Seahawks gifted game by blind or stupid ref

After Megatron fumbled into the end zone towards the end of the Seahawks/Lions game last night, a Seahawks defender clearly intentionally batted the ball out of the back of the end zone. As it happened I said to myself "The stupidest play I've seen", as it is clearly a penalty and Detroit gets the ball back. Apparently I was wrong, because he batted it directly in front of "The stupidest official I've ever seen". The NFL said, since determining if a ball is batted is a judgment call, it cannot be reviewed. I often say things like... If it were my league that official is fired. I don't care about the Lions or Seahawks... am I overreacting?

Overreacting? Yes. The lions and Calvin Johnson suck. Yes the ball was batted from his hands first, but a superstar wouldn't let that happen. And he drops way to many easy catches. He sucks, plain and simple. I smell another 0-16 season. Oh and they're owner, Ford and their motor company sucks too! I laugh every time they lose. The epitome of anything Detroit. Just trash.

I vote for suspended. While it was an bad, bad error, it was most certainly a mistake. If it was done on purpose, it should be investigated criminally for potential bet fixing. So, presuming it was a mistake, who of us hasn't made mistakes in the workplace?

On top of that, let's put some accountability on the Lions. They had plenty of drives they could have scored on and they didn't, AND Johnson shouldn't have fumbled (although it was a great play by Kam Chancellor).

On a related note, what is it about that end zone, on Monday nights, and the calls the Seahawks get? Remember the Fail Mary in 2012, happened in almost the exact same location!

I, of course, had the Lions on the money line at +450. I'm still brooding about this.

I agree that it was a missed judgement call by the official, but there are lots of plays in the NFL where someone is clearly guilty of holding or a block in the back, again all judgement calls, that the officials miss. It is just part of the game you have to contend with as a team.

He clearly bats the ball to get it out of bounds, but I can hear the defense attorneys now saying he was batting the ball in a direction where he could gain control and just ran out of real estate. At the end of the day, Detroit deserved to lose the game just like Seattle deserved to lose the SB........you simply can't turn the ball over at the one yard line at the end of a game and then say it isn't entirely your fault for losing the game........you blew it!

And yes, I am a Hawks Fan, so my opinion is tainted for what that is worth :-).

Quote: Wizard

I, of course, had the Lions on the money line at +450. I'm still brooding about this.

Wiz, that is awful.......I am hoping it wasn't big money :-(

Quote: Wizard

I, of course, had the Lions on the money line at +450. I'm still brooding about this.

I also had a position on the Lions ML. Mighty suspicious because the batting of the ball was so blatant, even at regular speed. I am not sure how this call can be placed in the "judgement" category, not subject to review; while others are not. Is there another way to use your hands to knock a loose ball out of the end zone that is not a "bat"?

This official should definitely be out of post-season crew selection contention.

Quote: Paradigm

Wiz, that is awful.......I am hoping it wasn't big money :-(

No, it was a pretty small bet, but winning it at +450 would have been nice.

Regarding the official being punished, I have never once heard of that happening in any sport, but don't claim to be an expert at such things. I lived in Baltimore at the time of this infamous awful call:



Click here if the hotlink doesn't work.

I can't speak for everyone in Baltimore, but I'm still fuming about it. Anyway, I'm quite sure that referee was never punished. In fact, he got a standing ovation his next game officiating at Yankee Stadium.

I had SEA -10

I bet the first 2 games in the season, then skipped the seahawks vs bears game..... Time to marty

Yes, you are way overreacting. It is a game, mistakes happen.

What about the Lion's coaching staff? Apparently nobody on the staff knew the rules otherwise they could have been screaming at the officials while they huddled up after the call. I'm sure Belichick wouldn't have let this happen. Shame on the refs AND the entire Lion's coaching staff!

Quote: VladsGiants

What about the Lion's coaching staff? Apparently nobody on the staff knew the rules otherwise they could have been screaming at the officials while they huddled up after the call. I'm sure Belichick wouldn't have let this happen. Shame on the refs AND the entire Lion's coaching staff!

The call was unreviewable.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

The call was unreviewable.

Nothing should be "unreviewable"... because then you'll have situations, well, like this.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

The call was unreviewable.

Not true. If they had huddled up and discussed the call and decided that the rule was not interpreted correctly then they absolutely could have changed it. This happens all the time with calls that aren't "reviewable". Like a pass interference call that get's overturned because of something another official saw. I remember this happening in the playoffs last year (don't remember the teams) but a PI was called, the refs huddled up and picked up the flag. I don't think there is any doubt that the Seahawk intentionally swatted the ball out of bounds so that is not what would be under review.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/officials-miss-call-on-calvin-johnson-fumble-that-costs-lions-a-potential-win-035354370.html

"The play was not reviewable because it was a judgment call, Blandino said."

