NFL officiating has to change.

[LA RAM FAN]

lets see,this chiefs game reminds me so very much of the pats/raiders playoff game with the bullshit tuck rule so the corrupt NFL cartel would have their way and have them play in the superbowl that year.same as in that game,the pats got ALL the calls,personal foul penaltys that SHOULD have been called against the pats in that game were NEVER called,the pats got ALL the calls,the raiders got NONE even though it was clear the pats committed two costly personal fouls that were NOT called which had they been,the outcome would have been MUCH different and it would never have even come down to the tuckrule.

chiefs/pats game.same ole,same ole story,the pats get ALL the calls THEIR WAY,yet the chiefs get NONE. clearly no favorites being played here by the refs in the NFL,no sirree.

sure there were no favorites being played in this game and sure there were no favorites in that raiders/pats TUCK rule playoff game, yeah and I MYSELF am the King of England.

 

[Montrovant]

Here's my take on things. If you've got a defense that can't stop ANYTHING...then why do you even deserve to go to the Super Bowl? Offenses in the NFL already have a huge advantage over defenses...if you want to make the overtimes more "fair" make the games themselves more fair between the offense and defense! Right now if you play defensive back in the NFL you're at such a disadvantage that it's become farce!

I hear ya. I don't think the KC Chiefs (the most recent example) had a defense that "couldn't stop anything". They stopped the Patriots quite a bit yesterday. I'm not saying the better team lost; I'm saying just play the game in overtime the same way you played it for 3 hours previously.... Nobody has ever given me a good reason why just playing a fifth quarter is bad idea.

I'll give you a good reason, Candy and it's one you just touched upon in your previous post...the risk of injury. People get hurt when they're exhausted. The longer you make the game the more risk you subject exhausted player to.

By the way...the NFL has already addressed injuries in kickoffs. They no longer allow the kicking teams players to get a running start which makes a huge difference in the velocity that they reach before making contact with the opposing blockers or ball carriers. They've also moved the kickoff spot up so that the ball is kicked into the end zone and not returned at all most of the time. They also gave the ball to the offense further up field if they don't return the kickoff. The result is that you seldom see injuries on kickoffs as opposed to what you saw before.

I played hockey...the old rule was sudden death overtimes until someone scored a goal. Games could literally go on for an hour past regulation. Play was sloppy...the fans were asleep...so they changed the rules where you have an overtime period and then if the score is still tied you have a shootout.

You're wrong here about hockey. In the NHL playoffs the rule is still sudden death overtimes until someone scores a goal. That was not the rule in the regular season, however. It used to be that regular season games could end in a tie. They added an overtime, but still allowed for ties. The NHL wanted to eliminate ties, so they added the shootout if no team won in regulation, ensuring someone gets a W.

Fans in playoff games with multiple overtimes are probably not often asleep. The longer it goes, the more exciting every shot seems, in part because of the sloppier play.

Perhaps things were different outside of the NHL.

 

[Montrovant]

How are the college rules for breaking a tie "much worse" than what we have today?

Today a tie is broken by the flip of a coin. The team that won the flip, gets the ball, they score anything and the game is over. The team that lost the flip doesn't even get to touch the ball.

There are 3 phases to the game; offense, defense, and special teams. Part of special teams is the kick offs. It's part of the game. Every game has at least two. Usually 5 or 6. To have part of the game eliminated by rule is stupid.

What I propose is this. If, at the end of the 4th quarter the score is tied, you simply move onto a fifth quarter. Continue the same drive from wherever the team with the ball has it on the field (switch sides as you do between the 1st and 2nd quarters and the 3rd and 4th quarters). No coin flip. Much like extra innings in baseball. If the clock expired at the end of regulation on a field goal or some other scoring play, have the kick off utilizing the rules of the game.

Make the length of the fifth quarter fifteen minutes; each team gets three time outs (this will help with player fatigue). Just play the fifth quarter as you did the first quarter...

If either team has more points at the end of 15 minutes, that team wins whether it is a field goal, safety, or touchdown.
If at the end of the fifth quarter, the score is still tied, then it is a tie in the regular season. If it is the playoffs or the Super Bowl, you keep playing subsequent quarters under the same parameters until one team wins. If you want to put a "sudden death" statute in there after the 6th quarter...okay.

It sure beats the current system of one team being able to deny the opposing offense the ball by scoring in certain way.

