Evidence Of Questionable Calls
November 8th, 2010
Joe has never seen a yellow first down marker off by this much.
Pretty clear contact was made near the six-yard line.
Look, the Bucs lost. No amount of kvetching and hand-wringing and b!tching about referees will change that.
But Joe sure thought the Dixie Chicks were getting quite a few favorable spots all day, not just in the two plays in question above.
Joe must point out that in the call in the first photo, the yellow first down line is not official. Understandable. But Joe has never seen the first down line be off by that much, what appears to be a full yard.
In the second photo, Joe wrote yesterday he thought this call was trivial. The Bucs got a huge first down. Huge. A first down in the red zone. On the 11. If the Bucs couldn’t get a first down when they had only inches to go, what makes people think they could have scored from the five-yard line?
Still, sure seems like the Bucs were getting raw deals on spots all day yesterday. Joe continues to be confused as to why Raheem Morris didn’t ask for a measurement on the LeGarrette Blount fourth-down run late in the game.
Joe sends out heartfelt thanks and a hat tip to reader Ken Boehlke of TalkingChicagoBaseball.com, who provided Joe the photos.
November 8th, 2010 at 8:12 am
I totally agree Joe. I watched the game with a Falcon buddy of mine, and he repeatedly agreed we were getting some bad calls (as he laughed). Anyway, we played a very tough game and I think we surprised a lot of people, especially Falcons fans. I like what I see.
November 8th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Joe…any chance we can see a still shot of Blount’s third down run before the failed 4th down attempt? I thought that spot was poor as well…
But I will never blame a loss on the refs…Go bucs
November 8th, 2010 at 8:55 am
acc….
http://gamerewind.nfl.com/nflgr/game?id=54840&play=3606&icampaign=GR_Free_Clip_nfl
November 8th, 2010 at 8:57 am
It was a first and goal, yet they put us back on the 2 and made it 4th and one.
November 8th, 2010 at 8:59 am
You can see the first ref pick it up ans start to put it were it should have been….but then he hands it to the second ref and he puts it a full back.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:24 am
I don’t understand why Raheem didn’t challenge the spot on Blount’s 3rd down run. They had a challenge remaining — if you’re down to your last timeout anyway, why not throw the flag and see if the zebras give you a better spot?
You’re calling a timeout anyway — a challenge accomplishes functionally the same thing and with the added benefit of potentially getting a first down out of the whole thing.
And, don’t discount the spot on Benn’s PI call (though, admittedly, if Freeman throws a better ball it’s a TD and the entire issue is moot). It completely changes the play-calling there and you might not end up with the asinine decision to run on 3rd and 4th down.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Asinine? What would have been the better call capt foresight? 9 times out 0f 10 Blount pounds it in…but Olsen is a moron and a horrible play caller because we got a bad spot and then the O-line didn’t get enough push? C’mon man!
November 8th, 2010 at 10:22 am
I thought the craziest spot was on Sabby’s amazing downing of the punt at the six inch line. Then we come back from commercial and the Falcons have the ball right at the one yard line. Heh?
It didn’t actually matter on that drive, but just seemed to be representative of the day as a whole.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I thought reviews had to be irrefutable. No way that was irrefutable, the review on touching the ball on the attempted onside kick, his arm was in the way of the ball. When Barth grabbed the ball it was a good foot and a half in front of his body. How did it go from being under his hip to that far away from his body? BS. Bucs should have had the ball on that one although the defense did a good job of stopping Atlanta on the next series.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:30 am
How in the world can you claim that the Roddy White one is a first down and cannot be overturned because of an angled camera, and then go ahead and overturn the onside kick with the exact same camera angle.
I’ve always had a soft spot for refs and spotting the ball on the regular play, but when it’s wrong on the 1 yard line, challenged, and still wrong, now I’ve got problems. Pathetic.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:30 am
And Raheem did ask for a measurement on the Blount run, but it was up to the officials if they would do it or not, he was out of time outs so no more official reviews.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:31 am
“Joe continues to be confused as to why Raheem Morris didn’t ask for a measurement on the LeGarrette Blount fourth-down run late in the game.”
Because the Bucs burned their final timeout right before that play. A challenge can only be called if the team has at least one T.O. left.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Aidan Says:
November 8th, 2010 at 10:31 am
“Joe continues to be confused as to why Raheem Morris didn’t ask for a measurement on the LeGarrette Blount fourth-down run late in the game.”
Because the Bucs burned their final timeout right before that play. A challenge can only be called if the team has at least one T.O. left.
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This is about the level of football knowledge that most posters have on this site.
He wanted Rah to ask for a “MEASUREMENT” not to challenge the spot on the field.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Eww, cancel my post please. Of course they could have done a MEASUREMENT, just no challenge. Mea culpa.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I don’t know the complete rule, but if you use a timeout can you then ask for a challenge to save that timeout?
Example – 3rd down play, Bucs run out of time on the play clock, have to use a timeout (their final one). They now want to challenge that play. Can they claim the timeout was for the challenge?
I’d imagine you can’t.
But either way, with just over 2 minutes left in the game, why call a timeout, why not just go ahead and challenge there? You are planning on using the timeout anyway, you couldn’t challenge after that due to lack of timeouts/time on the clock.
Seemed like an easy call to me that Raheem just missed.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Thank you Fire Greg Olson!
As FGO states, you don’t need to use a challenge to ask for a measurement. Rarely do officials not grant the request either.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:33 am
The measurement is a moot point. It was short, it just would have drawn out our agony. The 3rd down run is the one we need to be mad about. That’s the bad one.
November 8th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
J Double posted: “Asinine? What would have been the better call capt foresight? 9 times out 0f 10 Blount pounds it in…but Olsen is a moron and a horrible play caller because we got a bad spot and then the O-line didn’t get enough push? C’mon man!”
Question: Who is the best player on the Bucs offense?
Answer: Josh Freeman.
Question: Who wasn’t given a chance to win the game on 3rd OR 4th down with the game on the line?
Answer: Josh Freeman.
You don’t take the ball out of your Franchise QB’s hands when the game is on the line. Freeman has carried this team for 7 weeks. Give him the ball. Let him run, let him throw, let him be the hero.
He’s the best chance for the team to win — not watching an offensive line starting two backups try to muscle into the end zone.
November 8th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
I watched that 3rd down run over and over, and make no mistake it was a bad spot. However, there is no way the refs were going to change it with a review. There wasn’t a “conclusive” angle to overturn it. I just don’t understand how they give a first down to Roddy White with a favorable spot, yet Blount gets a very unfavorable spot. I consider it Luke an umpires strike zone, it should be consistent with both teams.
November 8th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Hawaiian Buc, where did you see that video? They never really gave a great shot on it on FOX during the game. I’d love to see some more angles.
November 8th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
I was actually at this game yesterday and make no mistake about it the officiating against the Bucs were terrible even a Falcon fans tapped me on the shoulders and said “thank God there on our side” with a chuckle. Honestly it was our job to punch it in on 4th and inches but it shouldnt have come to that. I mean really isnt that why we have refs? to make sure the game is called fairly? Truly the Bucs are a resilient and they were goin to beat the Falcons but they just came few inches of beating the Falcons and the refs.
November 8th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
What about the Gonzalez push off right in front of the ref?? Full arm extension on Hayes & the ref did nothing!!! Hayes went to him, but the ref gave him no face time. We got the shaft the entire game. Been happening all year.
November 8th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Ken, they showed the replay a couple times during the game and I just rewound it several times. It just seemed like a very poor spot, both in live action and from the sideline angle, especially when you compare it to the generous spot they gave Roddy White.