There is nothing worse in sports when poor officiating impacts the result of a game. It is magnified when it happens in a game that decides who plays for the championship. The NFL is dealing with just this problem tonight, as Pete Morrelli’s crew totally dropped the ball with their erroneous calls that led to a New Orleans Saints overtime victory and a spot in the Super Bowl.
Vikings Robbed By RefereesSaints Fans Rollick In Delight
During the overtime period, Morrelli’s crew had five erronous calls over a stretch of five plays where poor judgment was displayed, each time in favor of the Saints. The first error occurred on the spot of a Devery Henderson catch that gave the Saints about an extra half yard to the first down marker on third down. Despite clear evidence that it was a beneficial spot, backed up by Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, the booth review didn’t change the spot.
On the very next play, fourth down, Pierre Thomas dive-bombed over top his line at what appeared to be a clear first down with forward momentum. Hold the phone.
Replays showed that Thomas lost secure control of the ball, meaning that forward momentum no longer applied. After a booth review, and again there is clear evidence that Thomas lost secure control, no change of spot occurred on the ball.
Now with a fresh set of downs thanks to the gratuitous nature of the officials, Brees drops back to pass. First, Minnesota Vikings DE Jared Allen is tackled from behind by Saints guard Jhari Evans. A textbook hold that they teach NFL officials the first day of training. No call.
To make matters worse, the referees decided to call a pass interference on the play against Ben Leber. First, Leber never even made physical contact with the intended receiver, David Thomas. Slow motion replay shows no contact occurred and Fox’s Aikman questioned whether contact was made. Second, the ball was overthrown by seven yards. Thomas turned to make the catch at the 30 yard line, the ball landed on the 23 yard line. This is what the rule book terms uncatchable.
After planting Reggie Bush into the ground for a 5 yard loss, the final nail was placed into the coffin by the referees. Brees delivers a pass over the middle to Robert Meachem. The pass was ruled a catch on the field. Clear replay evidence shows that Meachem never caught the ball, only trapped it against his leg before the ball touched the ground. Again textbook rule says no catch and once again, Fox’s Aikman says the pass should be ruled an incomplete pass.
Not today folks. Booth review rules that it was a catch, setting up the Saints for the game winning field goal that Garrett Hartley would knock down the middle.
Nothing disappoints fans more than watch athletes that give their all be robbed by officials. Even worse when it happens and decides who plays in the Super Bowl.
Obviously, Roger Goodell will be mum on this and support his officials. It would just be so politically incorrect to be mean to the people of New Orleans. They’ve suffered enough.
Congrats to the folks in the Big Easy on winning your first NFC Championship…asterisks and all.
Tags: ben leber, david thomas, devery henderson, Drew Brees, jahri evans, Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Pierre Thomas, reggie bush, Robert meachem
VIKINGS were robbed. Officiating sucked.
it seems to me the only ones complaining about this tread are no fans.despite the fumbles,interceptions etc.the vikings crushed the saints! but i guess its all about the ratings.i’m sure there is going to be more profit for all with the saints going to the super bowl.me personaly i wanted to see the 2 greatests qb’s in the game today duke it out,but i guess not!THANKS OFFICIALS!!!
I thought this was a fairly good article. Before this game was played, I had decided that I was going to pull for the eventual winner to win the Super Bowl, especially after Indy rolled over and gave up a chance at a once in a lifetime opportunity in week 16. However, the officiating in OT in this game was absolutely horrific. The writer makes some good points. If the Saints had won straight up I’d pull for them but the number of botched calls makes the NFL look like the WWE. Think about this, with the Saints in the Super Bowl you get a dream matchup that will generate tons of discussion regarding Archie Manning. At the same time, there will now be tons of discussion about whether Brett Farve will retire or not in the off season. It’s a perfect script for the NFL. I’m not saying this was deliberate, but the officiating was that bad that you could be a conspiracy theorist…
The Thomas replay wasn’t as open and shut as you think it was, and the catch appeared to clearly be a catch. Henderson’s hand did look like it was under the ball and that he had complete control over the ball going to the ground.
However, you did miss on very important no-call. There was a clear open and shut roughing the passer on Favre’s first interception. No, I don’t believe your almighty Aikman said it should have been a penalty, but it was very clear that contact was made below the knee, not attempt to avoid the contact, and the defender was not blocked into it. That would have invalidated the interception.
The Thomas replay was actually the most open and shut. Only the goal line serves as a point of clock stoppage and forward motion. The first down marker doesn’t work the same. Because Thomas lost secure control, it is by rule a live ball. Therefore, the spot should have been placed at point where he re-secured the ball and was touched by a defender. The replay evidence showed that this was clearly behind the first down marker. Those are the rules, the official didn’t apply them.