As for the College rules, they are worse than the current Professional Rules. You shouldn't get to start your drive almost in field goal range. I understand the Colleges have a different set of realities than the professional game but starting on the 35 or whatever it is remains a moronic rule.

The game would continue with the ball where it was at the end of the regulation game?

Yes. Kickoffs are proven to be the most dangerous point of the game. This is the reason for so many (I feel necessary) rule changes to mitigate the danger. This is one more mitigation. There would still be kick offs if a team scored in over-time or if regulation ended on a scoring play and the score being tied. But there wouldn't be an arbitrary kick off.

So if a defense made a heroic stand at the goal line to force overtime...their "reward" would be for the other team to start overtime at the goal line with the ball or for them to start on offense from their own goal line? That's grossly unfair.

Why? If they stopped the same team on 2nd down at the end of the 3rd quarter, their "reward" would be to have to do it on 3rd down in the 4th.
Additionally, the "reward" for a team on defense (at least half the time) either just scored to tie it--and will be rewarded with a fifth quarter to try to win the game--or was so pathetic that the team with the ball tied it up and was going for the killshot when they were stopped. So what is the difference?


What is grossly unfair is if the offense of the team that loses the coin flip never gets to play in overtime.

As for why the game shouldn't continue from the point the ball was at when time ran out? You do realize that would totally change the way the game was played...right? No more Hail Mary plays at the end of games...no more bend but don't break defense forcing teams to skillfully work their way down the field using the time that they have in a well run two minute drill? What you're calling for would make for some very bland football at the end of regulation. Nobody would take a chance on a big play because the odds would dictate they don't.

If a team on offense is down by one score near the end of regulation, you’ll see a possible hail mary or a team working it’s way down the field. That won’t change.

But if the game is tied, you will see the same football you see at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters.

You complain about “very bland football”? Here is what the current rule system produced...

So, what happened with Tom Brady on Sunday when he had 11 seconds before the end of regulation and the score was tied? He took a knee.

Drew Brees; with 0:08 seconds left…took a knee.

I know there were people popping nitroglycerin tablets across America watching that! Wouldn’t it be better to see, at least, an attempt to move the ball forward? And save the “well that was just the end of the game” argument…. If there had been enough time for 2 plays, they would have taken the knee twice.

Time to change it.

In those same situations, you would just have yet another down.

Look at it this way: why don't teams start the 3rd quarter where the 2nd left off? It's a designated break in the game. The same applies to the end of regulation. I could see your idea working in overtime, where if the game is tied at the end of an overtime 'quarter', it just continues into the next 'quarter'. However, the idea of just having the game continue into a 5th 'quarter' as it stood at the end of regulation is far too soccer-like for me.

 

[candycorn]

There are 3 phases to the game; offense, defense, and special teams. Part of special teams is the kick offs. It's part of the game. Every game has at least two. Usually 5 or 6. To have part of the game eliminated by rule is stupid.

What I propose is this. If, at the end of the 4th quarter the score is tied, you simply move onto a fifth quarter. Continue the same drive from wherever the team with the ball has it on the field (switch sides as you do between the 1st and 2nd quarters and the 3rd and 4th quarters). No coin flip. Much like extra innings in baseball. If the clock expired at the end of regulation on a field goal or some other scoring play, have the kick off utilizing the rules of the game.

Make the length of the fifth quarter fifteen minutes; each team gets three time outs (this will help with player fatigue). Just play the fifth quarter as you did the first quarter...

If either team has more points at the end of 15 minutes, that team wins whether it is a field goal, safety, or touchdown.
If at the end of the fifth quarter, the score is still tied, then it is a tie in the regular season. If it is the playoffs or the Super Bowl, you keep playing subsequent quarters under the same parameters until one team wins. If you want to put a "sudden death" statute in there after the 6th quarter...okay.

It sure beats the current system of one team being able to deny the opposing offense the ball by scoring in certain way.

As for the College rules, they are worse than the current Professional Rules. You shouldn't get to start your drive almost in field goal range. I understand the Colleges have a different set of realities than the professional game but starting on the 35 or whatever it is remains a moronic rule.

The game would continue with the ball where it was at the end of the regulation game?

