officiating Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Facemask Penalty On The Lions Was The Right Call In The Moment
This will sound self-contradictory and bring consolation to absolutely no one, but the facemask call that extended the game and gave the Packers the chance to win on a hail mary was the wrong call—and one that no official should be blamed for making....
NFL Demotes Officiating Crew After Screwups In Cardinals-Niners Game
Sunday’s Cardinals-49ers game was a disaster for the officials, one that stood out even against the backdrop of an especially woeful season for the zebras. How bad was it? The crew responsible has been demoted from primetime....
Report: Bad Call At End Of Patriots-Bills Game Was Because Official Forgot He Wasn't In College
The inadvertent whistle is justly getting most of the attention, but the Patriots’ 20-13 win over the Bills was a terrible game all around for the zebras. And the Boston Globe has a source in the referees’ union who blames the blown call on the final play of the game on an official who mixed up a co...
What's Wrong With NFL Officiating?
It’s getting exhausting emerging from each weekend with our choice of questionable and downright bad refereeing decisions to analyze, but it feels unavoidable these days. I don’t know if it’s confirmation bias or if it’s real, but NFL officiating feels as bad this season as it’s ever been. Last nigh...
NFL Admits Officials Screwed Ravens Out Of A Win
Yesterday’s Jaguars-Ravens game ended with the Jags kicking a game-winning field goal on the final play of the game. According to an NFL spokesman, that play should have never happened, and the Ravens should have won....
ACC Suspends Officiating Crew That Allowed Miami To Beat Duke
The Atlantic Coast Conference has suspended both the on-field officiating crew and the replay official for allowing Miami’s game-winning kickoff return to stand during last night’s game against Duke....
The Ravens Are (Rightfully) Pissed Off About The Officiating
Every team has calls go against it over the course of the game, but two in particular boned the Ravens last night, both in big spots, and both more or less inexplicable. Baltimore WR Steve Smith is not going to let the officials get away with this: “Two stars. That’s what I’m putting on my Yelp.”...
The Steelers Mysteriously Lost 18 Seconds On Their Final Drive
As a reasonable person who wants sports to be fair and knows they wouldn’t exist otherwise, I’m so glad the Steelers didn’t lose the game because of 18 seconds that mysteriously disappeared from the clock before their game-winning drive. As a fan of drama and controversy, I wish the Steelers had got...
The Seahawks Know They Got Away With One
Now that we’ve had a night to sleep on the Seahawks’ controversial 13-10 win over the Lions, sealed by an uncalled “illegal bat,” let’s try to process what we saw—even as the NFL figures out what it can do to fix a very bad rule....
World's Worst Referee Takes Phone Call In The Middle Of A Game
Today was the highly anticipated and (in the words of our tipster) "always heated" battle between North Whidbey Middle School and Oak Harbor Middle School in Oak Harbor, Washington. But despite the high stakes of the matchup, one of the referees spent a minute chilling on his phone! C'mon man, the...
If You Pick Up A Flag, You Need A Better Explanation Than That
Let's get this caveat out of the way, and (in spirit) amend it to all future discussions of the picked-up pass-interference flag that appeared so crucial in the Lions' loss to the Cowboys: the no-call didn't cost Detroit the game. Failing to hold a lead cost Detroit the game, as did turning the ball...
NFL Penalties Are Getting Out Of Hand
There's been a lot of talk and writing about the NFL's new emphasis on its officials calling a tighter game, especially their cracking down on passing defense. But we're through two full weeks of preseason games now, long enough to discard anecdotal evidence for hard numbers. And those numbers are s...
Jeff Triplette's Crew Screwed Up Another Big Call
For the second time in two weeks, the NFL has had to come out and admit that the Jeff Triplette-led officiating crew blew a major call, this time even with the assistance of a video review....
NFL Admits Officials Screwed Up Washington's Downs
Here's the full statement from league VP of officiating Dean Blandino, who we've heard an awful lot from this season:...
How Everyone Screwed Up On Washington's Mistaken First Down
Washington thought they had a first down. The chains moved. The stadium scoreboard said first down. Kyle Shanahan called the next play as if the Skins had a new set of downs. But the one person whose ruling mattered, referee Jeff Triplette, signaled third down. Chaos reigns....
Chart: The Impact Of Home Field Advantage On Officiating, By Sport
It's a familiar complaint: Your team goes on the road for a big game, and gets totally jobbed by the refs. But do away teams really get fewer calls?...
Why Officials Picked Up The Flag And Gave Carolina The Win
The non-call that ended the Panthers' win over the Patriots was a bad call. Not a historically terrible one, in a vacuum: worse missed penalties and more egregious undeserved flags happen every week in the NFL. But on the last play of the game, a supremely entertaining slugfest between two Super Bow...
Dolphins Alerted League To Personal Foul On Last-Second FG In Week 5
After a loss to the Ravens in which Caleb Sturgis missed a last-second 57-yard field goal that would have tied the game, the Dolphins noticed that Baltimore pulled the same maneuver the Patriots got busted for yesterday. Miami sent video of the play to the league and the league reportedly admitted t...
This Is The Worst Targeting Call Of The College Football Season
Georgia's battle in Nashville against Vanderbilt became a bit more difficult today when Bulldogs defensive end and team sack leader Ray Drew "earned" an ejection under the NCAA's new targeting rule—and even worse, it was held up under review....
A Brutal No-Goal Call, And The Blackhawks Are On The Ropes
Hockey's never been much for the sanctity of seeds. No one blinked last year when the eight-seeded Kings blew through the competition on the way to a Cup. So it's not any sort of mathematical upset that the Red Wings took a 2-1 lead in their series with the top-seeded Blackhawks last night—but they ...