You paint the booth reviews as indisputable visual evidence when in fact none of the reviews did have have the indisputable visual evidence to overrule the play on the field.
The first spot you could not see exactly where receiver had the ball on his body when he was down. So no overturn.
The 1st down. Yes the ball did come free but not out of his controll. You did not see where the ball was when his body hit the ground. So again no overturn is allowed.
Finally the catch. It appeared that he bobbled, but you could not see if his hand was under the ball or if the ball actually touched the ground. So again no overturn is allowed.
Judgement is not allowed during a booth review.
Finally the PI if the receiver turned at the 30 and the ball landed on the 23. That is very well a possible catchable if the receiver isnt falling down. So the question is did the defender cause the receiver to fall down. The ref said the defender caused the receiver to fall down.
There was indisputable evidence that Henderson juggled his catch…fact.
There was indisputable evidence that Thomas lost control of ball…fact.
There was indisputable evidence that Meachem pinned the ball to his leg…fact.
The referee and booth review crews used their “judgment” to decide that they weren’t going to change the calls. Spotting a ball will always be better using instant replay over human eye. They should have used the replays to determine spots, period. This was the NFC Championship game, the winner goes to the Super Bowl. On the Meachem catch, the ball touched field while pinned against his leg. Pinning ball to leg is not considered possession. You must pull it to your body with your hands to confirm possession before it touches ground.
Judgment is absolutely allowed during a booth review. If they judge that the on-field referees made the wrong call, they are supposed to change the call. They are just not allowed to overturn judgment calls, which these were not.
And on the PI, unless David Thomas took a magic potion before the game that helped him grow 3 feet, the laws of physics don’t support you. He actually began stumbling at the 32 when he turned around his body the wrong way and was able to reach the 30. Nobody ever touched him, replays showed this.
I understand this is tough for Saints fans to swallow, but your win comes with an asterisk. Minnesota has nobody to blame but themselves. They blew the Saints off the field and let it come down to officiating to decide their fate.
On the dive first down, could you without a doubt place the ball behind the line of scrimmage? Perhaps you had different camera angles then the rest of us saw, but to overturn a call on the field you have to have clear evidence which again you could not of based off the angles.
Again on the catch, to me it looked like he trapped the ball between his body and his arm: therefore making it a catch. But please share the view where you can CLEARLY see it hit the ground. Again none of the angles us standard viewers could see showed that.
The PI was a bad call, thats the only one you could complain about. However i find it funny that last year against the lions the Vikings got a first down on 4th down based off a very similar call, which in turn directly lead them to the win which helped them reach the playoffs. I suppose this falls under the category of what goes around comes around. Last year you got to the playoffs because of a horrible PI call and this year you exit the playoffs partly because of a bad PI call.
Lets be realistic, the NFL would of much preferend a Brett Favre/Manning showdown. That would of been the “dream matchup”
The indisputable evidence is that he lost control. We all agree on this, nobody disputes we saw this on the video. As a result of that indisputable evidence, they must determine where the ball is to be spotted, as it cannot go where his forward motion took him. Those are the rules. The refs didn’t apply. Perhaps his still got the first down anyways, but the ball had to be re-spotted which didn’t happen.
Lost in all this talk about the referees in the OT is the penalty on Minn for 12 men on the field that took them out of field goal range. That kind of penalty is inexcusible and it falls back on the coaches.
I thought the only bad calls on OT was the PI and the last catch. The ball clearly touched the ground after the receiver juggled it
I reviewed the rules for hitting QB. Of the 3 hits on Favre, I think 2 were questionable no calls. First one was after the handoff when defender leveled Favre. No specific rule about hitting QB on handoff that I could find, so perhaps a good no call. 2nd one was helmet to jaw hit on Favre after a pass. Only no-call question I had was if he lead with his helmet. Looked like Favre’s jaw ached after that hit. Aikman said good hit, but no one mentioned possibility of leading with helmet. Third to me was obvious bad no call where defender hit Favre’s knees without being blocked in to him. That was interception play that probably affected Favre the rest of the game. Obviously you can’t take back the injury like you could the play. I agree the Vikes lost the game, and that officiating would have affected the outcome (as would tons of other plays). As a football official, I’d like an explanation for the no-call hit to the knees. That’s the Referee’s responsibility to watch, so I’d like to know why they didn’t call it.
It was painfully obvious to me that the officiating was STRONGLY tipped in favor of the hometeam at the end of this game. Anyone who really knows/appreciates the rules knows the end of this game was disgraceful.
Favre admittedly threw away the game on that dumb, dumb INT, but that’s no reason to just outright throw the game to the other team, and thats what the officials did.