Yes. Kickoffs are proven to be the most dangerous point of the game. This is the reason for so many (I feel necessary) rule changes to mitigate the danger. This is one more mitigation. There would still be kick offs if a team scored in over-time or if regulation ended on a scoring play and the score being tied. But there wouldn't be an arbitrary kick off.

So if a defense made a heroic stand at the goal line to force overtime...their "reward" would be for the other team to start overtime at the goal line with the ball or for them to start on offense from their own goal line? That's grossly unfair.

Why? If they stopped the same team on 2nd down at the end of the 3rd quarter, their "reward" would be to have to do it on 3rd down in the 4th.
Additionally, the "reward" for a team on defense (at least half the time) either just scored to tie it--and will be rewarded with a fifth quarter to try to win the game--or was so pathetic that the team with the ball tied it up and was going for the killshot when they were stopped. So what is the difference?


What is grossly unfair is if the offense of the team that loses the coin flip never gets to play in overtime.

As for why the game shouldn't continue from the point the ball was at when time ran out? You do realize that would totally change the way the game was played...right? No more Hail Mary plays at the end of games...no more bend but don't break defense forcing teams to skillfully work their way down the field using the time that they have in a well run two minute drill? What you're calling for would make for some very bland football at the end of regulation. Nobody would take a chance on a big play because the odds would dictate they don't.

If a team on offense is down by one score near the end of regulation, you’ll see a possible hail mary or a team working it’s way down the field. That won’t change.

But if the game is tied, you will see the same football you see at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters.

You complain about “very bland football”? Here is what the current rule system produced...

So, what happened with Tom Brady on Sunday when he had 11 seconds before the end of regulation and the score was tied? He took a knee.

Drew Brees; with 0:08 seconds left…took a knee.

I know there were people popping nitroglycerin tablets across America watching that! Wouldn’t it be better to see, at least, an attempt to move the ball forward? And save the “well that was just the end of the game” argument…. If there had been enough time for 2 plays, they would have taken the knee twice.

Time to change it.

In those same situations, you would just have yet another down.

Look at it this way: why don't teams start the 3rd quarter where the 2nd left off? It's a designated break in the game. The same applies to the end of regulation. I could see your idea working in overtime, where if the game is tied at the end of an overtime 'quarter', it just continues into the next 'quarter'. However, the idea of just having the game continue into a 5th 'quarter' as it stood at the end of regulation is far too soccer-like for me.

As a practical matter, having another kickoff and the medical issues it brings is a non-starter (or should be). So I say eliminate the kick off (plus), play the game according to the rules that have pretty much been in place for 80+ years (plus), have both teams get the ball as often as conditions and gameplay dictates just like in a real game (plus), and introduce some more drama into the equation that you absolutely never see in any OT game; clock management (plus).

As far as a “designated break” in the game, I’m open to having the 5th quarter or overtime or whatever you want to call it be under those auspices. What needs to change most is that both teams have a real chance to win the game. I say it’s best to just treat he fifth quarter or OT like you would any other part of the game as much as you can.

 

[candycorn]

Here's my take on things. If you've got a defense that can't stop ANYTHING...then why do you even deserve to go to the Super Bowl? Offenses in the NFL already have a huge advantage over defenses...if you want to make the overtimes more "fair" make the games themselves more fair between the offense and defense! Right now if you play defensive back in the NFL you're at such a disadvantage that it's become farce!

I hear ya. I don't think the KC Chiefs (the most recent example) had a defense that "couldn't stop anything". They stopped the Patriots quite a bit yesterday. I'm not saying the better team lost; I'm saying just play the game in overtime the same way you played it for 3 hours previously.... Nobody has ever given me a good reason why just playing a fifth quarter is bad idea.

I'll give you a good reason, Candy and it's one you just touched upon in your previous post...the risk of injury. People get hurt when they're exhausted. The longer you make the game the more risk you subject exhausted player to.

By the way...the NFL has already addressed injuries in kickoffs. They no longer allow the kicking teams players to get a running start which makes a huge difference in the velocity that they reach before making contact with the opposing blockers or ball carriers. They've also moved the kickoff spot up so that the ball is kicked into the end zone and not returned at all most of the time. They also gave the ball to the offense further up field if they don't return the kickoff. The result is that you seldom see injuries on kickoffs as opposed to what you saw before.

