Who in the world thought that the Germans should be subjected to the Giants/Panthers this weekend. Thank goodness they drink a lot over there, hopefully they'll forget the game.
I'm sorry, but Chicago is screwed. They got Caleb and he's been OK, but the coaching and culture are going to destroy him if changes aren't made. Watching him as they lost on a Hail Mary, which wasn't helped by an idiot DB, tells me that he's frustrated and there were already questions about his attitude from USC. Chicago needs to clean house quickly as their schedule gets tougher as the season goes on. Hopefully they can salvage something because they have plenty of talent, but clearly there is something wrong.
FYI, the officials still aren't very good. That incomplete pass by Pittsburgh sure looked good, although it seems like it was the technically correct call.
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I didn't see the Giants/Panthers game, so I don't know what you mean there. Was it just a crappy game between two crappy teams? Can foreigners tell the difference?
The Bears are frustrating. It's like they're on the cusp and can't get beyond it. Though the kid's doing great, he's doing it having to run for his life. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah...when we had Justin Fields! The offensive line is still subpar and that's not good for any QB. They're not particularly great on opening holes for the RBs, either. I read an article or two suggesting Poles might grab a Pro-Bowl offensive lineman by the trade deadline, and I hope he does. Just one great lineman added to this mix could make a big difference.
That Hail Mary play was murder. But before he was in any position to make the attempt, there was one of the most obvious holding penalties committed. They say refs could call holding on every play, but this one was about as obvious as the face mask penalty which wasn't called against the Rams last Thursday (though I didn't mind seeing the Vikes lose). Our guy was actually trying to swat away the grab by the Redskins guy and then had his hands in the air in a WTF??? manner in front of the ref who couldn't have missed it.
Someone on FB was saying they never call penalties on Hail Mary plays. I doubt that, but this was so early in the play's development that there was no way to predict whether the play would succeed or fail at that point. It hacks me off that the Bears had to fight back from being so far behind. But they did so and to lose on that play, exacerbated by bad coaching decisions and the non-call...well...it's frustrating as all get out.
It's the game in Germany coming up this weekend, and it's going to be a crappy game between two crappy teams. They may not be able to tell, and they may be so excited that they don't care, but it sucks that the NFL regularly gives Europe the worst games.
Caleb is doing fine given the situation. He's not the problem yet. If he gets frustrated and starts pouting like he did at USC, that my change. But for now he's not the problem. I just saw something the other day that showed almost every recent, highly drafted QB was currently on the bench. The problem with the Bears is culture and coaching.
As a fan of the team that gets all sorts of crap about the refs (even though the data shows that the narrative is not True) it's amusing when fans of other teams complain about the refs. You'll get no argument from me that the officiating is bad, but laying blame for a loss on one call is hard to take. The Vikings no call was bad because it was a player safety issue, but no one is suggesting that it would have changed the game. The problem is that nothing is going to overshadow the fact that the Bears DB was taunting the crowd (which might also be a penalty), got into position late, then batted the ball the wrong way.
I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe that the Bears had no other opportunities to score during the rest of the game. It seems like they had at least one goal to go situation and fumbled the ball.
I get the frustration, some of it is probably too much per season hype and expectations, combined with bad coaching and culture.
I think the fumble you mention came led to a 3 and out by the Skins and then the Bears scored on the subsequent possession. But each possession is an opportunity to score and I'm greedy enough about such things to expect that they do every time. The difference between this non-call and the Vikes non-call is that this one did indeed make a difference to the outcome. All which happened after it is inconsequential.
As to Stevenson, I'd have to see the play again (and I don't really want to see that soul-crushing loss yet again), but I believe he didn't bat the ball the wrong way, so much as he didn't get enough flesh on it to bat in the direction he intended. My memory of the play was that his hand was moving in the direction of the opposite end zone, but...possibly due to a collision from behind by a teammate...the ball merely deflected but kept sailing into the end zone and the waiting arms of a Skins player who was left all alone to make the catch.
If ever there's a toss-up play, it's the Hail Mary. Anything can happen and I don't necessarily regard a reception as anything akin to skill and better ability, but luck in the confusion of the scrum. Good for the Skins, but the non-call was the reason they won in the end, given it was a desperation play. And no, I don't say that without regard for all that came before it...the Bears' crappy first half play and the like.
I would also say that I've never liked the notion of calling penalties with any regard to circumstances or player. In basketball, for example, a rookie never gets the calls so easily granted the veteran or superstar. Here, to whine that the refs shouldn't determine the outcome is belied by the fact that a blown call is just that...and outcome determined by the refs. The players are supposed to play according to the rules of the game and the refs are supposed to insure that they do. If they allow actions which are prohibited, they are influencing the outcome. Thus, to ignore a holding call...especially one so freaking obvious...and the result is a TD in a crucial situation such as this Hail Mary play, it's excruciatingly plain that the refs won the game for the Skins. And believe me, it would have been just as bad...worse, actually...had the resulting win happened without the uncalled obvious penalty, because then I'd have nothing about which to justly bitch.