Mr. Honest:
For the Thomas fumble/recovery play;
The camera angles were all demonstrative of the fact that homeboy lost control whilst being hit at the line of scrimmage, and was pushed back 1/2 a yard AT LEAST. There’s no way he advanced the ball after that *by the rules* past the line of scrimmage. He got control again behind the line of scrimamge, which is where the play should’ve been called dead, and the ball spotted. Garbage call.
The PI call;
Dude, give me a break, you’re seriously bringing up calls from a year ago, in a schwag end of season game? Not applicable… On top of that, Jared Allen gets RAPED and the refs don’t even see it? Thats bush league, there’s no way a blatant hold like that should be missed by an NFL referee in a championship game. Isn’t that a 15 yd penalty? Garbage call.
The catch after that down the middle;
That guy NEVER had control of the ball, he bobbled it several times, had it land between his leg and his arm, and I saw it CLEARLY bounce up off the ground on the replays. Not enough evidence? BS. Plus, like several other bad calls, it should never have been ruled a catch on the field in the first place. There’s not enough evidence to proove that it was a RECEPTION, not the other way around… GARBAGE CALL…
Why hasn’t anybody even mentioned the bullcrap TDS they gave the Saints during regulation? He was clearly down on his knees prior to putting the ball across the plain. And the other one ruled not a touch down but then challenged and overturned??!! Where was the evidence on that one? The only thing I saw there was that he was clearly out of bounds a yard and half before the goal line because of the skid marks he left.
Rob-
I agree to a certian extent, but don’t think that’s a big deal, they would’ve probably made it in anyways.
hutch – r.e. 12 men on the fireld penalty I agree 1 billion percent. Inexcusable.
well they held them at 4th and inches. you can never rule anything out. I mean i agree will you too they may have gotten in or maybe they would have had to settle for FG….
Waaa. Waaa. Waaa. For every perceived bad call by a Vikings fan, there is on by a Saints fan. Brett Farve rules no doubt, but his fans . . .they don’t handle defeat very well. Cry on, while we’re playing in the Super Bowl, with Brett cheering us on. Who Dat?
I not a vikings fan …I am a fan of actually making touchdowns. I don’t see how if a ref rules someone out of bounds it can be overturned with out hard evidence. Bush cleary didn’t cross the plain. And they cleary held them in OT with 4th and inches.
Hey I have played football all my life,and if you have ever been in one of these messes,you can see that the PI call was bunk,The offical was out of position to see and the other ones didnt have the stones to step up and make the call!!! There was other plays that were stupid,when Brett was driving with 1.48 on the clock the back ran Chester Taylor ran out of bounds and they wound the clock,that catch in the middle of the field was not a catch was moving the whole time then hit the ground!Look the Vikings put themselves in that position but if your going to send a team to the Superbowl they should earn it,And Im tired of hearing that Brett threw the game away,they were out of field goal range, his ankle is broken and could not have picked up the yardage needed,there was a linebacker right there,there was 12 second left anyway,he took a shot and it was picked off,so what! I was a DE i understand what Greg Williams the defensive Cord. was doing but that was cheap trying to hurt Brett with Buddy Ryan Tactics,He has earned more respect in this league than than ,and there should be some fines handed out ! Payton will carve him up!!!
The entire game is fixed. Watch basketball and wrestling. At one time wrestlers swore they were for real. All sports have become entertainment first and controlled for financial results. Don’t be chumps the writing is clear. Many, many games are fixed by the non holding calls that give one team an advantage over the other during certain drives. Watch the film and see it clearly. It happens all the time. I can’t wait till the truth finally comes out. I’m an insider and can tell you that all the multi-millionaire players know it’s true. They react to the ref’s as they change momentum by allowing certain holding and then not allowing it. In basketball it’s easier to see because the networks can’t simply edit out the blatant fouls. In football the blatant fouls aren’t shown in replay. The Saints held all game. Simply put, they had an insurmountable advantage. The Vikings defied the odds by still keeping the game close. P.S. Many of the comments disputing the truth are written by NFL operatives paid to challenge any semblance of argument or dissent. Notice that the story line is already being broadcast all over, it was the fumbles! Not the bad calls! There is no real thread of honesty in the system. I watch for the the entertainment value. It’s a shame they can’t disguise the fix a little better. I use to like the illusion of honesty that existed in my childhood.