I played hockey...the old rule was sudden death overtimes until someone scored a goal. Games could literally go on for an hour past regulation. Play was sloppy...the fans were asleep...so they changed the rules where you have an overtime period and then if the score is still tied you have a shootout.

You're wrong here about hockey. In the NHL playoffs the rule is still sudden death overtimes until someone scores a goal. That was not the rule in the regular season, however. It used to be that regular season games could end in a tie. They added an overtime, but still allowed for ties. The NHL wanted to eliminate ties, so they added the shootout if no team won in regulation, ensuring someone gets a W.

Fans in playoff games with multiple overtimes are probably not often asleep. The longer it goes, the more exciting every shot seems, in part because of the sloppier play.

Perhaps things were different outside of the NHL.

I like what the NBA bromide is about the NHL…

“We ought to buy that league and do something with it.”

 

[Oldstyle]

lets see,this chiefs game reminds me so very much of the pats/raiders playoff game with the bullshit tuck rule so the corrupt NFL cartel would have their way and have them play in the superbowl that year.same as in that game,the pats got ALL the calls,personal foul penaltys that SHOULD have been called against the pats in that game were NEVER called,the pats got ALL the calls,the raiders got NONE even though it was clear the pats committed two costly personal fouls that were NOT called which had they been,the outcome would have been MUCH different and it would never have even come down to the tuckrule.

chiefs/pats game.same ole,same ole story,the pats get ALL the calls THEIR WAY,yet the chiefs get NONE. clearly no favorites being played here by the refs in the NFL,no sirree.

sure there were no favorites being played in this game and sure there were no favorites in that raiders/pats TUCK rule playoff game, yeah and I MYSELF am the King of England.

Fans of losing teams that blame the refs are pretty much the epitome of pathetic. You think the same NFL that penalized the Patriots a first round draft choice and a million dollars for allegedly deflating footballs without ever proving it happened somehow loves the Patriots so much that they fixed games for them to win? You're an IDIOT! Newsflash...the Patriots win because they don't do boneheaded things like lining up a yard offside at a crucial point of the game to negate a turnover. Duh?

 

[Papageorgio]

If KC had managed to play better in the first half, maybe the game would not have gone into overtime and the Chiefs would have won.

I tire of blaming a call as a determining factor. Hell, my Raiders lost on a Tuck Rule and I was pissed but I also believed that had the Raiders played better they would not have been in that position. Same with the Saints, you are a football team, be happy you are in games that mean that much.

 

[toobfreak]

There were 4 big penalties not called on the saints in that game. Whether you think that makes up for the non-call at the end or not is up to you.

Rubbish. I just re-watched the Rams/Saints game and saw no such other missed calls or penalties so far beyond the pale as to draw my attention much less shock from the entire stadium, the sidelines, be talked about the rest of the game, after the game was over, make international news as one of the worst missed calls in NFL history and draw a response from Roger Goodell.

To review: not only was it CLEARLY an early hit long before the ball arrived (15-yards defensive pass interference), it was a HIGH hit and helmet-to-helmet (15-yards), which the defender has since been FINED FOR despite the no call. To add to that, the defender wasn't even playing the ball, he never even turned around, he was 100% playing the receiver and was all over him literally knocking him off the field.

Had the proper penalty been called, the Saints get the ball close to the end zone after a 43 yard pass with a new set of downs able to run the clock down to 4 seconds and kick the winning points in regulation time. Instead, the missed call forced the FG leaving ample time to LA to run a whole other drive of their own to tie the game.

In overtime, the team now visible shaken and upset over this dramatic turn of events, never recovers, is off balance the rest of the time, and the Rams now revitalized by the momentum given them, force an error which results in an interception mid-field giving them the chance to run down and kick the winning field goal.

The LA Rams who never led throughout the game, go to the Super Bowl instead. The real travesty now would be if they somehow went on to beat the Pats. All because of an egregious penalty error.

The saints' lawyer is suing the NFL and Ol Roger. Apparently there is a 'Rule 17' that allows him to nullify games. They want a new game based on that bad interference non-call.

Roger has been forced to respond. Like I said earlier: THE SAINTS WERE ROBBED, their Super Bowl and season were trashed by one bum referee, and while the game won't be overturned, this clumsy hapless no-call has forced the league to revisit the issue of refereeing and penalties in the off season.

