GDT: Dallas v Detroit

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ndino-acknowledges-cowboys-got-away-with-one/

Dean Blandino acknowledges Cowboys got away with one
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 5, 2015

AP

NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino isn’t trying to sugarcoat the key call that went against the Lions in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys.

Blandino, appearing on PFT Live, told Mike Florio that Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens did get away with a penalty on the Lions’ fourth-quarter pass to Brandon Pettigrew. But Blandino said the missed call that troubled him most was not the pass interference flag that was originally thrown but later picked up.

According to Blandino, the clear penalty Hitchens got away with was defensive holding: Hitchens grabbed Pettigrew’s jersey while Pettigrew was running his route, and Blandino said that should have been called. If it had been, it would have given the Lions an automatic first down.

Blandino said the pass interference penalty that one official flagged, only to get overruled by another official, was a “close call that could have went either way.” Blandino acknowledged that the officials should have done a better job of communicating, first among themselves so that they could get the call right, and then after referee Pete Morelli turned on his microphone to announce the penalty. Morelli first announced pass interference, then later announced that the pass interference penalty would not be enforced — but that second announcement was so hasty that the FOX broadcast missed it.

Although some observers have suggested that Pettigrew also should have been flagged for facemasking Hitchens, Blandino says that’s not the case.

“I felt that was minimal contact,” Blandino said of Pettigrew’s contact with Hitchens’s facemask.

Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant ran onto the field to argue the pass interference call, and Blandino said Bryant could have been flagged for that. Blandino said running on the field to argue with an official is “not an automatic penalty,” but he added that “I certainly would have supported a call for unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Ultimately, Blandino admits, if all of the elements of that play had been called correctly, the Lions would have had a first down. Instead the Lions had a fourth down, shanked a punt, and gave up the game-winning touchdown on the subsequent drive. The Lions will be left to wonder what might have happened if that penalty on Hitchens had been called.

 

[Stranger]

NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino isn’t trying to sugarcoat the key call that went against the Lions in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys

yes he is.

 

[Prime Time]

If You Pick Up A Flag, You Need A Better Explanation Than That
Barry Petchesky
http://deadspin.com/if-you-pick-up-a-flag-you-need-a-better-explanation-th-1677486796

Let's get this caveat out of the way, and (in spirit) amend it to all future discussions of the picked-up pass-interference flag that appeared so crucial in the Lions' loss to the Cowboys: the no-call didn't cost Detroit the game. Failing to hold a lead cost Detroit the game, as did turning the ball over three times, as did shanking a punt and failing to make Dallas drive any appreciable chunk of the field, as did letting Tony Romo lead a game-winning drive, complete with a fourth-down conversion, as did failing to answer in the 2:32 Matthew Stafford was given to go 80 yards. The Cowboys were better, and better later, and deserved to win the game, and if the Lions caught a strange and bad break on the controversial no-call, they had multiple chances to render it meaningless, and did not.

All that said—what a shitshow.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew and Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens—not known for their pass-catching or pass-defending abilities, respectively, and seldom asked to demonstrate them, so bound to be as sloppy as anyone in this situation—were in near-constant contact. Hitchens tugged Pettigrew's jersey (most telling replay at 0:23 of the video above); Pettigrew put his hand on Hitchens's facemask (0:48); Hitchens restrained, then pushed off, Pettigrew's right shoulder (0:30).

And for good measure, Dez Bryant came well off the sideline to argue. By the letter of the law, that's four potentially flaggable calls. From referee Pete Morelli's postgame comments, none of them violated the spirit of the rulebook.

The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant pass interference. He thought it was faceguarding.

In a vacuum, I think that's entirely fair. The contact was certainly no worse than what you'll see on any number of unflagged plays (yet also worse than many flagged plays), and though Hitchens never once turned to play the ball, Stafford's placement—right into Hitchens's numbers—probably meant Pettigrew wouldn't have been able to haul it in anyway.

In Morelli's version, the system worked; officials communicated with each other to get the call right. But that's not how we saw it play out, and that's the failure on the field the gives the NFL and its officiating a deserved black eye today.

Per Morelli, back judge Lee Dyer threw the flag for defensive pass interference. But head linesman Jerry Bergman, who had "the better view," believed the contact was "minimal" and contradicted Dyer—though not in time, apparently. Why didn't Bergman alert Morelli before the referee announced the penalty to the stadium and the tens of millions of TV viewers, and spotted the ball? Why didn't side judge Allen Baynes, who was the closest to the fateful play, have any input?

These are inexcusable lapses, and they wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so common. Blame the byzantine rulebook, or blame the NFL's refusal to hire full-time officials, but penalty fuck-ups aren't even surprising anymore.

Especially in the postseason, which may be an indictment of the NFL's use of all-star officiating crews. Based on regular-season grades, the NFL throws together the best officials at each position, with zero regard for the chemistry and familiarity than can make crews better than the sum of their parts. Perhaps during the regular season, Morelli instinctively confers with his usual head linesman, Dana McKenzie, and saves everyone some grief, rather than rushing to announce the penalty based on the say-so of a back judge he's never worked with. It's probably time to keep officiating crews intact for the postseason, and reward those with the best overall grades.

There is no need to resort to conspiracy theories, not when simple incompetence will suffice. But the Lions, understandably frustrated, seemed to hint at darker motives.

"Doesn't this seem shady to you?" one Lions player texted. "It's just crazy."

"What do you expect when you come to Dallas?" Lions safety Glover Quin said. "Ain't gonna speculate that. But the league likes the story lines and headlines. I'm not getting into that."

If it has not gotten one already, the league will certainly want an explanation from Morelli of how his crew so badly screwed up a workaday call. For Morelli, a well-regarded referee, it may well cost him future postseason assignments. For Detroit, there can be no recourse, no consolation, not even if NFL head of officiating (and Cowboys party-bus rider) Dean Blandino issues one of his periodic "the call was wrong" statements. The Lions are out and done. At least there's plenty of blame to go around.​

 

[Boffo97]

I was wondering why PT of all people didn't include a link... the title links to the article link...

 

[Prime Time]

I was wondering why PT of all people didn't include a link... the title links to the article link...

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...s-missed-cowboys-holding-suh-on-crucial-play/

NFL admits refs missed Cowboys holding Suh on crucial play
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 6, 2015

AP

The infamous pass interference pickup wasn’t the only missed call that went against the Lions in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys.

The NFL has also admitted that the crucial fourth-and-6 conversion the Cowboys picked up on the way toward their game-winning touchdown was aided by an uncalled holding infraction. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the NFL admitted to the Lions today that Ndamukong Suh was held on the play, on which Tony Romo completed a 21-yard pass to Jason Witten.

If the holding had been called, the Cowboys would have faced fourth-and-16 from their own side of the field and surely would have punted. Instead, the completion gave the Cowboys first-and-10 at the Lions’ 21-yard line, and they went on to score the go-ahead touchdown with 2:32 left in the fourth quarter.

Lions fans have used social media over the last 48 hours to point to several plays when Cowboys’ offensive linemen weren’t flagged while holding Lions’ defensive linemen. It’s not clear whether the Lions have complained to the league office about all of those plays, but this particular play was a huge one, and one on which the league office agrees with the Lions that a hold should have been called.

At this point, it’s hard for the Lions not to think that they were ripped off by the officials on Sunday. NFL officiating isn’t corrupt, but it can be incompetent, and on Sunday that incompetence may have ended the Lions’ season and moved the Cowboys ahead in the playoffs.

 

[Boffo97]

Oh. I guess you didn't hide the link in the title on purpose. I guess the original article did that.