The so called fans blogging on this site that are trying to justify the actions of the refs and the calls that were clearly bogus smell of NFL plants. Why are you trying so hard to justify this game? Yahoo sports last night tried reverse psychology in an article they posted blaming the vikes for all their mistakes. Even with the mistakes they should have had an opportunity in ot since they stopped no on fourth down. simple as that! You can’t hide the truth Mr. Honest and all you other inside guys trying so hard to flip the story. The NFL has to clean up their act or stand the possible scandal that is coming when the truth is finally exposed. This is not the first or last rigged game we are going to see. We must stop the elite from rigging everything around us. The stock market, credit, jobs and the NFL! So disillusioned. I wish they would just have the balls to let the teams play in the playoffs. They can rig the regular season all they want, but the playoffs I use to think were supposed to be cleaner.
Listen, there were a bunch of Packer fans in the blogosphere whining about the missed calls during the OT in Arizona a couple of weeks ago. I remember Viking fans instructing the Packer fans to suck it up and quit complaining about the calls. Your team lost and deal with it. Well, Viking fans, please quit your complaining. There are five reasons your team lost yesterday, and they are the five turnovers committed by your team. You had a nice season, you beat the Packers twice, you made it to the championship game, and now you’ll have to wait a while for that first super bowl win. Now you know why Green Bay accepted Favre’s retirement and didn’t bend over backwards to resign him when he changed his mind.
You know, there were bad calls all over that field last night. I would say the bad calls were even. Brett Favre deserves an Emmy for the acting job. He did all night. He had those officials protecting him more than his offensive line did. If the Saints had lost, we would have blamed them for having every opportunity to win and squandering it. You wanto to blame someone, blame the guys who fumbled the ball 6 times. Had we just fallen on the ball, the game wouldn’t have been close enough to dream of overtime. And all those penalties would not have made a difference because Hartley would have nailed that kick from 60 plus. The only asterik we will have by our Super Borl appearance will be that it is our first one.
Hartley, whos longest career kick is 47 yards, and whos longest kick all season was 38 yards, would have nailed that 60 yard field goal? Give me a break. Bad officiating won the Saints the game, end of story. Talk about the fumbles all you want, and I agree, they were horrendous. But when push came to shove, it wasn’t the fumbles that killed the Vikings in OT.
you guys need some cheese with that whine? how about writing an article about the terrible calls through 4 quarters in favor of the vikings? roughing the passer? late hit? PASS INTERFERENCE IN THE END ZONE? if the officials were perfect the game wouldnt have even gone into overtime, so quit crying and prepare for next season.
With the exception of the Pass Interference call, all of these calls were reviewed by officials. That is all you can ask. The officials have far more football knowledge than anyone here, and the calls you got were based on the same “indisputable” replays that you saw.
Up until the end, I was complaining about how incredibly biased the officiating was in Minnesota’s favor! Every call and most non-calls went their way. I was livid over the offensive pass interference by Berrian that got called on NO.
To put things in perspective, no team that turns over the ball five times in a championship game deserves to win. Although the Vikings gained more yards, they definitely did NOT dominate the game. Forcing turnovers is just as big a part of winning football games as gaining yards.
That’s right. Look at the replay on that kick and tell me it didn’t have a good 20 more yards on it. He hits em from 60 in practice. That is why they keep him around.
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Saint’s first touchdown in their comments about the officials. Instant replay clearly showed that the ball carrier’s knee was down with the ball at least a yard and a half short of the goal line. A correct call at that time might have changed the eventual result to perhaps a field goal instead of the touchdown. I was surprised that the booth didn’t review that play.
Nice conspiracy theory.
All overtime wins in the NFL come with an asterisk. The abbreviation “O.T.” is an asterisk.
Both teams performances were of equivalent quality. Saints were more consistently good while the Vikings alternated between great and lousy. This is almost by definition, for otherwise there is no O.T. session.
The Saints caught some good luck in O.T. Most of it came from the coin flip. On the plays that followed, the calls by the officials seemed reasonable to me. Leber’s problem is that he never turned his head to look for the ball, and so the ref thought he was playing the man. That is the essence of PI and I think that is why the ref called it. Thomas may have play-acted, but this kind of drama happens in PI calls all the time in the NFL. All teams are helped and hurt by it. In the end, of course, they had to earn the victory, and Hartley did so in brilliant fashion.
Officiating will never be perfect, but the mistakes are made easily irrelevant by improving team performance. If either team had played just a little bit better in regulation, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Maybe the rules need to be changed–I wouldn’t mind seeing O.T. rule changes.
Without the second-to-last paragraph, this article is merely bad. Adding the paragraph back makes it an epic fail.
So everyone is agreed that very poor officiating took place in the game as a whole. And this, more than who won or who lost, is what really bothers me. The NFL is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional football yet year after year there are numerous complaints about the officiating. I’m not opposed to those who claim it’s a way to generate controversy and draw news coverage but I’m not advocating that either.