Roger Goodell on missed penalty in NFC title game: 'Technology is not going to solve' NFL's officiating issues

 

[LA RAM FAN]

There were 4 big penalties not called on the saints in that game. Whether you think that makes up for the non-call at the end or not is up to you.

Rubbish. I just re-watched the Rams/Saints game and saw no such other missed calls or penalties so far beyond the pale as to draw my attention much less shock from the entire stadium, the sidelines, be talked about the rest of the game, after the game was over, make international news as one of the worst missed calls in NFL history and draw a response from Roger Goodell.

To review: not only was it CLEARLY an early hit long before the ball arrived (15-yards defensive pass interference), it was a HIGH hit and helmet-to-helmet (15-yards), which the defender has since been FINED FOR despite the no call. To add to that, the defender wasn't even playing the ball, he never even turned around, he was 100% playing the receiver and was all over him literally knocking him off the field.

Had the proper penalty been called, the Saints get the ball close to the end zone after a 43 yard pass with a new set of downs able to run the clock down to 4 seconds and kick the winning points in regulation time. Instead, the missed call forced the FG leaving ample time to LA to run a whole other drive of their own to tie the game.

In overtime, the team now visible shaken and upset over this dramatic turn of events, never recovers, is off balance the rest of the time, and the Rams now revitalized by the momentum given them, force an error which results in an interception mid-field giving them the chance to run down and kick the winning field goal.

The LA Rams who never led throughout the game, go to the Super Bowl instead. The real travesty now would be if they somehow went on to beat the Pats. All because of an egregious penalty error.

The saints' lawyer is suing the NFL and Ol Roger. Apparently there is a 'Rule 17' that allows him to nullify games. They want a new game based on that bad interference non-call.

Roger has been forced to respond. Like I said earlier: THE SAINTS WERE ROBBED, their Super Bowl and season were trashed by one bum referee, and while the game won't be overturned, this clumsy hapless no-call has forced the league to revisit the issue of refereeing and penalties in the off season.

Roger Goodell on missed penalty in NFC title game: 'Technology is not going to solve' NFL's officiating issues

The real travesty now would be if they somehow went on to beat the pats?

oh my god,you have fucking GOT to be joking,you cant POSSIBLY be serious? other way around.charlie.

Jim H said it so well in his OP in this thread which you obviously missed.

Why are people hating on the Rams because of incompetent NFL Officials?

WHY people make excuse after excuse for this teams cheating past all these years later after all these excellent points that Jim made in his OP in this thread here is disgusting as hell.

The Chiefs got robbed even MUCH WORSE than the Saints did.

the refs are so corrupt.they got wayyyyy too much power,something needs to be done to change that so THEY cant decide these games and take away the right of the REAL two champions that should be in the superbowl,the saints AND the chiefs. the biggest fraud superbowl ever.

The Rams dont deserve the be there thats for sure but the pats have NEVER deserved to be there as Jim proved so well in that thread of his so given who the opponent is the Rams are playing,it would be justice if they were the ones that won same as it was justice when the Eagles won last year. that a no brainer,no contest,not even close. pats fans always make excuse after excuse for the lying and cheating ways of the pats history it is just unreal.

 

[toobfreak]

The real travesty now would be if they somehow went on to beat the pats?
oh my god,you have fucking GOT to be joking,you cant POSSIBLY be serious? other way around.charlie.

Must be pretty sad to live in a world of fantasy and rationalization. The Rams were GIFTED with what could be the worst missed call in the history of the game, otherwise, the Saints owned them and there is no way they could have won. It is travesty enough they are wrongly going to the Super Bowl as the undeserving NFC champs, but if somehow they won the SB now, perhaps by another fluke bad call, this would be the greatest Super Bowl inequity of all time, as that single bad ref call enabled the whole thing.

LET'S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT:

I'M NO PATRIOTS or BRADY fan. I've hated the Patriots all my life. As a Steeler fan, the Pats have always been the obstacle in the way. Somehow it always came down to beating Brady and losing to him. Even in Roethlisberger's first year going 15-1, when he took the Steelers to the playoffs in 2004, what stopped them? Tom Brady.

