Oh no. Bill Vinovich is the main ref for Patriots game

[rmcjacket23]

Well if you have only three challenges you should use them wisely. So I don't think it would change the game too much with the time and speed. It would give something more to grasp on when you think some situations are going totally wrong against your team because of the reffs. So I don't see any problems with this. There will be always something that the reffs miss and they will always make bad calls but now you could do something else than just to yell at the reffs and hope they would change their mind.

But that's the point... you'd have to spend an inordinate amount of time as a coach decifering which penalties you should challenge and which you shouldn't. Right now, there's only a handful of players per game that would require a challenge (some games there aren't even any), but without question every game has calls made by officials that are worthy of taking another look at.

 

Plus, what is the limit? Are you limited to only challenging plays where penalties are called, or can you challenge literally any play, regardless of whether a flag is thrown or not? If so, you've now basically got every single play in a game in question, since holding penalties and illegal contact arguably happens on every single play in every single game.

 

In short, if I'm a realistic fan, I'm not expecting any movement towards having all penalties getting reviewed anytime soon. I think its an unrealistic pipedream.

[Petteri Moilanen]

"without question every game has calls made by officials that are worthy of taking another look at."

I think the most obvious misjudged penalties would get the coaches attention.

"Plus, what is the limit? Are you limited to only challenging plays where penalties are called"

Just the called ones.

Times change: "The NFL first adopted a limited replay system in 1986, and the league's current system of challenging calls began in 1999."

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/5722/ravens-owner-supports-replay-changes




 

[rmcjacket23]

"without question every game has calls made by officials that are worthy of taking another look at."

I think the most obvious misjudged penalties would get the coaches attention.

"Plus, what is the limit? Are you limited to only challenging plays where penalties are called"

Just the called ones.

Times change: "The NFL first adopted a limited replay system in 1986, and the league's current system of challenging calls began in 1999."

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/5722/ravens-owner-supports-replay-changes

 

So, in essence, the penalty that sparked this discussion (the PI on Dallas) wouldn't have been challengable?

 

That's one of the main reasons I feel pretty confident in saying that its not going to happen anytime soon... because if you're only allowed to challenge called penalties, you probably aren't even addressing half the problem. Half the problem is the penalties that AREN'T called, not the one's that are.

 

In which case, if I'm an official and I'm actually interested in getting the call "right", I'm throwing more flags now, not less. Generally, the old adage is that if you're not sure if its a penalty or not, don't throw the flag. But if you're now allowed to challenge any flag thrown, then I'd be inclined to call more penalties, out of the fear of being scrutinized for calls that I didn't make more than the one's I did.

 

So, more penalties, more time.

 

I don't see how the NFL benefits from this at all.

[Petteri Moilanen]

I get what you mean and I agree with you that this will not change anytime soon but you gotta start somewhere.

Where there are humans you'll find errors.

[Militant X 1]

If we don't commit penalties it won't matter... 

 

Seriously, concerns over the refs are overblown. Don't do stupid stuff and you won't get penalized.

 

I'm serious!  Like who keeps up with the names of these refs from game to game?  Just ball and there will be no issues.

[The Mom Gene]

Anyone catch Inside the NFL last night? Had a section of Harbs Mic'd up, showed me everything I needed about how ref's and blown or missed calls can change a game.

Harbs sees Stealers cheating and moving a downed ball forward. He then voices his concern to the side judge. Next he notes that the line marker has been moved forward to match the illegitimate ball location. Harbs gets into with the fella holding the line marker. Actually gets called a cry baby by some scrub side line employee. The back and forth was humorous if not for the fact that Harbs caught them in the act of cheating.

How much did the ball move? According to Harbs one full length. Ask yourself, how many games, downs, and TD's would a ball advanced by one full length completely change?

Sure, sure, go on believing that the Ref's and a bad call or two can't change a game.

Care to look at a bridge I got for sale while we're talking??

Care to look at a how a bad call can completely change a game???  Take a look at the Cowboys/Lions game.

[Neal Could Block the SUN!!]

I'm serious!  Like who keeps up with the names of these refs from game to game?  Just ball and there will be no issues.

Fairly certain that Upshaw was just ballin' when he hit Big Ben. One of the hardest QB's to take down in the league, a lot of question as to the malignancy of the hit, and yet a 15 yard unsportsmanlike.

Did Joe get any calls like that when Harrison and crew were crashing our backfield??

Refs can totally change the game. Ask the SF fans watching SB47 about this.

