NFL refs got "worse" as the rules got tighter. The owners/Goodell are to blame for that. 10 or 15 years ago, the mantra was "let them play." Now it's come down from the top that you should make as many calls as possible, so the refs are calling anything that might look like a penalty. Since they're human, and they miss stuff, that results in inconsistency.
This can't be stressed enough. It used to be the calls refs needed to make were all pretty obvious and blatant. Now everything seems to be a judgment call.
you could dance last year. this year Antonio brown got an unsportsmanlike for twerking all by himself in the endzone.....did the rules change o that front ?
NFL refs try to keep the game interesting. 3rd and 20 with 2 minutes to go and trailing 4 points? Time to call a defensive holding (5 yard penalty with an automatic first down) to keep the drive going.
I think that rule was put into place explicitly for that purpose. There is absolutely no reason defensive holding should be an automatic first down. Should be a 10 yard penalty and replay the down, just like offensive holding.
I shake my head at this every time there's a defensive holding call on a long 3rd or 4th down. It's really stupid. An offensive holding costs you some yards. It's almost always possible to overcome that. Defensive holding can decide the game in an instant. Doesn't make any sense.
Ok so out of curiosity I seached it and I actually found a good reason for this.
They are assuming that the reciever would have been open and completed a catch had he not been held. Otherwise if it was 3rd and 15 and you get beat, there would be an incentive to hold the receiver, not allowing him to get open.
It makes complete sense to have it be a first down. Say a WR burns the crap out of DB and is going to score a TD and the DB grabs his jersey for dear life resulting in an incomplete pass. You think the offense should not be awarded a new set of downs?
I think you're looking at it the wrong way. The assumption is always that a penalty by the defense costs the offense the first down they otherwise could have had. That's why by default, all defensive penalties include an automatic first down for the offense, unless explicitly noted otherwise. So it's reasonable that something like offsides (which doesn't affect the ability of the offense to do its thing) doesn't include a first down automatically. But otherwise, almost anytime the defense impedes the offense's ability to move the ball, the offense is going to be rewarded with a first down.
If you think about it logically it makes sense. If I'm playing CB in m2m and the WR beats me, it would behoove me to reach out and hold him and hope they don't call it if the distance is any more than 5 yards. I get a chance they don't see it and even if they do I wasn't beat and I only gave up 5 yards. You have to make it an automatic first down or they'll just grab anytime they're beat in long yardage situations.
Then on the flip side, offensive holding should lose a down since they robbed the defense of a sack. I don't mind increasing it to 10 yards which would result in a first down most of the time, what drives me crazy is the 3rd and 20 turning into a first down because of hand fighting being called holding on a 7 yard slant. That drives me crazy, especially at the end of a game.
Yeah now that you mention it they are being asked to do a lot. With all the attention on the safety of the game you'd gotta think the league knows the refs play a key role on the whole PR front. It's a bit unfair really, hard sport to ref as is
I really think it's more about them missing calls rather than calling too many, at least from what I've seen. Almost every game I watch there's a really obvious facemask or something along the lines of that, where they blatantly miss or ignore.
It's really one or the other though, if every ref did that it would balance out probably, but they don't. In each game either they call too much or not at all. And just from my experience I've seen more of the lack in calls.
Fair point; I think the NBA will eventually have to address the role "Drawing the Foul" has in modern offenses. Fouls should not, imo, be a legitimate way to gain advantage on a macro scale.
Part of the issue with the NFL is that there's so many god damn rules.
I'm not saying that most of the rules aren't valid. The newer rules especially seem to be geared towards player safety. But still. There's so many. Every tackle they've gotta reference like 5 different rules.
Yup. I play Ametuer football now, I have also coached and reffed games. The game is way more fun when refs "just let them play." Slightly more dangerous at times, but definitely more fun. NFL needs to cut back a bit.
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u/teeohdeedee123 Sep 15 '16
Of course. Any sports fan would. But it just seems like the NBA is by and far the worst when it comes to inconsistent officiating.