The Dude

As much *****ing as I do about all the bad calls that constantly get called on us I feel like I have to point out some of the calls today. We were definitely and obviously getting serious make up calls. A fumble taken off the board because they couldn’t tell who had the ball? Seriously I have never seen a pile up where one of the two teams didn’t come up with the ball. I’ve seen them give it to the wrong team but not just straight up nullify the fumble.

When is the last time you have seen a player ejected for helmet to helmet? As big a deal as they make about the helmet rule I have seen it happen over and over without being called. When they do call it you get a penalty and fine at most. I made a comment on here a couple of weeks back that a player who hit one of our guys helmet to helmet should have been ejected. Several people said it never happens. That particular hit was way worse than the one today.

None of these changed the outcome, we still would have won but Tampa kind of got screwed. We think the league hates us (they do) we always get screwed with scheduling too. Tampa has 7 SEVEN road games in a row one of which is in London. Maybe we got kicked up the ladder on the leagues “Teams we want to butt ream” list.

"Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."

neugey

The non-fumble recovery was a dubious call. And they could have called that PI on Thomas on the challenge and I wouldn't have argued much. It was unusual seeing the opponent get the bummer calls, but either way we still had enough to beat the Bucs today IMO.

Crusader

The helmet to helmet was a no brainer, I don't understand why they didn't eject him straight away. It is exactly that type of play they wanna get away from, launching into a offensive player and hitting him in the head with the crown of the helmet.

AsylumGuido

This is the crux of why he was ejected. There have been hits that may have looked more violent that did not result in an ejection, but the league pointed out that "launching" and "using the crown of the helmet" would result in ejections. It was a point of emphasis.

K Major

I'm still wondering what happened on that phantom flag when Eli Apple had PERFECT coverage on the WR ... 3rd and long.

Refs never gave a jersey number on that one.

The Dude

If it’s the same play I’m thinking of that flag came in on a hold by another player, not Eli. I was pissed at first too until they clarified who the flag was on.
I totally agree with the helmet to helmet disqualification. There should be a disqualification every time but they NEVER actually do it.

SaintSproles

The fumble I was shocked they didn't overturn.

The ejection should have occurred. That was an egregious helmet to helmet.

Cruize

Was the Bucs OLineman even fined for the hit on the CB? I'm really suprised he's still alive. That was brutal. Saw some HORRIBLE roughing the passer calls this weekend as usual. Stop with all the holding calls. Allow a QB to actually be tackled. And, when the evidence is CLEAR to overturn what's called on the field, overturn the dang call. Those 3 things and the game is watchable to everyone.

AsylumGuido

Perhaps they didn't involve launching and using the crown of the helmet. That is a more egregious subset of the helmet to helmet hits.

POINTS OF EMPHASIS 2019

USE OF HELMET

The Officiating Department will continue to emphasize the Use of Helmet rule adopted in 2018.

The officiating standards for the Use of Helmet rule are:

Lowering the head (not to include bracing for contact)

Initiating contact with the helmet to any part of an opponent. Contact does not have to be to an opponent’s head or neck area — lowering the head and initiating contact to an opponent’s torso, hips, and lower body, is also a foul.

Making contact on an opponent (both offense and defense)

Players can be ejected for Use of Helmet fouls — and all ejections will be reviewed by senior officials in Art McNally GameDay Central in New York.

The standards for ejection are, if:

The player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet; <--- (crown of helmet)

The player delivering the blow had an unobstructed path to his opponent;

The contact was clearly avoidable

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

blackangold

The refs were ok ... we had some calls go against us. The Bucs had a few odd calls against them. The fumble by Harris was a tough one, But i agree with the refs, there wasn’t enough evidence of recovery. It looked like a saint was the first to it although a buc came out of the scrum with it.