But the Steelers are bums of late. Talent is talent and skill is skill, and you won't find a better managed, better coached, better prepared team than the Pats. Whatever the case, they find another team's weakness and exploit it. Brady has thrown TD passes to something like 73 different players! While the Steelers had 6 Pro Bowlers this year, they didn't even go to the playoffs. The Steelers had Bell and Brown, widely considered the best RB and WR in the game and never went to the big game with either. No matter who the Pats have as WR, RB, TE, etc., THEY FIND A WAY TO WIN. Brady and Belichick simply are the best, smartest, most prepared, versatile, QB/HC duo in football history. And here they are right back in the SuperBowl again.

"But the Pats are cheaters!"

OK, years ago, apparently Belichick or somebody was caught with video of some sort reading the lips of the other team? Forgive me if I don't have all the details quite right as I wasn't and am not a Pats fan. Whoever was involved, they were busted and that was a long time ago.

DEFLATE-GATE: The NFL was warned about the possibility of deflated balls by another team in a preceding game. Despite that, somehow, they got onto the field somehow anyway. There was a big investigation and while nothing was ever proven as to who let the air out, somehow Brady took the blame though nothing was ever proven and he denied and appealed it. Frankly, I think way too much was made of the matter, but either way, there are no more videos, no more deflated balls and Kansas City lost purely because they got their clocks systematically cleaned. The Patriots schooled them on how to play the game. The only thing that stands out in the AFC game was another bad ref call when all the guy did was pass an arm in front of Brady's head and he got called for roughing the passer. They are taking this protecting the QB thing a bit far, IMO, but THAT did NOT cost the Chiefs the season, nor was it any doing of the Pats.

To be sure: NO ONE has ever had a dynasty or career as Belichick and Brady have. Collectively, they have out coached, out played and out won any other team in history, a few years ago, they had the best Super Bowl victory of all time, even better than the Steeler's SB XLIII victory over the Cardinals, and when they beat the Rams on Sunday, they will now have equaled the six SB rings of the Steelers.

Love 'em or hate 'em you have to respect what they have accomplished. What have the Rams done? They won the Super Bowl ONCE, 19 years ago--- --- ironically the year Belichick took over as Pats head coach. The Pats even came within a shave of going to one more Super Bowl game than they have in 2002 by the narrowest of margins. The Patriots are in the Superbowl this Sunday because they made the right plays at the right times to win. The so-called "cheating" you tout is largely just an alibi for people to use to hold against them to justify their envy of how great a team they really are. Reading someone's lips doesn't get you into the big game, and if every team out there wasn't trying to read them, coaches wouldn't cover their faces. A pound or two light of air doesn't get you into the SuperBowl, and frankly, it ought to be each team's choice anyway of what THEY prefer. If a QB LIKES it hard and the regulation pressure favors him over the other QB, how is that fair?

The LA Rams, good team that they finally are (they've STUNK most of the time), only got into this game on a very lucky, bad missed call by a terrible referee that must have had his eyes on some girl's ass instead.

PATRIOTS: 27 RAMS: 14

The Pats deserve to win and push aside the dysfunctional Tomlin Steelers as the only team with 6 trophies.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

The real travesty now would be if they somehow went on to beat the pats?
oh my god,you have fucking GOT to be joking,you cant POSSIBLY be serious? other way around.charlie.

Must be pretty sad to live in a world of fantasy and rationalization. The Rams were GIFTED with what could be the worst missed call in the history of the game, otherwise, the Saints owned them and there is no way they could have won. It is travesty enough they are wrongly going to the Super Bowl as the undeserving NFC champs, but if somehow they won the SB now, perhaps by another fluke bad call, this would be the greatest Super Bowl inequity of all time, as that single bad ref call enabled the whole thing.

LET'S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT:

I'M NO PATRIOTS or BRADY fan. I've hated the Patriots all my life. As a Steeler fan, the Pats have always been the obstacle in the way. Somehow it always came down to beating Brady and losing to him. Even in Roethlisberger's first year going 15-1, when he took the Steelers to the playoffs in 2004, what stopped them? Tom Brady.

But the Steelers are bums of late. Talent is talent and skill is skill, and you won't find a better managed, better coached, better prepared team than the Pats. Whatever the case, they find another team's weakness and exploit it. Brady has thrown TD passes to something like 73 different players! While the Steelers had 6 Pro Bowlers this year, they didn't even go to the playoffs. The Steelers had Bell and Brown, widely considered the best RB and WR in the game and never went to the big game with either. No matter who the Pats have as WR, RB, TE, etc., THEY FIND A WAY TO WIN. Brady and Belichick simply are the best, smartest, most prepared, versatile, QB/HC duo in football history. And here they are right back in the SuperBowl again.

