No, the commissioner should not reverse the outcome. That would be a slippery slope. We would then have games under review each week and wouldn't know the results until Wed. LOL But the replay official should be dismissed. I can understand officials on the field making a mistake, things happen fast, one's vision can be blocked, etc. But there is no excuse for not getting a clear and obvious replay like this correct. You have to question the replay officials competence and integrity.

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That's one of the things that amazes me, from a negative standpoint, is that these fill ins aren't from a higher level. To me that shows a serious lack of respect and caring for the players and the fans.

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I just started high school officiating and I won't deny that even starting at this level (just doing freshmen/sophomore games as well as grammar school level) it is difficult to get a grasp of at first. With saying that, I was siding with these replacement officials at first only because I figured with time, they were going to get better at what they did. They are human and make mistakes. As the weeks have gone on, my tolerance for these officials have shrunk drastically. Last night was the dagger (and I can say if it were for any team, I would feel the same way just with a little less hate).

I've learned a lot about officiating since taking a clinic and actually working in games and one thing I do understand is that call is 100% the back judges call in a situation like that. The back judge has goal line responsibility and deep ball responsibility on plays starting outside the redzone and that play was both. Unless the sideline judge was at the goal line (which he wasn't) he had no evidence to support his signal, whereas the backjudge rightfully ran over to the play, saw who had possession and waved the play a deadball, meaning it was an interception. The back judges signal was also ruled before the touchdown signal was, so there shouldn't have been a need for a review (reviews only happen on touchdowns).

So now you have two officials making two different signals. A conference should have happened, which it did (very late) and here is a picture of it.  The two officials that made the call aren't even talking and the head official (the "white hat") is nowhere to discuss it. Total chaos.

After the signal was made, not only was the ball ripped from Jennings, Seattle's sideline was allowed to crowd the entire scrum upon all this confusion. Pete Carrol was near it all as well...talk about pressure to make the right call. The sideline shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near that endzone. Poor field management by the officials.

To say that the Packers shouldn't have been in this position anyways is a cheap excuse to what actually happened on the field. The Packers played poorly in the 1st half, correct. However, they did enough to put them in position to win this game. Don't let the final play of the game overshadow the two previous calls that kept this drive alive. I guess Walden is supposed to stop his body in mid-air when he is going for the tackle (while Wilson still has possession of the ball) and what a terrible way to discount Shields amazing defensive coverage.

With something this blatantly bad, NFL should own up to the mistake that was made on the field (I know, they already didn't). Someone brought up the Baltimore field goal. Is there a specific camera angle that would allow the officials to determine where the ball went over? Maybe it was a missed field goal, maybe not. With so much on the line in this game and playoff spots coming down to one win or loss, plays like this should be reviewable and allowed to be overturned.

Calls like this ruin the integrity of the game. Yes, there is always going to be human error but how far do you let human error go? This time, it was too far.

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Another picture to take a look at...found this in a comment section. With so much proof sitting out there, it is beyond me how this isn't overruled. NFL tucked their tails in between their legs on this one and waddled away from their "Hail Mary response".



1 - the ball
2 - Jennings' left arm
3 - Jennings' right arm
4 - Tate's right arm (unless he has some sort of power to completely reverse the direction of his lower arm from upper arm, he doesn't have possession)
5 - Tate's left arm (not pictured, but had to be underneath Jennings unless it was horribly shattered and twisted or otherwise unable to possess the ball)

The ball is cradled by both of Jennings' arms. Even if we assume (<-see that word) that Tate's hand is on it, that's not "simultaneous possession" - that's sole possession by Jennings.
The official that calls it a touchdown doesn't even have the view of the back judge, who can see both hands of the Packers player on the ball. Tate's one arm simply being in between it all doesn't give him any type of possession, end of discussion.
Pictures don't lie.

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My love of the game, any game, has drastically fallen in the past 15 years.

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so exactly what is so terribly wrong with the league getting the calls right? slippery slope my ass.

The technology exists to overcome human error but we are so puffed up that we would rather have a mistake ridden game with a false outcome than to take a few minutes review the play and make a correction.

heaven forbid they actually look at TWO games every week and make sure it is right.
it is not every single play. It is not every single game. It is a select few that come up. Would they review the phantom roughing the passer play or the 2 cases of offensive PI? doubtful. But game ending game determining plays that are called wrong, such as the Detroit Bears game 2 years ago should be corrected.

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Goodell, as Commissioner, has the power to change the outcome of the game, and award the win to GB. He simply does not have the stones to make an unprecedented move like that, regardless of the fact that if he had, the NFL game altogether might become a better product. Those rules exist in NHL, why not NFL?

Roger Goodell is a spineless pussy.

He can't do it for political reasons. To do so would give the Referee Union leverage, by admitting that the scabs can't get it done.

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What else are they to do? Admit a mistake. They don't have to overturn the ruling or change the result. But have the balls to admit, the wrong call was made. I can't recall, the NFL, ever saying they disagree with a real call made. Not this, PI was missed but can't be overturned. that is just trying to appease by throwing a small bone.

They are cowards

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I agree they are cowards.

But it is not just a football game and a notch in the standings that is at stake, it should be but it is not.

First, they have the labor issue with the normal officials to finalize.

Second, it would open up Pandora's box to corrections after the fact. They should have stepped in Monday night before the final ruling and got it right, once they failed there, I don't think you can turn back for something that happened on the field. This game was on a final play that decided the game, that is rare. How do you correct other game changing mistakes that happen during play?

Third, and probably the most influential of them all. The gambling angle and the shakeup it would cause there. Make no mistake, the sports world is married to the bookies. Overturning the result would completely alter the sport betting world going forward and it would lessen the play if people had to wait x amount of days before they could collect awaiting final verdict.

So yes, I think they should have admitted the mistake rightfully and fully. Yes they didn't because of fear.

The NFL has integrity issues stemming back to Spygate (burning instead of disclosing the contents of the tapes) and things like the tuck rule. This isn't the first mistake that cost a team a game, it just has become such a focal point because everyone has a reason to be glaring at the performance of the officials with the labor dispute and the sheer amount of questionable calls.

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