10. Tuck Rule: Right Call, Wrong Explanation You know what happened here. The Raiders were up late in snowy Foxboro in the AFC Divisional playoffs as the Patriots were driving. Tom Brady wound up to throw, but as Charles Woodson sprinted in from the edge and hit Brady’s arm, the quarterback returned the ball to his body. The ball was jarred loose, and Oakland pounced on the pigskin, sending the Silver and Black into pandemonium.

But referee Walt Coleman says not so fast. "After reviewing the play, the quarterback’s arm was moving forward, and the result of the play was an incomplete forward pass." Patriots ball. Patriots win. Patriots go on to become Super Bowl champions. The rulebook has it right -- if the quarterback brings his arm forward in a passing motion, but then changes his mind and tries to keep hold of the football rather than making a pass, it is still considered a forward pass -- but Coleman had it wrong. The contest now forever known as The Tuck Rule Game still has fans scratching their heads to this day.

9. Thanksgiving Day Coin Flop While "heads" and "tails" sound different to most of us, referee Phil Luckett had trouble telling the difference. The Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers met at midfield for an overtime coin flip on Thanksgiving Day in 1999, and with hundreds of thousands of turkey-stuffed football fans watching, Luckett flubbed the coin flip. Jerome Bettis called "tails," but the ref heard "heads." When the coin came up tails, he awarded the Lions the ball, despite angry protests from the Pittsburgh captains and bench. The Lions took the wrongful opening possession down the field for a score to win the game. Now if the NFL had the college playoff system, this wouldn’t even be an issue -- but that's an argument for another story.

6. Ed Hochuli Gives Jay Cutler a Mulligan The Denver Broncos won a thrilling, 39-38 victory over San Diego with a heaping pile of thanks to Ed Hochuli on Sept. 14, 2008. With the Broncos on the goal line late in the game, Jay Cutler rolled out to his right and aimed to fire a pass on the run -- except the ball slipped out of his hand as his arm rocketed forward, sending the ball puttering sideways, which the Chargers jumped on. Hochuli immediately ruled the pass incomplete, which just two years ago, was not a reviewable call. The NFL has since written in the Hochuli Rule, allowing incomplete passes to be reviewed to see if they are, in fact, fumbles. Cutler and the Broncos took advantage of Hochuli’s misstep, winning the game on a touchdown and two-point conversion. Justice was served, though, as the Chargers rallied to win the division.


1. The Play -- From Two Snaps Ago -- is Under Review Cleveland is well known for its looming sports curse. After all, the city hasn’t tasted a title in any of the major sports since 1964. Although the Browns were far from the Super Bowl, they were fighting for a spot in the playoffs and had a packed Cleveland Browns stadium believing in 2001. Down 15-10 to Jacksonville with less than a minute to go, the Browns were driving. Tim Couch hit Quincy Morgan on fourth-and-2 to reach the 9-yard line and a first down. Couch quickly assembled his line and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 48 seconds to go. But as the Browns prepared for their next play, referee Terry McAulay announced that his replay buzzer went off just before the previous play was snapped and the play would be under review. As any casual football fan can tell you, however, a play cannot be reviewed after another play -- yes, even a spike -- is run. The refs called Morgan’s catch incomplete, ending the Browns’ drive, hopes of winning the game and chances for the playoffs. The snarling Dawg Pound responded as expected, tossing bottles and any other objects at arm’s length at the refs, igniting a furious riot in championship-starved Cleveland.

WHY THIS SITE?

I created this site to expose a problem in the NFL. The league would have you believe NFL officials do a great job and no problem exists. But far too often we see officials blow calls and make up rules. I'm not here to bust balls, but to pressure the NFL to address the problem. It's time the NFL hold officials accountable and admit to mistakes. More importantly, it's time the NFL implement a system whereby officials are not deciding the outcome of games, but are in place to assure a game is played fairly and within the rules.

My point is.. the game with continue on. Refs and missed calls have been and will always be a part of the game.

Basically, the focus on it is over the top IMO, especially considering the demands these part time employees of the league, thus us the fans want.

Piss on them. Watch the games from your couch on Sunday and collect nothing.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z 

Last nights game was pretty clean, one missed defensive holding near the goal line was the major miss of the night. But really, don't the normal refs miss the same types of calls last night.

Another gaff was they botched the descriptor on a false start by calling it offsides.

Watching the game, I think they let the secondary play a little bit more aggressive than normal, but that even with the normal crews vary from crew to crew.

Overall.. they really had no impact on the game. In fact, the shot on Eli was probably a subjective call in which they sided on player safety by enforcing the roughing. Up yours De.

They are not going to be perfect.. but then again neither are the normal crews. But because the attention is focused on them, we are highlighting everything. Pop in a game from last season and focus on the officiating.. your going to see missed calls throughout the game. The focus just wasn't as intense on it.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z 

The Packers game... I will admit that the refs have been overly involved due to mistakes or bad calls.

Some against the Packers.. some have helped them. This has been a poorly reffed game.

But been pretty evenly split in poor calls.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z