There are a few things in life that are given. Everyone knows about death and taxes. But, you can add NFL Officiating Controversies to the list. Last week’s Buffalo vs. Denver game only reinforced the thought. In the aftermath yet another Head Coach with a sterling record was shown the door. Two of the games went to Overtime. All in all it was a memorable weekend.
What is a Catch?
This should not be all that difficult. But, it is. Not only does a Receiver have to have control of the ball while in bounds, have two feet or one knee or ankle, or a portion of the torso make contact with earth in bounds, he has to make a “football move” while maintaining control. A third step is one such move. Hitting the ground is another. Control must “survive the ground.” You have a 200-lb guy getting knocked to the ground by another 200-lb guy while they are both running 17-20 miles per hour and the ball is not supposed to move an Angstrom. The august assemblage of twits that developed this nonsense should be banished to some federal agency where they specialize in generating insipid rules by the boat load.
So, how long does the ball have to remain concrete solid when contact with the ground is made? A millisecond? A full second? A fortnight? No one knows. One of the more interesting comments coming out of this catch/interception comes from Gene Steratore, one of the network officials: “When you slow plays down to 1/100th the speed, it distorts what actually happened and makes it look like, in this case, Cooks possessed the ball for seconds prior to losing it. The game is not played in slow motion or frame by frame.” Well, isn’t that just special. What do they do on replay but break things down into minute chunks of a second? That’s the basis of it. Now that “distorts” things? The water is murkier than it has ever been.
The Aftermath
There were other calls in that game that could have altered the outcome. Denver was guilty of a no-doubter Defensive Pass Interference in the End Zone that wasn’t called. Buffalo was backed up near its End Zone when Josh Allen went into the End Zone and his Lineman mugged a Denver pass rusher. If Holding had been called the result would have been a Safety. The game would have been over before Denver’s Quarterback, Bo Nix suffered a season-ending fracture in his ankle. So, the officiating was just plain poor. It wasn’t this one catch/interception play.
What caused the ire was that the League spent zero time looking at it. This game was running late. The Seattle/San Francisco kickoff had been delayed for 20-minutes to let this game finish. Then Denver was the beneficiary of a generous Defensive Pass Interference penalty. You will notice there were no commercial breaks. The League wanted this game over. They got their wish. A deep ball resulted in a legit DPI and the game was done. The fallout was just beginning.
Buffalo Owner Terry Pegula walked into the Bills’ Locker Room and saw a dispirited group that was rightly gutted. He made his mind up right on the spot to fire his Head Coach Sean McDermott. Sean came to Buffalo when it was an NFL afterthought. In his 9-years there he won 98-games while going to the playoffs for 8 of the 9-years. The last 7-years were all double-digit wins. The last time the Bills had either gone to the playoffs or won double digit wins was some 18-years before his arrival. Yep, this guy had to go. Seriously?
So, then they made a proper mess of it. Sunday the staff held exit meetings with the players. On Monday they called McDermott into a seven-minute meeting dismissing him face-to-face the way it should be done. It’s about the only thing they did right. Wednesday’s presser was a hot mess. It’s painfully obvious that Brandon Beane is Pegula’s fair haired fave. He is now in charge of everything football. Good luck with that.
The reasoning for firing McDermott or Harbaugh is that this was supposed to be the year to get a Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes is out rehabbing. The Chiefs’ lack of Offensive Tackles finally disrupted everything Kansas City. And, Travis Kelce is now officially old and slow. The Chiefs weren’t in the way. The only team in the way was Denver which looks less imposing every week. The old adage in football is that you, “Replace talent with talent.” The batting average on Head Coaching hires is not exactly Ted Williams‘ like. The odds those two teams get comparable production out of their new hires are not promising.
One thing this post season has done is to get several Owners out of the shadows long enough for a good look. We now know why they were hiding.
The Other Games
The San Francisco/ Seattle game was over in a blink. The theme of the playoffs is that a team cannot hide a glaring deficiency. San Fran was hurt beyond anything sustainable. This game said more about how poor Philadelphia was playing than anything else. San Fran beat those guys. It couldn’t hardly stay on the field with Seattle.
The Houston/New England game highlighted Houston’s lack of Offensive capabilities. There were 8-turnovers in this game. Houston’s Defense was Super Bowl worthy. The Offense was anything but.
The LA Rams/Chicago tilt was entertaining. Chicago’s Defense is not all that. But, it produced scads of turnovers during the regular season. During this game it produced none. That was the difference. Still, Caleb Williams made another 4th Down throw late in the game that defied logic and reason.
Winter
There was something wonderful about these games played out in the winter weather. The overhead shots of the light snow illuminated by the stadium lights were magical. It was simply ethereal. Eventually all NFL games will be played inside. It opens the doors to revenue streams for the Owners that are not available for outside venues. The Bears are trying, and have been for some time, to leave the city for a new domed stadium. Ditto Cleveland. Ditto Kansas City. Washington is going back to the city, but with a dome. The trend lines are decisive. It will be a pity.
This Week
Denver lost their QB very late in that game. Enter Jarrett Stidham. The 29-year old has been in the League for 6-years. During that time he’s thrown 197 passes good for 8-Touchdowns and 7-Interceptions. Odds are good that he can function just fine passing. But, what isn’t there is the running that Bo Nix provides. Bo Nix ran some 83-times for 356-yards, 5-TDs and 25-First Downs. Stidham has rushed some 37-times for a paltry 101-yards for his career. Interestingly nearly one-third of the rush attempts resulted in a First Down. Before handing the game to New England on a platter recognize that they have next to no film on this guy in this Offense. This one has plenty of intrigue to it. Denver’s Defense is giving up more points lately than it did early on.
Last week Drake Maye had a devil of a time hanging on to the football in the wintry mix at New England. Denver’s weather calls for a high temperature in the 20s with a slight chance of snow. Will Maye be able to hold on to the pigskin this week? It is one of many questions in this game.
The Rams/Seahawks game puts Division foes together for their third meeting this year. The weather is supposed to be mid-40s and clear. There shouldn’t be any need for the Rams to bring their extra 2,000 lbs of Cold Weather Gear to this one like they did to Chicago last week. Some of the players resorted to putting Cayenne Pepper in their socks to help keep their feet warm. It supposedly worked. As far as we know no one put Cayenne in their jock strap. That might have provided a bit too much warmth. Nothing similarly extreme should be needed this week.
These two teams go at it. The story line coming in is that Sam Darnold is going to gag when pressured…or so the Rams hope. The Seahawks played 8-games against teams that made the playoffs. The record was 6-2. But, Darnold was not particularly good. He threw for 8-TDs, but also 9-INTs. He was sacked in those games some 17-times at a rate of once per 12.5 attempts. And, add in 5-Fumbles for good measure. The coaching staff for Seattle has been very selective in what they are asking Darnold to do recently. So far it is working. Will it this week? From here this is a “Pick-em’ Game.” In the last four meetings the teams split 2-2. The teams scored within 2-points of each other and 10-yards. That’s about as even as it ever gets.
Game Information
New England Patriots at Denver Broncos: CBS, 3 p.m., Jan. 25
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn
Patriots favored by 4.5-points
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks: FOX, 6:30 p.m, Jan. 25
Announcers: Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
Seahawks favored by 2.5-points.
