TheOak

What I saw yesterday has proven that Officiating is not consistent from one crew to the other so its not consistent from game to game.

Against Carolina we were allowed to play.
Last night they were calling some really questionable penalties, and missing some blatant penalties..

This was our crew last night
Mike Carey - NFL and NCAA Referees

WhoDat!656

My bad! I forgot that a team playing badly excused the officials from doing their job properly.

The officiating this year, and not just in Saints game, has rivaled the train wreck we endured with the replacement refs!

There is zero consistency with the calls; they flagged the Saints for hitting a defenseless receiver, (which was questionable at best), but the Rams aren't flagged for doing the same thing.

And don't forget this non-call!

Mardigras9

That hit was legit. The real question is why did Jenkins get called for hitting a defensless receiver?

SaintsBro

Wah wah wah. Turn on the waterworks.

Oak is right, it varies from crew to crew. And that was a second tier crew.

Look. I wish I could remember the article, and give a link to it, but it was a long time ago. About a decade ago, they did a survey with referees, in real NFL games. What they did was they stripped the team names off the games, made it anonymous, it was Game 1, team A and team B, Game 2, team C versus team D and such. For about a hundred or so games, maybe a season. And after each game was over, in the locker room, they gave the ref crews anonymous questionnaires, to ask them what they thought about the game, and about the two teams they just officiated. Which team did you think was the better team, A or B? Which team was more physical and aggressive? Which team cheated or played to the edge of the rules? Which team was better coached? Did the better team win today? etc.

They asked the refs subjective questions about the teams and the game they had just officiated, "off the record," without their names.

Then, they matched up the supposedly "blind" questionnaires, BACK up to the video of the actual games -- and studied the types and number of penalty calls and in particular the first down ball spots, the numbers of penalties and the "controversial" plays, in each specific game, in detail. They had a list of things to look for -- spotting the ball favorably on first downs was one of them, for example -- to see if the refs perceptions on paper matched what happened in the games.

Turns out, the calls were pretty evened out, over 100 or so games...it was pretty balanced....the popular perception that "the calls even out in the end" was generally correct.... BUT, after looking at the questionnaires, they found the refs gave better calls, and visibly better ball spots, and gave the benefit of the doubt, more times, to the team that they think is the better team, of the two. And personal fouls often came in bunches, skewed towards one team -- like once they start calling them on one team, they tend to keep calling them, that day.

They're human. And they're rewarding good football, and penalizing what they perceive as bad football. If you are playing like crap, like we were yesterday, they will tell you with a flag! Or they will tell you to "talk to the hand" and blow you off, instead of giving you a good call or a good spot when you need it.

Again, sorry I don't have the link to this. It was a cool article. Bottom line, if you play like crap all day, the refs aren't gonna be nice or do you any favors.

TheOak

Last night we didnt make the required adjustments after the 1st qtr, half, etc..

What is becoming evident in this league is that you really need to understand the officiating crew and make how you play the game adjustments also. Momentum really gets jacked when you come out aggressive and get 15 yard penalties, its also difficult to start playing aggressive when you've been slammed a few times and no flag was thrown.

Officiating crew adjustments to our aggressiveness need to be made before the kick off.

saintsfan403

The officiating wasn't an excuse for us sucking last night...but taking a TD off the board for a bull sh*t call and then having a field goal blocked (our fault) is absolutely deflating...especially when it looked like a rally was possible at that the time.
What drives me nuts is that there is 0 consistency with how games are being called. How are players supposed to know what is clean and what will get you flagged when the rules differ from week to week?

Schmohams

Why was that penalty called against us at the end of the game? I saw the Rams kicker take a cheap shot but we got flagged, not that it mattered because we had 5 seconds but I was confused.

Rell&Gold

Regardless of how we were playing if there are clear penalties they should be called period point blank, it's not oh well the saints suck today so don't throw no flags

SaintsBro

There were "clear" penalties that were called against the Saints. Because the Saints SUCKED and were playing badly, hitting out of bounds, unnecessary roughness, illegal hands to the face, which our lineman did because he was consistently being beat, etc. If you are a good team, playing well, good football, the refs will GIVE you all the calls or non-calls or judgement calls that you need. The Saints STUNK yesterday, they were sloppy and undisciplined and disorganized, and the refs called them on it. You want the refs to give the Saints a bunch of easy breaks, and coddle them, just because they are playing badly? That's not how it works.

Choupique

the refs make me want to hoculi