NFL playoffs predictions

packers v cardinals game was one of the best i have ever seen.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
packers v cardinals game was one of the best i have ever seen.

Too bad it ended on a botched ref call. Face mask penalty should have negated the Cardinal TD!

Originally posted by Nathlowe
almost all wrong!!!!

That's why I'm not a betting man! point spreads indicated I was not the only one who believed my predictions. Only the Cowboys covered. All others were also favored and lost! I was right on the only one that counted for me!

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Too bad it ended on a botched ref call. Face mask penalty should have negated the Cardinal TD!

It had nothing to do with the play. If it had been called, it would have been the luckiest break on Earth for GB; even if it was correct. In any case, the Packers got a huge break with the missed FG at the end of regulation. Also Rodgers missed a wide open man for a game winning TD 2 plays earlier. The "deserving" team won.

Originally posted by sh76
It had nothing to do with the play. If it had been called, it would have been the luckiest break on Earth for GB; even if it was correct. In any case, the Packers got a huge break with the missed FG at the end of regulation. Also Rodgers missed a wide open man for a game winning TD 2 plays earlier. The "deserving" team won.

Missing a field goal is a missed play. Totally differrent from refs missing a call. I'm not even a GB fan and I was mad! Failing to see an open receiver is a missed play. Happens al the time. A flagrant fould like that missed by the refs should result in a suspension! Refs missing a call is not catching a break for the winning team, but a terrible injustice for the lsoing team.

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Missing a field goal is a missed play. Totally differrent from refs missing a call. I'm not even a GB fan and I was mad! Failing to see an open receiver is a missed play. Happens al the time. A flagrant fould like that missed by the refs should result in a suspension! Refs missing a call is not catching a break for the winning team, but a terrible injustice for the lsoing team.

i like the sense of fair play and justice in American football. i wish it was the same in football (soccer), i now understand, why it is, that to you guys, the level of decision making in European football (soccer) and elsewhere appears as a joke.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
i like the sense of fair play and justice in American football. i wish it was the same in football (soccer), i now understand, why it is, that to you guys, the level of decision making in European football (soccer) and elsewhere appears as a joke.

I propose that on all game ending plays an automatic review of the tape should take place as to avoid these controversies. No doubt Arizona played their hearst out but to win on a freakish play where a flgrant foul was committed tarnishes their win. Soccer should institute some form of video review and a couple coach's challenges allowed. Would have avoided the Ireland-France fiasco! For NFL refs to miss the call they did is awful! That crew should be canned! These bozos usually catch the subtlest flinch and call a false start, are able to count how many players are on the field, call delay of game when you don't snap the ball microseconds before the play clock expires, call you out of bounds because your dreds touchd out of bounds, yet they miss a flagrant facemask call!?! Yikes they're worse than ever. My heart bleeds for GB!

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Missing a field goal is a missed play. Totally differrent from refs missing a call. I'm not even a GB fan and I was mad! Failing to see an open receiver is a missed play. Happens al the time. A flagrant fould like that missed by the refs should result in a suspension! Refs missing a call is not catching a break for the winning team, but a terrible injustice for the lsoing team.

Sacc whining about refs is the most used post in this Forum.

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
I propose that on all game ending plays an automatic review of the tape should take place as to avoid these controversies. No doubt Arizona played their hearst out but to win on a freakish play where a flgrant foul was committed tarnishes their win. Soccer should institute some form of video review and a couple coach's challenges allowed. Would have avo they miss a flagrant facemask call!?! Yikes they're worse than ever. My heart bleeds for GB!

Yes. Officials make bad calls.

I am actually amazed that they get as many calls right as they do. I watch a play and I see 22 people all running in different directions and colliding, and every official is going to have their views obstructed by something or other....and I wonder how anyone is EVER be able to notice that someone was holding or grabbing a facemask or that the wrong person was downfield or whatever. I am truly amazed at what these people have to do. I really can't fathom how they do it. Especially when no one EVER gives anyone ANY credit when they get a call right. VERY rarely does anyone ever talk about how so-n-so is "one of the best officials in the league" or "he is a first-ballot hall-of-famer for officials"

But after someone makes a wrong call - and after everyone on TV has had a chance to see that wrong call in super slo-mo from ten different angles - well then those officials are slime. You just have to accept that human beings are going to miss things.

I very much support the replay systems that most sports have implemented. The fewer missed calls the better. I suppose there could be a system allowing replay to cover penalties in the last minute of a game, but that would be opening a major can of worms.

Originally posted by Melanerpes
Yes. Officials make bad calls.

I am actually amazed that they get as many calls right as they do. I watch a play and I see 22 people all running in different directions and colliding, and every official is going to have their views obstructed by something or other....and I wonder how anyone is EVER be able to notice that someone was holding or grabbing ...[text shortened]... ver penalties in the last minute of a game, but that would be opening a major can of worms.