I’m simply disgusted with a league that can’t properly apply its own rules and to such a degree that polarized discussions like this break out. If the officials were doing their job, there would be no discussion other than about the game play. It’s about the game but when the game is altered so much by inept officials and their poor judgment, it becomes a fraud, an invalid result. Games stemming from the invalid result are invalidated before they are even played.
I love the game of football and I love to watch it and play it and talk about it. However, this year I won’t be watching the Superbowl. I can’t pretend I’m watching a professional legitimate league. The only real resolution for me will come when Roger Goodell calls for a full review and investigation by an independent committee in order to develop and implement practices and to research new technology to correct the chronically poor officiating that now plagues the NFL. Until then, I’m placing it up there on the shelf with the WWE and American Idol and it’s nothing to get too serious about.
@Notta: Uh, the NFL already reviews its practices and implements technology to improve the officiating. They adjust every year as part of a continuous improvement process. The results so far have been generally positive.
And I do not agree that the officiating was especially poor in this game. All of the calls that everyone has been discussing have been the really tough ones. The referees are the closest to the play and have the best view of things, and they are highly trained professionals–that’s why the league trusts them to make the calls correctly. The coaches’ challenges and booth reviews are there to nullify any blatant errors, but conclusive evidence is required to overturn the referees’ decisions. And some calls like PI and RTP are judgment calls in which video review is of little help.
You are making an argument that the game is rigged, like AI and WWE. Tim Daly has insinuated that the NFL wants to give “The Big Easy” a break because of Katrina, which is why I called him an epic fail. Both you and him have to provide some evidence–or at least negate the hypothesis that the NFL would secretly back Minny just to see Favre come back from retirement to win it all the Super Bowl.
Oh please, all you whiny vikings fans. There were plenty of calls that favored you over the Saints (who dat!). Remember that roughing the passer penalty on a very apparently clean hit? Or the unnecessary roughness call for barely running into the running back’s ankle out of bounds?? The refs obviously let most holding calls go on BOTH sides and let these guys play so the Jahri (nice spelling by the way) hold is irrelevant. And if you say that the catch Meachem trapped in between his leg and his hand isn’t a catch (which I myself don’t recall) then you could also say that “The Catch” the Giants made in the Super Bowl 2 years ago that he trapped on his helmet is also not a catch.
And why are the Vikings convinced that they ‘crushed the Saints.’ These fumbles they gave up weren’t just dropped. They were forced by the defense 4 out of 6 times as I recall. Your team obviously can’t control the ball, and the first thing you learn when playing football is not to fumble. The Saints defense stayed disciplined and kept themselves in position to intercept Favre’s passes, which he should not have made in the first place. So Vikings, please, we do not want to hear all your whiny stories of how close you were or only if this happened or that officiating crew member had not called that.
The Saints have dealt with that for 44 years. This year it’s our time.
Vikes are a way more talented team and they used that talent to stay in the game, not bad ref calls like the Saints. Look at the stats for the game! Sure Vikes turned it over but so did the Saints. In the end, Vikings were playing against the Saints and refs. Sure, if Vikes didn’t have 5 turnovers, they may have won it all but then again, who knows, the refs may have turned that around too. There’s three reasons why the Saints are going to the bowl; bad officiating, playing dirty (defense), and because of the Vike’s mistakes, not because they are a better team. WHO DAT GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL BECAUSE OF BAD OFFICIATING, DIRTY PLAYS AND LUCK? SAINTS>>>that’s who! I’m a Packer fan who was so against the Vikes until this game…no respect here for the Saints…GO COLTS!
Oh well, this game was stolen…now it’s time for Payton and the Colts to crush the Saints…so badly that even poor officiating won’t save them. You can’t blame the Saints for the officials bad calls, but come on coach…save the ‘just like the city of New Orleans, we’ve been through a lot’…it’s getting real old. I guess that the Steeler fans should be whining about the loss of jobs, the Detroit Lions’ fans about the housing foreclosures…Blah Blah Blah…people have it rough all over….get over yourselves….
I wouldn’t be so pissed about the Vikings losing if several SHITTY calls hadn’t been made! >.< And I'll agree the bad calls went both ways, however they seemed to mostly be in favor of the Saints. And that this happened in a that game was deciding who would play in the superbowl really PISSES me off!!!!!!!! If the Vikes had lost fair and square that would have been one thing but these reffs were terrible! I mean it some of those calls were so obvious that it was ridiculous!!!!!! XI
I am a huge Vikings fan and let me tell you, this one hurts. The Vikings dominated this game and the Saints needed the 5 turnovers just to stay in the game. But, the turnovers were there and thus my beloved Vikings deserve to lose based on those and an inexcusable 12 men in the huddle penalty. However, there were some REALLY bad calls by the refs. The late and illegal hit on Favre made me mad. But I am ok with it. Let the players decide the game. The 4th and 1 first down and then fumble by Pierre Thomas that still netted the Saints the first down and the non catch by Meachem both made me mad and I am baffled how they weren’t overturned, but I am ok with it. Let the players decide the game. But how do you call a VERY VERY questionable pass interference penalty that basically ensures a FG. I knew the minute the Saints player went down, there was going to be a flag. I immediately started hollering at the TV, “don’t call that, don’t call that. Don’t decide this game on that play.” For the refs to let the players play, but then decide the game on that call, that is intolerable.