[The Mom Gene]

Fairly certain that Upshaw was just ballin' when he hit Big Ben. One of the hardest QB's to take down in the league, a lot of question as to the malignancy of the hit, and yet a 15 yard unsportsmanlike.

Did Joe get any calls like that when Harrison and crew were crashing our backfield??

Refs can totally change the game. Ask the SF fans watching SB47 about this.

Nope....  and no calls when he had his helmet ripped off either....

[tolucaraven]

Crews are split in playoffs. Last week. Blakeman crew who did our game...called the OPI vs Smith Sr at Bengals. Vinovich also was Referee when Ravens beat Denver in 2012.

[rmcjacket23]

Crews are split in playoffs. Last week. Blakeman crew who did our game...called the OPI vs Smith Sr at Bengals. Vinovich also was Referee when Ravens beat Denver in 2012.

And Vinovich is also one of two referees likely to do the SB, so I don't see a problem with this.

 

As I said earlier... not a single ref named in the business that fans would universally be OK with. They hate them all, so why their name matters is beyond me.

[ellicottraven]

His crew completely ripped us in half @ the steelers game (week 8) this season.   

 

 

What do you think about him for the Patriots game?   

I suppose now we will not only have to beat the Patriots but the referee bias too! I am sure Kraft is at work with his buddies in the NFL.

[Fear_the_Raven]

 

At the end of the day, poor officiating calls have been made in every single NFL game since existence. Good teams overcome it, bad teams use it as an excuse when they lose.

When you have two teams that are equally good, in a very evenly matched game, poor officiating calls that more often go against one team will certainly sway the outcome.  Good teams can sometimes overcome it, but the odds decrease as the quality of their opponent rises.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

So, that specific play was their only chance to win the game? Is that what you're telling me?

 

My high school coach always said that if we let refs decide the game, then we didn't do our job and we deserved to lose. I'd bet that's the mentality most NFL coaches share too.

No. What I'm telling you is that one bad call or no call can determine the outcome of a game.

With all due respect to your high school coach, what he told you makes very little sense. Referees

commonly make poor calls and no calls over which a team has no control; it does not follow logically that your team deserved to lose because you let the high school refs decide the outcome of the game.

Frankly,I'm less concerned about poor officiating as long as it's consistently bad for both teams.

I've never had any reason to question the integrity of high school officiating. I do have reasons to question the judgment and the integrity of NFL officials, especially after the way the NFL handled

the Ray Rice mess. If you think certain NFL officials have no bias against the Ravens because of what Ray Rice did, then I think you are naïve. Perhaps we'll all know better after we see how Bill

Vinovich officiates the game with NE. Remember, just because a person is paranoid doesn't mean that

someone isn't out to get him. The NFL wants to see Bob Kraft's team play the Denver Broncos in the

AFC Championship game. Hopefully, Joe Flacco and Andrew Luck will have something to say about it.

[balfan23]

His crew completely ripped us in half @ the steelers game (week 8) this season.   

 

 

What do you think about him for the Patriots game?   

Oh crap ... this was him? That game was horrible. 

[TheRavenouseD2008]

This is the guy who was thrown out of  World Cup on his head for fixing games

[rmcjacket23]

No. What I'm telling you is that one bad call or no call can determine the outcome of a game.

With all due respect to your high school coach, what he told you makes very little sense. Referees

commonly make poor calls and no calls over which a team has no control; it does not follow logically that your team deserved to lose because you let the high school refs decide the outcome of the game.

Frankly,I'm less concerned about poor officiating as long as it's consistently bad for both teams.

I've never had any reason to question the integrity of high school officiating. I do have reasons to question the judgment and the integrity of NFL officials, especially after the way the NFL handled

the Ray Rice mess. If you think certain NFL officials have no bias against the Ravens because of what Ray Rice did, then I think you are naïve. Perhaps we'll all know better after we see how Bill

Vinovich officiates the game with NE. Remember, just because a person is paranoid doesn't mean that

someone isn't out to get him. The NFL wants to see Bob Kraft's team play the Denver Broncos in the

AFC Championship game. Hopefully, Joe Flacco and Andrew Luck will have something to say about it.

Explain to me how the Ray Rice situation affects NFL officials in any way, shape, or form?

 

Does it affect their paycheck? Does it affect their ability to officiate a game? You do realize that the majority if not all of NFL officials have full time jobs elsewhere correct?