According the the letter of the rule, it appears to be a blown call, as the ball was clearly touched by the Seahawk player and went out of bounds. By the spirit of the rule I think they got it correct.
1st. That ball was going no place but out of bounds, right out just like it did, or it had a good chance to, all on its own.
2nd, The closest Loins player was about a decent distance away from the ball and really wasn't going to recover the fumble before heading out of the endzone.
3rd. Any effort by the Seahawk to recover it would have resulted in either the ball still going out of the end zone or the Seahawk recovering the fumble outright.


The rule that is ridiculous, and the NFL has a metric shit ton of them,is the rule stating that a fumble by the offense out of the opponents end zone results in a touch back, and possession going to the defensive team, which is how we got to this point in the first place. Clearly the Seahawks new this part of the rule hence the batting of the ball to begin with. If they had to recover the fumble, it would have most certainly be recovered by the Seahawks, as Loins players were too far away to effectively scramble for the ball.

I cant help but wonder if the officials were discussing that in their huddle. Could he have recovered it cleanly. If he had made an effort to recover it and it wasnt would a Loin player recovered it? IF he just falls down and makes and effort at recovery but knocks the ball out its not a penalty, so I think they could have let it slide.

Now if there were a Loins player much closer to the vicinity, say arms reach, and the ball is knocked out in a clear attemt to keep the Loins player from recovery I think we have a different discussion, and partially the reason for the "no batting rule" in the first place.

it isn't review-able by video replay. Without the aid of replay technology, though, the officials are allowed to have a conference to find out what everyone saw to try to make the correct call.

This just came up in a game I saw: the offence is backed up to near their own goal line. The ball is snapped in the end zone, and something happened. I'm not really sure what. The official on one side of the field said safety. the official on the other side of the field said touchdown. Seems to me the ball came loose and one of the defenders dropped on it (touchdown) but the other official decided the offensive player was down before the ball came loose (safety)

Anyway, that is just an example of when two officials disagree. If someone else saw that play, they could have disagreed and held a conference in order to make the right call. They blew it.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/officials-miss-call-on-calvin-johnson-fumble-that-costs-lions-a-potential-win-035354370.html

"The play was not reviewable because it was a judgment call, Blandino said."

Interesting. The link contains the following:
NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told ESPN that back judge Greg Wilson "felt it was not an intentional act, that it was inadvertent."

If the back judge, who was standing just feet away with a perfect view, felt that it was not intentional then this guy shouldn't be reffing football games. Or any other sport at any level for that matter! I hadn't seen this article and was under the impression the refs just weren't fully aware of the rule. If they discussed it and the back judge said it was inadvertent then he should have been overridden by another official. There is no excuse for incompetence like this.

Quote: VladsGiants

Interesting. The link contains the following:
NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told ESPN that back judge Greg Wilson "felt it was not an intentional act, that it was inadvertent."

If the back judge, who was standing just feet away with a perfect view, felt that it was not intentional then this guy shouldn't be reffing football games. Or any other sport at any level for that matter! I hadn't seen this article and was under the impression the refs just weren't fully aware of the rule. If they discussed it and the back judge said it was inadvertent then he should have been overridden by another official. There is no excuse for incompetence like this.

This was my feeling. How bad does someone have to be to get fired?

Quote: SOOPOO

This was my feeling. How bad does someone have to be to get fired?

Isn't there a referee union in the NFL? In other words, once a ref, always a ref.

Quote: Wizard

Isn't there a referee union in the NFL? In other words, once a ref, always a ref.

Bring back the replacement refs. LOL

Quote: Romes

Nothing should be "unreviewable"... because then you'll have situations, well, like this.

You're right. The Lions should have thrown the challenge flag, then when the refs said the call was unreviewable, just said "Nothing should be unreviewable".

Quote: sabre

You're right. The Lions should have thrown the challenge flag, then when the refs said the call was unreviewable, just said "Nothing should be unreviewable".

Wasn't it already after the 2 minute warning? Also a few years ago a Lion coach was penalized for throwing a challenge flag after the 2 minute warning.

Quote: djatc

I had SEA -10

I bet the first 2 games in the season, then skipped the seahawks vs bears game..... Time to marty

Ouch. My first NFL game was the last time the Bears got shut out before that game. In Champaign, IL (Soldier Field construction) in Dec. 2002. I was shocked to hear they went that long without a shutout. And that game was 5 FG only by the Bucs...zzzzz.

Quote: sabre

You're right. The Lions should have thrown the challenge flag, then when the refs said the call was unreviewable, just said "Nothing should be unreviewable".

All turnovers are reviewed. Had the Lions thrown a challenge flag they would have been penalized. The fact of whether or not the ball crossed the goal line before Megatron fumbled was reviewed, and correctly it was ruled a fumble. The penalty aspect of whether it was batted was the part that could not be reviewed.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Overreacting? Yes. The lions and Calvin Johnson suck. Yes the ball was batted from his hands first, but a superstar wouldn't let that happen. And he drops way to many easy catches. He sucks, plain and simple. I smell another 0-16 season. Oh and they're owner, Ford and their motor company sucks too! I laugh every time they lose. The epitome of anything Detroit. Just trash.

You want real suffering, go down I-75 for an hour, and hang a left on I-80/90 for two hours :)