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Jeff Fisher frustrated by "adventures" in officiating
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...isher-frustrated-by-adventures-in-officiating
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams knew it was coming. But they still couldn't stop it.
“We knew that going in," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "I knew that this crew’s going to throw and we talked about it."
No, Fisher isn't talking about San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and his band of pass catchers. When Fisher said this crew's going to throw, he was actually talking about referee Carl Cheffers and his officiating crew.
Entering Sunday's game against the Chargers, Fisher made his team aware that Cheffers' crew has a knack for calling penalties. Entering the weekend, that group averaged 19.6 penalty flags per game (including offsetting and declined flags). But just because Fisher and the Rams were prepared for a day full of laundry didn't mean they were OK with what took place in their 27-24 loss.
In a game featuring plenty of strange calls and non-calls, there were 21 flags thrown, including 17 accepted and enforced penalties. Some Fisher agreed with, many he didn't.
So what else is new? Hearing Fisher point out incorrect calls has become something of a day after game tradition. But the problem isn't that so many calls have gone against the Rams (though there have been plenty). To Fisher, it's more about the fact that you never know what is going to be called or not called from week to week.
For a team having plenty of its own problems finding consistency on the field, the last thing it needs to deal with is officials having the same issues.
“You know, every week we play a different opponent and there are different challenges associated with the teams that we play," Fisher said. "Unfortunately, it seems like every week is an adventure with the officiating. We deal with it and we move on. They’re doing the best they can. (NFL Vice President of Officiating) Dean [Blandino] is doing the best he can from a consistency standpoint. That’s what he’s striving for. It is inconsistent week-to-week. There were some things that I disagreed with yesterday, but you can’t change it. There was a number of things in the game that I disagreed with, but that’s part of it. That’s the way it is.”
To Fisher's eyes, Sunday's adventures included everything from phantom holding calls such as the one on linebacker Marshall McFadden that wiped out a big punt return by Tavon Austin to a missed defensive holding call on the interception that killed the Rams' chances to a five-minute wait for the officials to spot the ball after the punt-return debacle.
It was clear Monday that none of the calls bothered him more than the one that went against McFadden and took a long return by Austin that would have given the Rams a first down at San Diego's 4 and placed it at the Chargers' 40 instead.
"They were incorrect at times during the game," Fisher said. "They missed some things as well. It’s just part of our game. It’s the human element in the game. There are things that ... like I said last night, I clearly disagreed with. I didn’t see it. I didn’t know who’d seen what. They had enforcement issues, but at the end of the day, they did get the return correct. I disagree, I feel bad for Tavon because we go to San Francisco and we were called out of bounds and we’re called for an illegal block above the waist and it’s not. So, they take a touchdown off the board. We had the same thing happen yesterday. That’s just part of it.”
The initial call on the punt return went against McFadden and replays showed McFadden making almost zero contact with Chargers linebacker Andrew Gachkar. Fisher said Monday, however, that the explanation he was given was that the hold took place as the ball was being kicked near the line of scrimmage.
OK, that sounds more plausible than something downfield on McFadden but there was one major problem with that idea: Fisher and his coaching staff could find nothing that even remotely resembled a penalty near the line of scrimmage on the play.
"I didn’t see it, we’ve been looking for it today," Fisher said. "Seriously, we looked all over the place for it. We just didn’t see it.
"We even looked at some other games and didn’t see it."
It's a refrain that's become all too familiar for Fisher and the Rams in 2014.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...isher-frustrated-by-adventures-in-officiating
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams knew it was coming. But they still couldn't stop it.
“We knew that going in," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "I knew that this crew’s going to throw and we talked about it."
No, Fisher isn't talking about San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and his band of pass catchers. When Fisher said this crew's going to throw, he was actually talking about referee Carl Cheffers and his officiating crew.
Entering Sunday's game against the Chargers, Fisher made his team aware that Cheffers' crew has a knack for calling penalties. Entering the weekend, that group averaged 19.6 penalty flags per game (including offsetting and declined flags). But just because Fisher and the Rams were prepared for a day full of laundry didn't mean they were OK with what took place in their 27-24 loss.
In a game featuring plenty of strange calls and non-calls, there were 21 flags thrown, including 17 accepted and enforced penalties. Some Fisher agreed with, many he didn't.
So what else is new? Hearing Fisher point out incorrect calls has become something of a day after game tradition. But the problem isn't that so many calls have gone against the Rams (though there have been plenty). To Fisher, it's more about the fact that you never know what is going to be called or not called from week to week.
For a team having plenty of its own problems finding consistency on the field, the last thing it needs to deal with is officials having the same issues.
“You know, every week we play a different opponent and there are different challenges associated with the teams that we play," Fisher said. "Unfortunately, it seems like every week is an adventure with the officiating. We deal with it and we move on. They’re doing the best they can. (NFL Vice President of Officiating) Dean [Blandino] is doing the best he can from a consistency standpoint. That’s what he’s striving for. It is inconsistent week-to-week. There were some things that I disagreed with yesterday, but you can’t change it. There was a number of things in the game that I disagreed with, but that’s part of it. That’s the way it is.”
To Fisher's eyes, Sunday's adventures included everything from phantom holding calls such as the one on linebacker Marshall McFadden that wiped out a big punt return by Tavon Austin to a missed defensive holding call on the interception that killed the Rams' chances to a five-minute wait for the officials to spot the ball after the punt-return debacle.
It was clear Monday that none of the calls bothered him more than the one that went against McFadden and took a long return by Austin that would have given the Rams a first down at San Diego's 4 and placed it at the Chargers' 40 instead.
"They were incorrect at times during the game," Fisher said. "They missed some things as well. It’s just part of our game. It’s the human element in the game. There are things that ... like I said last night, I clearly disagreed with. I didn’t see it. I didn’t know who’d seen what. They had enforcement issues, but at the end of the day, they did get the return correct. I disagree, I feel bad for Tavon because we go to San Francisco and we were called out of bounds and we’re called for an illegal block above the waist and it’s not. So, they take a touchdown off the board. We had the same thing happen yesterday. That’s just part of it.”
The initial call on the punt return went against McFadden and replays showed McFadden making almost zero contact with Chargers linebacker Andrew Gachkar. Fisher said Monday, however, that the explanation he was given was that the hold took place as the ball was being kicked near the line of scrimmage.
OK, that sounds more plausible than something downfield on McFadden but there was one major problem with that idea: Fisher and his coaching staff could find nothing that even remotely resembled a penalty near the line of scrimmage on the play.
"I didn’t see it, we’ve been looking for it today," Fisher said. "Seriously, we looked all over the place for it. We just didn’t see it.
"We even looked at some other games and didn’t see it."
It's a refrain that's become all too familiar for Fisher and the Rams in 2014.