Is it me, or is this year just full of bad calls by refs? I mean, it seems like every week a ref is under fire and Mike Periera (head of officiating) has to apologize or take a firm stance on the call. I've always wondered why they have old men trying to keep up with young men in their prime...

Really bad calls I can remember:

Denver vs San Diego "Cutler's fumble"
Pittsburgh vs San Diego "Polamalu TD" - Didn't really matter since it didn't effect outcome
Plus every game against us (j/k)

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Yes, it seems the refs are worse then normal.
I don't know if they are on the take like that basketball ref or what.

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Too many rules leads to too many bad calls.

It's like when the machinery is too complicated the more chance there is of something going wrong.

Not only that but I think too many rules are left to interpretation.

For instance, you could call a hold on almost every play, but the refs are increasingly calling them on pivotal plays.

Both of you made good points.
The "new" rules add to the huge list refs have to watch for, and like DGB said, it makes it more difficult to catch things.
And "interpretation" makes it even harder. One ref may call it a penalty, while another will let the players play.
Some games Al Harris and Woodson can seem to get away with things, while the next time they do the same thing and get flagged. It's almost like the players have to "feel out" the ref crew, and decide what they can or can't do for that particular game.

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