"But the Pats are cheaters!"

OK, years ago, apparently Belichick or somebody was caught with video of some sort reading the lips of the other team? Forgive me if I don't have all the details quite right as I wasn't and am not a Pats fan. Whoever was involved, they were busted and that was a long time ago.

DEFLATE-GATE: The NFL was warned about the possibility of deflated balls by another team in a preceding game. Despite that, somehow, they got onto the field somehow anyway. There was a big investigation and while nothing was ever proven as to who let the air out, somehow Brady took the blame though nothing was ever proven and he denied and appealed it. Frankly, I think way too much was made of the matter, but either way, there are no more videos, no more deflated balls and Kansas City lost purely because they got their clocks systematically cleaned. The Patriots schooled them on how to play the game. The only thing that stands out in the AFC game was another bad ref call when all the guy did was pass an arm in front of Brady's head and he got called for roughing the passer. They are taking this protecting the QB thing a bit far, IMO, but THAT did NOT cost the Chiefs the season, nor was it any doing of the Pats.

To be sure: NO ONE has ever had a dynasty or career as Belichick and Brady have. Collectively, they have out coached, out played and out won any other team in history, a few years ago, they had the best Super Bowl victory of all time, even better than the Steeler's SB XLIII victory over the Cardinals, and when they beat the Rams on Sunday, they will now have equaled the six SB rings of the Steelers.

Love 'em or hate 'em you have to respect what they have accomplished. What have the Rams done? They won the Super Bowl ONCE, 19 years ago--- --- ironically the year Belichick took over as Pats head coach. The Pats even came within a shave of going to one more Super Bowl game than they have in 2002 by the narrowest of margins. The Patriots are in the Superbowl this Sunday because they made the right plays at the right times to win. The so-called "cheating" you tout is largely just an alibi for people to use to hold against them to justify their envy of how great a team they really are. Reading someone's lips doesn't get you into the big game, and if every team out there wasn't trying to read them, coaches wouldn't cover their faces. A pound or two light of air doesn't get you into the SuperBowl, and frankly, it ought to be each team's choice anyway of what THEY prefer. If a QB LIKES it hard and the regulation pressure favors him over the other QB, how is that fair?

The LA Rams, good team that they finally are (they've STUNK most of the time), only got into this game on a very lucky, bad missed call by a terrible referee that must have had his eyes on some girl's ass instead.

PATRIOTS: 27 RAMS: 14

The Pats deserve to win and push aside the dysfunctional Tomlin Steelers as the only team with 6 trophies.

All I read is that babble there in that last sentence of yours that the Pats deserve to win and your obvious hated and vendetta against the steelers, I stopped reading anything else after that. after that you cant SERIOUSLY expect me to read the rest of whats all also obvious babble as well before that in that bible length rant of yours.

you say you are not a fan of brady and the cheatriots but that last sentence alone the only part i DID read could have fooled the whole world.LOL since like i said you did not even bother to read the information in that OP of Jims that prove to the objective and non biased people that are rooting for the Rams,that of these two teams that both are not worth of being there of,the Ram's hands down,.easily deserve to win this game of the two.

the saints get ONE bad call against them where the chiefs get MULTIPLE bad calls against them and you dismiss it and even though they have the HISTORY of having the refs in their pockets as they once again did this game,you ignore that fact and somehow come up with this warped theory THEY deserve to win the game.whatever,i dont even know WHY i even bothered to post that link of Jims since you wont look at it. .

same story as always,excuse after excuse for them.

im done,see you on another thread sometime.

 

[toobfreak]

All I read is that babble there in that last sentence of yours.

Yeah, all you read is the last sentence . . . then you go on to comment about everything else I said! Except the part about the Steelers, you got that all wrong too. I'm a HUGE fan, which is why I hate how Tomlin has failed to get even half their true potential out of the talent in that squad in recent years. Admit it, what I wrote was riveting, SPOT ON, you couldn't put it down and in your heart of hearts, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT. The Patriots are the better team, and all your excuses aside, they will prove it AGAIN this Sunday when they squash LA like the BUG they are.

