The NFL Thread

[Paddingtonwolf]

Possibly, but as long as Kraft has the influence that you and Alan have alluded to there is more chance of Walsall winning the Champions League. Any asterisk will never be official, but will only be there in the minds and on internet pages of those that believe it stinks.

 

[Johnny75]

Toon overblowing his hatred for the Patriots - surely not. It's tin hat stuff at best. Bellichek is a cheat there is no two ways about that and Kraft as a friend of Goodell is no different to various friendships Richard Scudamore has with his premier league chums.

The officials commisioner thing is clearly a conflict of interest but anybody who thinks officials have won the Pats the games and Championships they have is as bat shit mental as their theories. Brady is clearly brilliant as is Wilfork, Gronkowski and some of the previous players. Did Kraft make them all better too?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Did, say, Fergie pick the officials? Kraft being on that body is at least a large concern, shall we say.

 

[Johnny75]

Oh I agree it is a conflict of interest but Kraft did not pick officials crews not will he ever have that power. Goodell himself doesn't have that power.

And in any case the officials don't win teams games.

 

[Alan]

I can't find anything to corroborate this, but I'm fairly certain that Kraft has to recuse himself from decisions that "directly" affect the Patriots.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As something of an amateur viewer, isn't it a sport where officials' decisions are far less important or significant ? Less so than cricket or football anyway. Maybe on a par with rugby, and for all Pad's ranting when Wales play, it really doesn't matter that much.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Harsh Daniel! So harsh!

Regarding say rugby officialdom, I don't think I really rant that much. You can easily get wound up and frustrated, but as a rule (bar that wanker Roland in the world cup semi final) I THINK the Union officials don't do a bad job at all.

 

[Alan]

I can't speak to the comparison with cricket or rugby but I have serious issues with the idea that the refs have less of an impact than in soccer.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The officials can throw a flag at any time and the play may be negated yes? That would have a lot of effect.

 

[Alan]

Indeed. Just look at the two playoff games the Cowboys were involved with this year. For better or worse, both absolutely turned on calls or no-calls from the officials.

 

[Johnny75]

They can and bad calls happen in all sports. Just for information http://www.nflpenalties.com

The Pats are the 5th most penalized per game and for the most yards. Seattle are top of that list. Jacksonville are bottom and they finished more or less dead last. Seems even the officials can't help them.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Toon overblowing his hatred for the Patriots - surely not. It's tin hat stuff at best. Bellichek is a cheat there is no two ways about that and Kraft as a friend of Goodell is no different to various friendships Richard Scudamore has with his premier league chums.

The officials commisioner thing is clearly a conflict of interest but anybody who thinks officials have won the Pats the games and Championships they have is as bat shit mental as their theories. Brady is clearly brilliant as is Wilfork, Gronkowski and some of the previous players. Did Kraft make them all better too?

Seriously? Have you heard of the 'tuck rule'? A rule randomly enforced during an AFC Championship game between the Raiders and the Patriots in order to overturn a clear Brady fumble and hand the Patriots a Championship. And thanks for calling me batshit mental, I see it as complement. I'd rather be batshit mental than a sheep or lemming who blindly swallows every platitude and line given to them by the NFL and its media crony whores who fill our screens with stories of how god like Belichick and Brady are. I hope they both suffer a Lance Armstrong sized fall from grace once the dust settles on their careers.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

My concern is not necessarily the number of penalties or indeed the number of yards over a whole season. The issue seems to be about whether the big calls can be wrong. Those can be the game changers.

 

[Toon Wolf]

My concern is not necessarily the number of penalties or indeed the number of yards over a whole season. The issue seems to be about whether the big calls can be wrong. Those can be the game changers.

Absolutely. The Patriots have a lot of false start and lesser penalties, but when it comes to the game changing ones the majority work in their favour and a lot of their own decisive would-be penalties are not called. Look at the play-off game against the Ravens, for instance. They get back into it on a Brady TD run where his lineman is CLEARLY holding, scratch that TACKLING, a Ravens player to the ground. Result? A 4 point swing in favour of the Cheatriots. Prey tell, what was the final margin of victory in that game, I can't seem to recall...

 

[Alan]

Seriously? Have you heard of the 'tuck rule'? A rule randomly enforced during an AFC Championship game between the Raiders and the Patriots in order to overturn a clear Brady fumble and hand the Patriots a Championship. And thanks for calling me bat$#@! mental, I see it as complement. I'd rather be bat$#@! mental than a sheep or lemming who blindly swallows every platitude and line given to them by the NFL and its media crony whores who fill our screens with stories of how god like Belichick and Brady are. I hope they both suffer a Lance Armstrong sized fall from grace once the dust settles on their careers.

The irony being that Al Davis and those Raiders were notorious for skirting the rules at all time.

You sure do have a lot of gusto for someone without a direct connection to the teams!

 

[Toon Wolf]

The irony being that Al Davis and those Raiders were notorious for skirting the rules at all time.

You sure do have a lot of gusto for someone without a direct connection to the teams!

Thanks! 30 years a Bills fan drives that gusto! I honestly believe that something just doesn't sit right with that organisation, and in particular Belichick. I think they have conspired to hoodwink a LOT of people into believing their hype, but anyone who has been caught cheating on 2 separate occasions has to have serious question asked about the legitimacy of their legacy. What other cheating have they not been caught for? I just can't believe that the only 2 occasions they have cheated they happen to have been caught. No way there are not other instances. No way.

 

[Johnny75]

My concern is not necessarily the number of penalties or indeed the number of yards over a whole season. The issue seems to be about whether the big calls can be wrong. Those can be the game changers.

It seems the data doesn't back that up Paddy. The penalties tend to be against the Pats rather than for them. As for severity of penalty, again the data says they are penalized more in 'clutch' situations.

What is difficult to prove is those penalties/ decisions that aren't given. The one that Toon cites with the Ravens and the downfield receiver switches at the last minute are something that particular official crew should be brought up on. However, Sunday they pasted the Colts and the officials didn't make a jot of difference.

As for the 'tuck' decision Al points out that the Raiders we're ask running the rules pretty shoddily and rumours were of a bounty scheme for them at the time and Brady was the prize.

Toon is so one-eyed he seems to overlook the quality of the players themselves. Gronkowski is a beast and his talent is as big a plus as I've seen for a team as Johnson is for Detroit. Bellichek running a two tight end set is also working well and that's not cheating either.

Maybe Toon's just sore the Bills have been utter shite offensively this season and the Pats haven't.

 

[Alan]

30 years is impressive! How'd you get into the sport?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I have 30 years too - 1984 superbowl I watched as a Skins fan. Shame we got hideously owned by the Raiders that night. First superbowl on UK tv I think because Channel 4 started that year?

 

[Toon Wolf]

30 years is impressive! How'd you get into the sport?

Just watching on Channel 4 TV over here. I started supporting the Bills because they were terrible and I was rooting for the underdog! A few years later they got Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, Daryl Talley etc. That team was unbelievable and fun to watch. The best NFL team never to win the Superbowl, hands down. They should have won their first against the Giants, wide right are words to send a shudder down every Bills fans spine.