 

If you are suggesting that corporate people in the NFL may have a bias towards the Ravens, then MAYBE you have an argument, except that doesn't mean that they are willing to risk their jobs and the overall integrity of the league to bribe officials into making calls that go against them (which doesn't guarantee the Ravens lose anyway). The risk doesn't even come close to meeting the reward in that instant.

 

Certainly didn't seem to be any favoritism in the Steelers game, which would have been a great opportunity for them to have some, since the Steelers are a national brand with huge drawing power. In fact, you could argue that it was the Steelers getting screwed based on some of the calls we saw last weekend.

 

At some point, you guys have got to put the pipe down.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

Explain to me how the Ray Rice situation affects NFL officials in any way, shape, or form?

 

Does it affect their paycheck? Does it affect their ability to officiate a game? You do realize that the majority if not all of NFL officials have full time jobs elsewhere correct?

 

If you are suggesting that corporate people in the NFL may have a bias towards the Ravens, then MAYBE you have an argument, except that doesn't mean that they are willing to risk their jobs and the overall integrity of the league to bribe officials into making calls that go against them (which doesn't guarantee the Ravens lose anyway). The risk doesn't even come close to meeting the reward in that instant.

 

Certainly didn't seem to be any favoritism in the Steelers game, which would have been a great opportunity for them to have some, since the Steelers are a national brand with huge drawing power. In fact, you could argue that it was the Steelers getting screwed based on some of the calls we saw last weekend.

 

At some point, you guys have got to put the pipe down.

First of all, friend, I don't smoke.

Secondly, that's what makes America great. You're entitled to

your opinion and I'm entitled to mine but neither of us is entitled to making up facts and the fact

is there are many calls and/or no calls in the NFL that have no rational explanation. The Golden Tate TD against GB and the DPI call that was, oh I'm sorry, not DPI are just a couple notable examples,

especially at a time when instant replay is available to the six officials who officiate each NFL

game.

Lastly, I did not say any officials were being bribed by anyone. In an earlier post, I did ask in a

tongue-in-cheek or rhetorical way who "pays off" the officials and, unless I'm mistaken, the NFL

officials are paid rather handsomely for their cherry jobs. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

[rmcjacket23]

First of all, friend, I don't smoke.

Secondly, that's what makes America great. You're entitled to

your opinion and I'm entitled to mine but neither of us is entitled to making up facts and the fact

is there are many calls and/or no calls in the NFL that have no rational explanation. The Golden Tate TD against GB and the DPI call that was, oh I'm sorry, not DPI are just a couple notable examples,

especially at a time when instant replay is available to the six officials who officiate each NFL

game.

Lastly, I did not say any officials were being bribed by anyone. In an earlier post, I did ask in a

tongue-in-cheek or rhetorical way who "pays off" the officials and, unless I'm mistaken, the NFL

officials are paid rather handsomely for their cherry jobs. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

So basically the whole "the NFL doesn't want the Ravens to win because of Ray Rice" theory is just a bunch of nonesense.

 

Good, glad we agree.

 

As far the "rational explanation", there actually is one. Its called they made a mistake. They are humans after all. Not every bad call that you don't understand means that the NFL is out to get somebody.

 

This isn't the X-files.

[Raven07]

If we don't commit penalties it won't matter... 

 

Seriously, concerns over the refs are overblown. Don't do stupid stuff and you won't get penalized.

 

this. the best way to avoid a bad ref, is to not make bad plays.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

So basically the whole "the NFL doesn't want the Ravens to win because of Ray Rice" theory is just a bunch of nonesense.

 

Good, glad we agree.

 

As far the "rational explanation", there actually is one. Its called they made a mistake. They are humans after all. Not every bad call that you don't understand means that the NFL is out to get somebody.

 

This isn't the X-files.

We don't agree and if you weren't a Ravens fan I'd send you some crow for breakfast. Didn't you hear our head coach's complaint about the illegal and deceptive plays by the Patriots and that he had to

take a penalty to get the NFL officials to understand what they were doing wrong. Why don't you just

change your moniker to Wiley Coyote Genius? If nothing else, the Patriots should have been penalized for an illegal formation, but then we've come to expect nothing less from Bill Belicheat and the NFL

apparently condones what they did. How were we supposed to know whether Shane Vereen was an

ineligible receiver or not? C'mon man! This is supposed to be the NFL, not fraternity football. Bill Vinovich did it again. BTW, the taunting penalty against Torrey was ridiculous.

[K-Dog]

The taunting penalty is ridiculous any way.

[The Raven]

Like I said.... refs were a nonfactor.