the Vikings were robbed, and the officials ought to be fined for letting the Saints maul Farve when he had gotten rid of the ball. They did not sack him. They hit him LATE over and over. That’s the only way the saints could win this. They had no offense except what the turnovers gave them. The Vikes got to find out a way to protect Farve against LATE hits apparently.
worst officiating ever saints shouldnt be proud they got the game handed to them what a joke.
worst officiating ever saints shouldnt be proud they got the game handed to them what a joke. They dont even knopw how to play the game.
@Michael: Let me start the way you did. Uh, please re- read my post. I said “a full review and investigation by an independent committee.” IE, not the NFL. It’s a forgone conclusion that the NFL can’t properly officiate and that goes as far back as the Music City Miracle. You said it “reviews its practices and implements technology to improve the officiating. They adjust every year as part of a continuous improvement process. The results so far have been generally positive.”
Positive in who’s eyes? Positive as in all the discussion taking place here on this page? Certainly not all the people here would agree with that statement.
“And some calls like PI and RTP are judgment calls in which video review is of little help.” Thank you for making my point. Obviously more tools are needed to help the officials.
Uh, again, re-read my post. I never said anything about the NFL giving the Big Easy a shot at the superbowl because of Katrina. Please, let’s not be dramatic. I did not say the game was rigged either. That would imply intention on the part of the officials where as I am arguing that it was simply ineptitude on their part. “All of the calls that everyone has been discussing have been the really tough ones.” Wow, thank you again. So you do acknowledge that calling plays was not so cut and dry in this game. There was room for error because these calls were tough to make.
You are free to argue that the officiating was not especially poor but you haven’t provided much evidence to the contrary where as many people here have iterated over and over, the calls on both teams that simply didn’t make sense. The burden of proof is on you my friend.
Dear NottaFootballLeague,
The game is rigged! The officiating was intentionally one sided during a stretch that effectively decided the outcome of the game. No questions can be raised about other penalties during the game because they did not determine the actual outcome. The last drive in OT determined the game. Not the fumbles, not any other penalties, reviews, interceptions. Only the last three calls determined the outcome of the game. The Saints would not have marched down the field without the benevolent calls issued by biased refs. Simply put, someone chose the Saints to win. The refs on their own would not make this determination without authority. This can be proven because the reply booth accepted the results of on-field calls yet overturned the Bush touchdown when given the opportunity. But more disturbing than this was the non-holding calls giving the Saints an extraordinary advantage over the Viking defense. Watch the tapes and see the holding on every play! While on offense Favre dealt with late hits and still moved his team bravely down the field. Any real football fan must be outraged. Not because you like the Saints, the vikes or any other team. Just because you are a real fan of the game. Fairness and extraordinary effort must be rewarded. Farve and the Vikings played fair, great and were robbed of an earned victory. It doesn’t matter if they made mistakes. They stopped the Saints and should have gotten the ball back! Simply put, Farve would have had an opportunity to move or not move his team into position for the win. Had the fourth down call been made correctly no one could have complained as vociferously. But the fact that three sequential calls set the Saints up for victory is a clear indication that the other issues I previously described are factual examples of a systemic and coordinated effort by the NFL to control the outcome of games. If you are a true fan of football you should face the music squarely and stop the disinformation being disseminated on this site.
Why all the whining about the Saints getting all the calls? I guess you were right. The Saints were flagged
8 to 10 times for over 80 yards. The Vikings only 3 flags for a little over 30 yards. Yeah, they really were favoring the Saints! What a joke. 3 penalties in a whole game for the Vikings and the ref’s wanted the Saints to win!! Oh, and the games are all rigged. So I guess the Vikings fumbled on purpose 6 times so they
can bet the Saints and make money!! Just get a life and realize that the Vikings were out coached and outplayed. The Saints also made the key stops and plays when it counted! That’s what wins games.
