Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Every other team’s fans say the lost a conference championship game due to a non call from the refs? I doubt that. And I am in no way blaming every loss on the refs. But I am saying the refs can determine the outcome of a game and take it out of a team’s hands.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Yes. Every other team’s fans complain about EVERY team’s loss claiming we lost bc... “ref reasons”. Whether it was week one or the championship game fans universally state: “we lost bc:... <insert reason here>“ and again almost universally the fan base will use “ref’s” as reason #1.

The Rams/Saints DPI was a missed call, clearly, unambiguously. And imho, the crew that missed the call should never have been allowed on the field again. Instead, Vinovich was selected to ref SBLIV. Effectively he was selected for “excellence” while completely failing on the field. That bothers me more than the missed call bc that truly does call into question the integrity of the NFL. There is no way to recompense the Saints organization fir human failure, mistakes. But, imvho, mistakes of that severity should have a punitive reaction, not a promotion.

Bottom line, all team’s complain about the ref’s..., in every single game ever played, and almost always we state: “our team lost bc the ref’s don’t like us”.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Well, that surely wasn’t what I was saying and as I pointed out in my breakdown of the losses this year I don’t blame every loss on the refs.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Maybe that's because the NFL has lousy officiating!:doh:

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Depends on what you hyper-analyze. Referee calls are judgemental, subjective even, and in no way controllable, even if the referee’s individually do have “call tendencies”. Since calls being made, or not, is out of the player’s ability, it is uncontrollable. Play on the field however, is controllable.

Difference of personalities my friend. I understand the logic you, among others, are using. I just don’t ascribe to it..., I consider it to be an “excuse”, not a reason. But, lol, as we’ve seen excuses can be real, sometimes the dog truly does eat the homework!, aka the Saints/Rams missed DPI call. I just don’t think it’s systemic to the product as a whole. To each their own though! Very little around here is “dogmatically” true. It’s just opinions and debates. Even stats, while quantifiably “true” are subjective in what they represent.

To be clear, you’re not wrong, nor am I right. I just see things a bit differently and am voicing my beliefs on a subject. It truly is that simple..., with me.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

That’s one way to look at things, lol. But if you call penalties using a computer, then the flags would fly on just about every play. And games would last eight hours or more, and be a bore to watch. Personally, I wish there were fewer calls, allowing playmakers to be playmakers. I could easily call OH and DPI on every play. Penalties should be egregious, not “technically” meeting the def’n of a penalty. For example, TH#91 received a roughing the passer call a handful of games back. Opposing QB (I can’t recall who it was off the top of my head) was passing, Trex pushed the OL into him, TRex put his hand in the air to block the pass, and as his arm came down, it contacted the QB’s helmet. He didn’t hit him, he wasn’t punching, there was no malice involved, unambiguously. imho, it was a bad call. The idea is to protect the QB from egregious contact, not just incidental contact.

I wish there were fewer of these calls. So, it depends on how you define “lousy”. lol. You have unique insight into that field that I don’t have though. An insight I can’t have.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I'm not disagreeing with you. I should have mentioned that it's lousy officiating because it's uneven and inconsistent. As a rugby referee with over 40 years experience. I've personally seen and/or refereed hundreds and hundreds of matches. All the good refs know who needs help and we sit and discuss them at tournaments and how to improve their game. We assign referee coaches to help those referees improve. I am a ref coach, a ref, and a rugby coach. I know what to look for and how to position myself. We pass this knowledge on to the lesser referees and elevate their game.

In essence I can spot a bad referee who is inconsistent or not doing a very good job. The NFL is littered with bad referees and the NFL even grades them but do they coach them up? Make them professional referees? No they do not and that is what is so frustrating. I watch the referees almost as much as the player. My mind has been trained to think that way.