NFL Referees Again Infect The End Of A Game With Ticky-Tack Facemask Call
By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's happening so frequently, it's no longer news. NFL referees stink, and have done almost as bad a job as the 2012 replacements. They barely even know the rulebook, and it showed again Thursday night during Packers-Lions.
On what was supposed to be the last play of the game, Aaron Rodgers stepped up to throw when the Lions' Devin Taylor tried to grab him by the jersey. In the process, Taylor's thumb barely scraped across Rodgers' facemask and it turned No. 12's head slightly, so the refs threw the flag. And as you probably know by now, they replayed the down and Rodgers threw a Hail Mary touchdown on the second chance, giving the Packers a 27-23 win.
Even if the call was correct it would have been a ticky-tack call that needlessly influenced the outcome of the game. But according to the NFL's own rulebook, they didn't even call it correctly, as Mike Florio pointed out on Pro Football Talk.
Rule 12, Section 2, Article 14 states: "No player shall grasp and control, twist, turn, push, or pull the facemask of an opponent in any direction...If a player grasps an opponent's facemask, he must immediately release it. If he does not immediately release it and controls his opponent, it is a foul."
Clearly, the key word here is "grasp." There was no grasping to be found on this play:
Even if Taylor's thumb qualified as a "grasp," he immediately released it. The contact was incidental at best, and not deserving of a flag. NFL head of (bad) officiating Dean Blandino said that call is made "almost every time." Well, if that's true then they get it wrong every time. The play was also non-reviewable so the refs didn't have a chance to overturn their weak call - another reason why they shouldn't throw flags on microscopically close judgment calls - OR just do Bill Belichick's idea and make everything reviewable. If this call isn't a perfect case for penalties being reviewable, I don't know what is.
And this isn't to say I feel bad for the Lions. They did plenty of other things to blow that game, just like the Patriots made their own share of mistakes last Sunday in Denver despite getting hosed.
The NFL's officiating simply needs to change if they want to start emerging from Sundays (and Thursdays and definitely Mondays, for that matter) without pissing off the entire country. Penalties shouldn't be called at the end of games unless they are egregious - and in this case, correct. Even if a guy technically commits a penalty, like how Pat Chung "technically" held a Bronco's shoulder pad for a split second, who seriously wants a flag to determine the outcome of the game on a play like that? Were Packers fans going to be apoplectic over a (correct) non-call because a thumb grazed a piece of plastic? The calls are too precise and it's getting ridiculous, and in this case it wasn't even right.
If fans want penalties to be called correctly regardless of situation, I understand that stance. It's impossible to eliminate all flags at the end of games. But they should be saved for the glaringly bad, and in this case - and I can't stress this enough - the refs didn't get it right.
New England can expect more of this garbage on Sunday when Pete Morelli's league-worst crew officiates Pats-Eagles on Sunday. Might as well have some fun with it and download your NFL Referee Bingo card.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