I love it, Saint fans (+ a few bitter Packer fans) vs everyone else that watched the game. The mere fact that football fans are still talking about it days later, should tell you something. The Saint fans don’t even deny the OT fiasco, but they still try to justify the win with weak arguments of entitlement. “The Vikings lost because they had 5 turnovers” lol, Last time I checked, they didn’t keep score based on turnovers. I seem to remember the Vikings being tied, after giving the Saints 5 turnovers. You have that offense, and you’re at home, but you can’t beat a team in regulation after they give you 5 turnovers, and you feel you deserve the win? The Vikings “tied” the Saints because of 5 turnovers. Favre “tied” the Saints after that last INT, neither lost them the game.
The refs nearly gave the Saints more yards in OT than the Saints earned on their own in the entire 2nd half. Have to give the Vikes credit, they were playing 3 teams on Sunday, beat themselves, beat the Saints, but the refs made sure they had no chance.
I don’t deny that 2 of those calls in OT were close, but I find it interesting how all the on field calls went in favor of the Saints to begin with. The 4th down, it’s so close, even with slo-mo replay, from multiple angles, that days later, people are still arguing about the call, but the on field ref was so sure about what he saw, he put the ball a full 1/2 yard ahead of where he should have, and it was still upheld by replay? Jeeeez at least respot the ball, and measure, then if they get it by a nose, people can live with it. That’s the real crime. Then they say he didn’t lose control? You can see his empty hand and the ball slip down to his lap. That’s not loss of control? And they couldn’t see it on replay? I really can’t believe that whole sequence was upheld.
You want conspiracy? Ask yourself, why on 4th and inches, they didn’t have a better camera angle straight down the line? No wonder you had no visual evidence. It’s “the game of inches” yet the NFL doesn’t put the tools in place to handle calls that come down to inches.
The “catch”, hand under it or not, the ball clearly scrapes the ground, and it’s moving while he tries to pin it against his leg. I’ve seen it plenty of times from all angles, and I even see it hit the ground a 2nd time when he rolls over to cradle it. True you can trap the ball, but you must maintain control “throughout” the entire play, something he clearly doesn’t do.
Pass interference? I’ll just say that’s probably going to go down as the worst game deciding call ever. Watch the ref closest to the play, he waved incomplete immediately, and never reached for his flag. The ref down field was the one that threw the flag. Make sure you don’t huddle up and get it right.
You know what you don’t see anyone saying, anywhere, not even in New Orleans? You don’t see anyone saying “the Saints are in the super bowl because they were the better team”. Instead it’s “the Vikings fumbled 5 times”, like it’s a valid arguement, and explains why they won. They don’t even say anything good about their own teams performance. And why isn’t anyone saying that? Because the Vikings removed all doubt about who was the better team and everyone (including Saint fans) know the refs were the deciding factor. Normally I’d say, “good teams over come bad calls”, but it’s impossible to do that when the 3 calls in question set the other team up for the easy GW FG in OT.
It’s great that the league wants such a classless team in the big game. A team that thinks injuring the opposing teams QB is a valid game plan. I suppose it is when you think it’s the only way you can beat the other team. I have a feeling Brees is going to be a bit sore by the end of next season lol.
Lastly, EVERYONE agrees the Vikings shot themselves in the foot, no doubt about it, but stop pretending that’s why the Saints won, it’s called denial. Enjoy defending your undeserving football team and tainted Super Bowl.
Dear What a Farce,
Eloquently stated. I just would like to add that this is not he only game that I’ve seen decided in this manner. Had this game been an exception and occurred in a bubble I would not question the validity of the league. I have seen many games hinge on the momentum changing calls of refs during crucial drives. This leads me to believe that a conspiratorial system is in place. Although on the surface it seems as though it would be very difficult to control the outcome of a game through refs calls I contend it is fairly simple. The refs only have to look the other way and ignore the chosen team’s fouls. It’s that simple. The reason the saints received more penalties is precisely to mask the overall discrepancy in their play. The Saints were committing blatant fouls on almost every down. Even the most blatant infractions were simply overlooked, otherwise they would have gotten 100 calls against them and their would be no discussion here. They stayed in the game because they held the Viking receivers and their defensive linemen. Had they not been able to do so, the vikings with ten turnovers would have scored 40 points and sacked brees ten times. That is the reality of the game. If you could see the shots in the broadcast truck that were never shown and will never be shown you would be disgusted as I. Something must be done to save the sport we all love. Please don’t allow this to become the last second shot wins it all NBA. That game has been so tarnished you can literally bypass the game and watch the final two shots to see who wins. The NFL is heading in the same direction. Too many games are decided in the final drive. Statistically impossible and yet it happens routinely now. Not because of the rule changes but because TV executives think it makes for great theater.