Indeed, only for game ending plays, all's I'm asking. Sort of like college ball where they seem to review way more than the pros. Indeed refs have a tough job, but so do brain surgeons. And guess what, they do not do either for free. Therefore, while all praise for the right call is due, there is little patience for that one botched call/surgery. My point is supported by your very point. The refs catch every subtlety really well and seem to miss the flagrant stuff. Peter King reports that particualr ref is saddled with possession calls and cannot look at anything else. There is another ref directly in the sight line in the secondary who should have caught it as well as the sidleine refs. The league claims they do not call "incidental" facemask brushing since 2008. This is more than incidental since you see the QB's head tilt forward with the facemask tug. How come the refs see every "incidental" slight shove in the back in an even more highly chaotic environment like punt and kickoff returns? Never seem to miss a call in those plays. Another point is this is no judgment call especially when it's the QB since they are supposed to protect the QB!

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Indeed, only for game ending plays, all's I'm asking. Sort of like college ball where they seem to review way more than the pros. Indeed refs have a tough job, but so do brain surgeons. And guess what, they do not do either for free. Therefore, while all praise for the right call is due, there is little patience for that one botched call/surgery. My poi no judgment call especially when it's the QB since they are supposed to protect the QB!

But even college football doesn't review penalties.

I would imagine that the average brain surgeon makes a LOT more money than the average official. Perhaps officials should get the same salaries? Would you be willing to pay higher ticket prices to pay for this?

Looking at the play, I do agree that a facemask penalty should've been called. But I also can see why it was missed. On plays such as this, the official is probably anticipating a possible fumble and is focusing on whether or not the QB is able to successfully make a "forward pass" motion before the ball comes out. By the time the ball had come free, the facemasking had been completed. At best, the official would've seen this out of the corner of his eye, and might not have noticed enough to warrant a flag.

When I originally watched the play, the main thing I noticed was that the QB kicked the ball after he fumbled it -- so I was thinking that if Green Bay had recovered that "fumble", would the officials have ruled it a "punt" and given Arizona the ball?

This is a major problem for officials in all sports. Usually two or more things are happening at once, and the official has to focus on one thing and rely on peripheral vision for the rest. Even a brain surgeon isn't asked to focus on more than one task at a time.

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Indeed, only for game ending plays, all's I'm asking. Sort of like college ball where they seem to review way more than the pros. Indeed refs have a tough job, but so do brain surgeons. And guess what, they do not do either for free. Therefore, while all praise for the right call is due, there is little patience for that one botched call/surgery. My poi no judgment call especially when it's the QB since they are supposed to protect the QB!

Game ending play is arbitrary. What if the defender had tripped at the one yard line and the Cards would have had to run it in or kick a chip shot? Would that have made the play any less critical?

Originally posted by Melanerpes
But even college football doesn't review penalties.

I would imagine that the average brain surgeon makes a LOT more money than the average official. Perhaps officials should get the same salaries? Would you be willing to pay higher ticket prices to pay for this?

Looking at the play, I do agree that a facemask penalty should've been called. But I als ...[text shortened]... r the rest. Even a brain surgeon isn't asked to focus on more than one task at a time.

The amount of remuneration is irrellevant. The refs call games for the salary they accepted. The point is they need to be more ontop of things. Think about it. look at all the ticky-tacky suubtle calls one is amazed they see and then to miss this critical call is really unforgivable. You clearly see the head bob and according to the rule book this makes the facemask non-incidental. If you even catch a glimpse of a bob you confer with the other officials.They confer about everything. What's wrong with asking the other refs, "hey ya'll see a bob? was there a facemask?" To his credit Aaron Rodgers downplays the whole sorry episode and blames his earlier poor play instead of the bad non call. A real class act of a QB, I say!

Originally posted by sh76
Game ending play is arbitrary. What if the defender had tripped at the one yard line and the Cards would have had to run it in or kick a chip shot? Would that have made the play any less critical?

Arbitrary? Did the play not end the game? No what ifs here at all. The call was missed and had the call been made the TD would have been negated and it's 1st down Packers 15 yards further north and closer to the win.

Originally posted by scacchipazzo
Arbitrary? Did the play not end the game? No what ifs here at all. The call was missed and had the call been made the TD would have been negated and it's 1st down Packers 15 yards further north and closer to the win.

What sh76 is saying is that if there was a rule to fully review all GAME-ENDING plays, you would've gotten a review of this particular play. But controversy would remain for all plays that weren't "game-ending".

If such a rule was in play - and officials were allowed to go on a slo-mo fishing expedition for penalties that weren't called - you could probably find a holding penalty on just about every play. With that in mind, the Cardinals on that play would probably have taken a knee at the one yard line just to ensure that this was NOT the "game-ending" play - just in case somebody was to "see something" during the automatic review.

Near the ends of games, you'd have announcers joking about what a team's "last-play avoidance" strategy will be.