Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
I HATE the Dallas Cowboys, and I'm no fan of the Detroit Lions either, but I have to say I couldn't help but wonder what Jerry Jones' recent spending habits in the Detroit area have been. You have a Lions team playing very consistently for 56 minutes of football, and then there's a series of not one or two but five events that hand Dallas the win? That just doesn't occur naturally.
And once again, we see NFL referee Pete Morelli in the middle of a blatantly bogus game-changing call. For those of you who aren't Steelers or Colts fans, in the 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game, a game the Colts were very heavily favored to win and the NFL was HEAVY into making Payton Manning a household name, the Colts were getting creamed by the Steelers all day. Comes the fourth quarter, and Manning is on the ropes and throws a bad pass that results in a game-ending interception by Troy Polamalu. Troy intercepts the ball, goes to the ground, and then hits the ball with his knee as he gets up to start running but then recovers it. The ruling on the field is, correctly, an interception followed by a fumble and recovery. But the Colts challenge the call at the last second, and Pete Morelli shocks everyone from the crowd to the sportscasters by overturning the call on the field! The call was so bad the NFL had to issue a public apology on Monday and state Morelli should never have made it. Luckily the Steelers ended up winning, but that call kept the Colts in the game.
Now we have the same ref, in the same situation, pick up a flag on a legitimate pass interference call, with no explanation? A call that would have ended the game for Dallas, and he just cancels it out, which gets Dallas the ball and back in the game. And then we have a punter who's done well all day inexplicably botch the most critical punt of the game, then the Cowboys who've had trouble moving the ball all day breeze into the end zone with the winning score, and then we have the Lions on their last drive fumble the ball not once but twice.
I couldn't help but think back to the infamous Ravens/Patriots game in 2007 when the Patriots were near the end of their much ballyhooed undefeated season and add revenues for the NFL were through the roof as audiences were nearly doubling for every game near the end of the season to see if the Patriots would stay undefeated. But comes the fourth quarter and they are losing to the Ravens, and first there are two very questionable pass interference calls against the Ravens that keep the Patriots alive, and then the topper comes when Randy Moss clearly juggles the ball as he leaves the end zone on the final play of the game. The play is reviewed and not only does the ref spend close six minutes under the hood, he's also seen making a phone call to someone! Who's he talking to? When has a ref ever needed to make a phone call to review a play? Then the ref comes back and says Moss had control of the ball, the play is ruled a touchdown, and the Patriots win. That game removed all doubt from my mind that the NFL does like to put a thumb on the scale to make sure the right teams win at the right time to push a story line, and I suspect after yesterday they did it again.
And once again, we see NFL referee Pete Morelli in the middle of a blatantly bogus game-changing call. For those of you who aren't Steelers or Colts fans, in the 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game, a game the Colts were very heavily favored to win and the NFL was HEAVY into making Payton Manning a household name, the Colts were getting creamed by the Steelers all day. Comes the fourth quarter, and Manning is on the ropes and throws a bad pass that results in a game-ending interception by Troy Polamalu. Troy intercepts the ball, goes to the ground, and then hits the ball with his knee as he gets up to start running but then recovers it. The ruling on the field is, correctly, an interception followed by a fumble and recovery. But the Colts challenge the call at the last second, and Pete Morelli shocks everyone from the crowd to the sportscasters by overturning the call on the field! The call was so bad the NFL had to issue a public apology on Monday and state Morelli should never have made it. Luckily the Steelers ended up winning, but that call kept the Colts in the game.
Now we have the same ref, in the same situation, pick up a flag on a legitimate pass interference call, with no explanation? A call that would have ended the game for Dallas, and he just cancels it out, which gets Dallas the ball and back in the game. And then we have a punter who's done well all day inexplicably botch the most critical punt of the game, then the Cowboys who've had trouble moving the ball all day breeze into the end zone with the winning score, and then we have the Lions on their last drive fumble the ball not once but twice.
I couldn't help but think back to the infamous Ravens/Patriots game in 2007 when the Patriots were near the end of their much ballyhooed undefeated season and add revenues for the NFL were through the roof as audiences were nearly doubling for every game near the end of the season to see if the Patriots would stay undefeated. But comes the fourth quarter and they are losing to the Ravens, and first there are two very questionable pass interference calls against the Ravens that keep the Patriots alive, and then the topper comes when Randy Moss clearly juggles the ball as he leaves the end zone on the final play of the game. The play is reviewed and not only does the ref spend close six minutes under the hood, he's also seen making a phone call to someone! Who's he talking to? When has a ref ever needed to make a phone call to review a play? Then the ref comes back and says Moss had control of the ball, the play is ruled a touchdown, and the Patriots win. That game removed all doubt from my mind that the NFL does like to put a thumb on the scale to make sure the right teams win at the right time to push a story line, and I suspect after yesterday they did it again.