31-28……I suppose the absolute fact of final score is not enough. NO was flagged 9 times for almost 100 yds or so to Minn. 3 for 30 yds. Minn had several 3rd down calls during regulation that kept drives alive. Pierre Thomas took a clear helmet to helmet shot on that 4th down play, that wasn’t called. So what, he didn’t let the ball squidge out from his control like Peterson,Harvin,Berrian, et al. He got the job done. I think you Norsemen are so butthurt from losing big games some have forgot how to compensate. Sure Vikings had every opportunity to win the game….and they didn’t do it. No ref or conspiracy made them screw up the personell and get flagged, and what grand empire of collusion made Brett throw a duma$$ prayer into Tracy Porter’s arms? THese events are just how a game of football unfolded. I imagine a few of you have seen the game. Often a team that is scouted as far superior comes up lame, and gets beat. Sometimes every statistic in the Geeks Guide to a Mans Game is in one team’s favor except the score. The only numbers that mean Jack when the final whistle blows…
Obviously a thrown game. A ptiy toss by the officials to the Katrina Saints.
@Notta–Tim was the one who implied Katrina, not you. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. But you did compare the NFL to WWE (which is known to be rigged) and American Idol (which is highly suspect to be rigged, or at least under a great deal of control by its producers), so it’s clear you think they’re not on the up-and-up.
I do admit the Saints got lucky with the calls in OT. It’s like shooting craps and having a great run–it happens sometimes. It could have happened to the Vikings just as easily, and no doubt some of my fellow Who Dats would be upset and complain about the officiating. But I don’t know how much more you can ask of the NFL. In the other big sports, there are so many more games in the season, with playoff teams having to win 7-game series in order to advance–which means that each individual play and ref call in those sports do not affect a team’s championship hopes as much as they do in football. It’s much more important to be right on any given play in the NFL than in the other sports.
I do believe they are doing the best they can. I haven’t seen any serious negative evidence. If there was any, wouldn’t it be discovered and presented by some of the major media outlets and by well-known and well-respected sports journalists? Outside of chat forums and low-quality blogs like this one I haven’t seen any evidence. In other words, I haven’t seen any evidence at all.
Michael, the NBA has covered up preferential foul calls for years and are now being called on it. Watch the Tim Donaghy 60 Minutes interviews. The FBI confirmed he never intentionally made a bad call. What he did was bet on games based on refereeing guidelines sent down by the league. Same things happen in the NFL.
The NFL consistently misrepresents things all the time…like concussions having no link to dementia. The NFL is a business and the referees are their employees. This isn’t about forcing a result, its about aiding and abetting a result. The NBA does it nightly, the NFL is close behind them.
The booth reviews provided indisputable evidence to change erronous calls on the field. Be assured that they were provided guidance beforehand that if it can be debated in support, you’d don’t change it. The employees of the NFL realize that a Super Bowl for the Saints benefits the league as a whole financially. And because teams equally benefit through the revenue sharing agreements, who do you think is going to cry boo? They are laughing all the way to the bank.
Numerous media outlets have brought into question the poor officiating in the game. The NFL’s decision to not respond at all speaks volume. If you have nothing to hide, your answer is not “no comment”.
The Pierre Thomas spot was one of the most criminal errors I’ve seen in football. And this is not just my opinion. The top drivers of traffic to this blog post are Google searches related to this play. The fact that one search request on Google happens questioning the integrity of a game or a play deserves a response from the league. The other search requests bringing visitors to this post are “ben leber pass interference”, “devery henderson ball spot” and “robert meachem catch”. A week out, thousands of people are searching for answers on Google to this search requests.
Fans across the USA have concerns about the nature of the officiating, its not just me. Take your Saints fan hat off for a few minutes, take a deep breath and join us again in the real world.
Tim, I agree that the Saints got lucky and that these calls are controversial, and they may in fact be wrong. Officiaiting is not perfect and never will be. The problem is when you and other fans go a step further and claim that some sort of agenda is being fulfilled–in your case, claiming that the Saints’ going to the Super Bowl will benefit the league much more than the Vikings getting to go.
That particular agenda does not hold water–why wouldn’t the NFL benefit from seeing old man Favre get a SB ring after coming back from retirement? Remember how many NFL ads featured Favre, compared to Brees? Do you actually think the league would be hurt if the Vikings made it?
I did the Google searches. There isn’t much there to support you discussions on chat forums and such. Let ‘em whine and make excuses for the Viking’s mistakes–not so much Favre’s interception (probably going into OT anyway at that point–too fat out for a field goal to be certain), but AP for his butterfingers and Childress for the 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty. Had they played better in the regular season, they would have got to play
… in the Metrodome.
The Saints were lucky. All OT wins are lucky–either the coin toss winner gets the field goal, or they takes a dump like GB did against Arizona. Luck is a feature of today’s NFL. Take off your tinfoil hat.