It has been an ongoing issue in the NFL. Officials miss calls practically every week in a key game, and fans are upset.
It's even more egregious in the playoffs.
Take the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the last two days, for example.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending champions, got the benefit of two bogus calls against the Houston Texans. In the first quarter, Houston was called for "roughing the passer" against Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. Replay showed there really wasn't much to it, such that the ref should've held his flag.
In the 3rd quarter, Mahomes slides down on a rushing play, and two Texans defenders have an Alphonse-Gaston moment, colliding with each other, and barely touching Mahomes, if at all. Houston ended up getting flagged again.
ABC/ESPN analyst Troy Aikman was not a happy camper, even more so when Mahomes, out of character, looked like he was taking a dive out of bounds in the 4th quarter, looking, in Aikman's mind, to draw yet another flag. Mahomes? Flopping? Weird.
Fans have complained that the Chiefs are being given preferential treatment. The league wants to see Kansas City play for an unprecedented 3rd straight Lombardi Trophy on February 9, and the sidebar that is the Chiefs' #1 superfan, singer Taylor Swift, in a skybox enjoying the game.
Add Swift. She had company on Saturday in rooting on her beau, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. WNBA star Caitlin Clark, herself a Swiftie and a Chiefs fan, shared space with Swift in the skybox. That upset out of touch ex-cable personality Skip Bayless, who felt Clark shouldn't have made the trip. Bayless, who left Fox Sports 1 months ago, is now just another out of sync old man yelling into the wind.
On Sunday, the zebras missed some calls, and made some dubious ones against both the Bills and the Ravens, but in the end, the Bills earned a rematch with the Chiefs, as Baltimore's Mark Andrews dropped a sure 2 point conversion in the bitter cold.
There are fans who are calling for even penalties to be reviewed, and it's not without precedent.
If you follow college football, you often see referees call targeting against a defensive player, but sometimes, and I've seen this happen, the call is rescinded upon further review. In the course of the last two days, there've been cases where you could review the call. I think they do this in hockey, too.
The fan attitude toward the Chiefs is this. They're now perceived as the NFL's golden boys, much like the Patriots before them, and, a generation earlier, Aikman's Dallas Cowboys. It's all about ad revenues and ratings with the suits in New York.
It's not going to change. Just accept it, and move on.
2 comments:
1. Actually, the 49ers were the golden team in the late-80's and 90's, not the Cowboys. All the media loved the 49ers, and the announcers would worship Jerry Rice every chance they got.
Back in the day, a site called 49erhaters.com did a smooch scale. It had to do with the people who kissed the 49er butt the most:
49erhaters.com: Smooch Scale
2. Just accept it and move on? Well, not really. Fans can start by turning their back on this game. They should if it is decided by suits and not on the field.
The Niners were the team of the 80's. The Cowboys reclaimed "favored nation status" with back-to-back titles under Jimmy Johnson, but they've been diminished since Switzer took them to their last Super Bowl title.
There's too much money involved now to avoid having off-field interference from network or corporate suits.
Post a Comment