.

 

[moklerman]

There were two blatant PIs committed by Pats during the game. Both no-calls.

There was one against Ertz on 3rd down that is commonly not called and it drives me nuts. I don't see how there's any rationalization for hitting a guy before the ball gets there and it not being PI.

 

[Southpaw]

Gosh Southpaw ... y

100% true.

Southpaw, I don't know what you did loose or how strongly you detest the Eagles but, this wasn't a call you get normally. The pats could have got a holding call on o-line as well on that play. Didn't get called as well, as usual on hail marys.

When you look at such things, please look at the whole picture.

Officiating was very game oriented and all, but the both TD were okay, and I don't know how you can see that it was on the white line when no one can say that for sure.

• Didn't bet a penny, didn't lose a penny. Just give a crap about the missing integrity of the game. NFL and integrity oxymoron
  
• "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin' ( that sucks ) .

 

[Southpaw]

Nope. 100% correct on both. You are 100% wrong. Especially on the Ertz touchdown.

IIRC you are one of the posters along with so many others who claim the Cards never get a call because the refs and the NFL are biased? Just askin'. If I am wrong let me know.

 

[NJCardFan]

On the final hail mary pass there were a half dozen calls not called alone. A game without rules is just chaos.

It was embarrassing. The catch / no catch rules are simple to follow. The outcry about the "rule" is unwarranted. An almost catch is not a catch. The NFL is becoming the NBA with the refs. Scripted. Wait for the outcry when it will be legal to bet on all games and not just in Vegas.

The Ertz TD was a TD. He caught the ball, took a full 2 steps(not his fault it takes 2 steps to go 5 yards), reaches the ball out, it crosses the plane, TD. The fact he hit the ground and the ball came out is irrelevant. If it's not a fumble when a runner rushing the ball, gets hit, hits the ground and the ball comes out then it's it's a non factor here.

Oh, and final penalty tally according to Yahoo...

Eagles-6 penalties for 35 yards
Patriots- 1 penalty for 5 yards. They got a 2nd flag that was declined. Again, it's virtually impossible to go a complete game with near no penalties and let alone 2 full games with a grand total of 2 penalties. Even the least penalized team in the league gets more than 3 flags thrown against them in 2 games.