The Steelers scored 17 points. The fact is that 14 of the 17 points came only due to blown calls. That was not a fumble. And Washington's knee hit before the toe.
But even if we say the Washington play was too close to call, they should have never been in that position to start. Rudolph threw an interception. It was a dead fucking duck after he got hit. The refs flagged Ramsey for pass interference 15 yards away from where the ball was caught. A ball has to be catchable for that WR to be DPI. Johnson was nowhere near the ball and running in the wrong direction.
It was clear that the refs were intentionally calling a lopsided game. Nothing made that more clear than Reynolds getting the most blatant pass interference of the night on 4th down without the refs calling it. They called ticky tack bullshit multiple times on Ramsey, and then they let that shit go because "it's 4th down." Fuck the NFL. Fuck this bullshit. If there's anything that will drive me to quit watching this sport, it's the officiating.
It's not the officiating. It's the league and TV. The refs do as they are told. Nobody can be that bad. At least not with replay. I totally agree that the Steelers were gift wrapped that game.
When AB got himself kicked off the Raiders Larry Johnson said if Brown acted like that it was because he was told to. He called the NFL a Reality tv show and said all that AB stuff was scripted.
When questioned about the poor officiating and that's all fans talk about, Jerry Jones said, "As long as they are talking". Bad press and controversy are better than nobody talking.
Joe Shobert quit the game after his first year. He said "This isn't football, it's fantasy."
Bernie Parrish was an All-Pro NFL cornerback and became vice president of the players union. He wrote a book titled -They Call It A Game. The book focused on how the league changed once the big TV contracts were signed. The league Kowtowed to the networks. The networks essentially bought the league. He says the Networks are the ones scripting the season and building the story lines.
This year's story will be Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker. Brady vs Garapolo. The networks love Garapolo. He's a very sellable product. He puts women in the seats broadening the fan base. Brady is getting older and the torch needs to be passed. The apprentice becomes the master, etc,.. If one of them screws it up they will have a back up story to sell.
Whether or not this happens, it is how it is done. The Networks and NFL don't just want the hardcore fans, they want everyone. They are masters of salesmanship.
I guess all of these examples and more are why I don't get as excited to watch the games on Sunday. I've read that for the most of the season the league feels things out as they go, to see which teams look good, what generates interest and what they can make a story out of. Some games get played without interference, and others are guided. In the end the league and Networks get what they want