Given that the Bears had only scored 7 points in the first 3+ quarters, isn't it delusional to expect them to score on every possession? Given the fact that I don't believe any team has ever scored on every possession, isn't it delusional to expect? The reality is that the fumble cost them an opportunity to score on two consecutive possessions, and probably would have won them the game.
The reality is, had the ball been batted down as opposed to up and backward, the holding penalty would have been immaterial.
Again, let's consider the reality that his lack of focus and not being in the right place just might have contributed to his tipping the ball up and back, instead of down. But the excuses are entertaining.
Yes, a Hail Mary could be considered a "toss up play", yet every team practices this very play to increase the chances that it will not be. It seems strange to argue that one's ability to time one's jump in order to be in the proper place at the proper time to catch the ball requires little or no skill. It also seems strange to ignore the fact that Daniels has all kinds of time to run around in the backfield before he threw the ball, and that the Commanders were able to complete the pass on the previous play (and get out of bounds/stop the clock if I remember correctly) which set up the Hail Mary.
I get it, it's frustrating when your team loses a close game, hell I'm still annoyed with the Chiefs playoff loss to the Colts back in the day, but you can't seriously think that the Bears entire game came down to a holding call on the last play.
Again, I get it. It's easier to blame the refs for one call (while not blaming the players who was not focused on the play), than to acknowledge that an NFL game never is reduced on one call. To act if the Bears poor play has no bearing on them being in the situation at the end of the game seems bizarre, to me. The Bears were only able to score 15 points, that seems like a problem unrelated to penalty calls.
Maybe the Bears will be good enough next year that bitching about penalties won't be necessary.
FYI, I'm not arguing that NFL officiating isn't bad because it is. But the notion that a 60 minute/4 quarter game is decided by one call just doesn't make any sense. Back in the '80's during an MU/CU game that officials gave CU a 5th down and they scored on that play. That was egregious and significant to the outcome of a game. One, of many, uncalled holding penalties I'm not buying. Personally, I don't want to see the refs call every single holding penalty because I don't want penalties on 3 of every 4 plays. I'd be willing to bet that the Bears got away with plenty of uncalled holding penalties during that game.
OK, let's be serious. The Bears have averaged 13ppg for the last two weeks, against teams that are mid pack at best. Their schedule only gets harder from here. Are you really going to focus on one missed call in a game where they scored 15 points as the reason they lost? I'm sorry, they lost because they aren't very good. Despite good talent, and Caleb, they aren't as good as many thought they'd be.
They were good enough to overcome their crappy start and the resulting deficit. What happened in the end zone was crappy play, but the missed call should have made that moot, were rules to be followed objectively...by which I refer to the rules regarding enforcement of the rules of play. It's bad enough they're crappy. They don't need help losing as they got on that play.
What's more, I don't want to win because of bad officiating, either, if that matters to you. But this was more than missing a call. As I said, this penalty was obvious and officials on that end of the field couldn't have missed it, especially with the defender so obviously trying to extricate himself from the hold.
As to not calling penalties which occur constantly, they occur because they're not called. If refs called every penalty they see, we'd be hacked off because of the constant interruption of play. Eventually, the players would learn how to do their jobs without making penalties, or they'd be replaced with players who can. So games are indeed decided by what the refs call or refuse to call. Again, this is not the same as not seeing the penalty in the first place. That's human error. I can deal with that type of missed call.
Look, I get it. They had an easier schedule early and looked pretty good, now that their schedule is getting slightly harder they're unable to score points. It's frustrating. Unfortunately, penalties are somewhat subjective and calls get missed. I get the follow the rules deal, but seriously who wants to see a penalty called on every play? Who wants to watch reviews any more than absolutely necessary. It's literally impossible to call every penalty in an NFL game, literally no NFL game ever has come down to one play, let alone one penalty. Your belief that every penalty is an intentional act which can be eliminated is amusing.
You do you, I'd rather watch actual game action than penalties. If my team couldn't score more than 15 points a game and win, I'd probably be focused on the officiating too.
If you want to look at NFL officiating as a whole and discuss why it's bad that's one conversation, if you want to point out the Detroit player twisting the crap out of Love's ankle and getting away with it, or if you want to talk about the lack of accountability for officials across the board, cool those all make sense. Complaining about one call in a game where your offense couldn't score more than 15 points and where the player who screwed up in the end zone was more interested in taunting the crowd that being where he was supposed to be, seems like wasted effort.
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