New England is a legendary team that occasionally plays poorly, but the Rams are a crappy one-pump-chump team that once in a blue moon plays great. They just happen to be good THIS YEAR. The Pats have been great since the millennium. I can't wait to hear your laundry list of excuses when LA loses Sunday Night. See you then with a box of Kleenex for your tears.

 

[Papageorgio]

The rules are fine, refs blew a call, so what. If the team isn't good enough that one call loses a team a game, then that is on the team. I have been a Raider fan for decades, the Immaculate Reception, the Holy Roller, the Tuck Game and on and on. The best part is to have a team that is involved in big games.

Live with it, hope your team learns and moves on.

 

[toobfreak]

The rules are fine, refs blew a call, so what. If the team isn't good enough that one call loses a team a game, then that is on the team.

I would agree except with a call that changes the direction of the end of the game! What's a team to do about that? The Saints had it sewed up after a brilliant 43 yard pass, would have run the clock down to 4 seconds and kicked the winning FG from the 13 yard line--- --- a near 99.9% chip-shot certainty. There are HUGE problems with the rules, they have become obtrusive into the game. But I think this issue of "non-reviewable plays" is BS when a team feels it was a definite bad call. Simply allowing each team to challenge ONE non-reviewable call per game would solve that I think.

 

[rightwinger]

Refs are part of the game. Some times you get the call, sometimes you don’t

The worst I ever saw was the SB between Pittsburgh and Seattle where Pittsburgh got four calls in their favor to win

 

[Jarlaxle]

Both of tonight's play off games had obvious bad calls. Calls that may very well have led to the wrong teams playing in the Superbowl.

A non pass interference call.
&
A bad roughing the passer call.

Both situations had consequences that may have or did alter the outcome of the game.
On top of that the CONSTANT game delays caused by "ref" conferences as well as a broken replay system that takes way to damn long to look at what is usually an obvious decision after seeing it in slow motion for just a few seconds.

Then you have the ridiculous overtime rules that boil down to the luck of a coin toss giving one team a massive unearned advantage over the other.

This isn't sour grapes it is just glaringly obvious that the refs are in need of training or reform or something.
Its obviously not possible to be perfect but there needs to be a better system of checks and balances on the people we trust to be fair to both teams.

Either make penalties reviewable or get rid of reviews. OT needs to be a fifth quarter.

Ridiculous

Not a full "quarter", but maybe a flat 5 or 7 minutes.

 

[candycorn]

Both of tonight's play off games had obvious bad calls. Calls that may very well have led to the wrong teams playing in the Superbowl.

A non pass interference call.
&
A bad roughing the passer call.

Both situations had consequences that may have or did alter the outcome of the game.
On top of that the CONSTANT game delays caused by "ref" conferences as well as a broken replay system that takes way to damn long to look at what is usually an obvious decision after seeing it in slow motion for just a few seconds.

Then you have the ridiculous overtime rules that boil down to the luck of a coin toss giving one team a massive unearned advantage over the other.

This isn't sour grapes it is just glaringly obvious that the refs are in need of training or reform or something.
Its obviously not possible to be perfect but there needs to be a better system of checks and balances on the people we trust to be fair to both teams.

Either make penalties reviewable or get rid of reviews. OT needs to be a fifth quarter.

Ridiculous

Not a full "quarter", but maybe a flat 5 or 7 minutes.

Why?

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Both of tonight's play off games had obvious bad calls. Calls that may very well have led to the wrong teams playing in the Superbowl.

A non pass interference call.
&
A bad roughing the passer call.

Both situations had consequences that may have or did alter the outcome of the game.
On top of that the CONSTANT game delays caused by "ref" conferences as well as a broken replay system that takes way to damn long to look at what is usually an obvious decision after seeing it in slow motion for just a few seconds.

Then you have the ridiculous overtime rules that boil down to the luck of a coin toss giving one team a massive unearned advantage over the other.

This isn't sour grapes it is just glaringly obvious that the refs are in need of training or reform or something.
Its obviously not possible to be perfect but there needs to be a better system of checks and balances on the people we trust to be fair to both teams.

Either make penalties reviewable or get rid of reviews. OT needs to be a fifth quarter.

Ridiculous

Not a full "quarter", but maybe a flat 5 or 7 minutes.

Why?

That's a dumb idea lol. 5 minutes is not really any different than the team that wins the coin toss is the only one to get the ball.

Inexplicably dumb idea that is no better than the current rules. In fact it might be worse