A final officiating rant

[Crimsoncrew]

I re-watched the entire super bowl over a period of several days (work has been insane lately), keeping an eye particularly on the officiating. I was keeping track based on the timing of the YouTube full-game clip (NFL Super Bowl XLVII Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49's [Full Game] - YouTube), and I'll post that review below. But I also had an overall officiating epiphany of sorts that I wanted to begin with.

First, as I've said many times, the Niners played poorly and it started on the first play of the game. That illegal formation penalty was a big one, and it didn't get much better from there. If they had come out ready to play, they win this game easily. They also had a great opportunity to win at the end, but blew it with bad play calls. How they didn't give Gore at least one run in the final goal line drive is beyond me. He was averaging nearly 20 YPC in the 4th quarter.

Considering that final goal-line stand, were there potential penalties? Absolutely. I didn't originally think Crabtree was interfered with on second down, but re-watching it - and this was clearer on Sound FX than the game tape - there's little doubt the contact was early. On third down there was a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit. And we all know about 4th down. But none of those was so blatant that you would expect to see it called at that point in a super bowl. My major complaints with the officiating arise earlier.

What bothers me the most about the officiating - other than the simply egregious decision not to eject Cary Williams and not to call holds on the safety, even though they would have been irrelevant - is that a single call and a single no-call completely shifted the game in Baltimore's favor in the second half.

IMO, Baltimore had only four big "offensive plays," loosely defined, in the second half. More or less in order of significance, I would rank them as: 1) the KO return, 2) the third-and-one pass to Boldin on the Ravens' final scoring drive, 3) the third-and-nine PI call against Culliver in that same drive, and 4) the 30-yard catch-and-run by Boldin in the Ravens' only other scoring drive in the half. The first of those was made possible by the blatant holds on Bruce Miller. The second and third were made possible by the PI call against Culliver - the second in that the PI call extended the drive. We keep hearing that officials don't want to be the difference in the game, but by allowing the TD return and calling the PI, they did just that.

Mike Pereira can talk all he wants about two players not bringing a guy to the ground, but that rule specifically applies to close line play. The holds here were absolutely blatant, and Miller was the guy whose gap was blown.

As for the PI against Culliver, I watched that play a lot to see what happened. There was illegal contact, but both teams had been committing illegal contact all game and it was never called. In this case, although Culliver put his hand on Smith, it's not at all clear that he impeded him. Smith pushes off, and Culliver grabs him a bit. Then Smith basically posts up on Culliver. There is plenty of contact here, but it's mutual. Smith doesn't really even make a play for the ball until it's by him. In a normal game, I wouldn't be surprised that this was called, though I think illegal contact is the better call here. Given the way this game was being called, I find it outrageous that this was the single PI that was called. A very significant play, and no flags were thrown earlier in the game when obvious early contact prevented Culliver himself and Crabtree from catching balls that hit their hands.

Anyway, trying to move on after posting this. Doubt it will work...

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Penalties and Officiating Miscues

00:12:45 - Staley and Jones are pushing a bit after the play. Anthony Davis turns toward Jones and puts a hand on his shoulder pad, when Corey Graham comes in from the side with a head of steam and shoves Davis down. Just lettin' 'em play. The next play Crabs burns Lewis across the middle for a first down.

00:26:23 - Illegal contact by Culliver on a pass to Torrey Smith. Well before the pass, not the sort of thing that is regularly called IMO, but certainly could have been. Plenty of hand-fighting toward the end of the play. Smith pushes off a bit, and Culliver uses an arm bar to prevent him from getting separation. Goldson might have been in position to make a play absent the contact, but it's questionable. This certainly could have gone against the Niners, though. Niners get a sack on third down and the Ravens punt.

00:29:20 – Pollard attempts a horse collar tackle on Davis, gets his hand in the back of Davis’ pads but Davis still goes by him. Can’t recall seeing an attempted horse collar called in a game, but figured I’d mention it.

00:29:50 – Davis has another catch and gets up jawing at Lewis. Lewis pushes Davis, and then Upshaw pushes him from behind. I felt at the time this should have been flagged, and the failure to do so after plays like this and the Corey Graham hit on Davis led to the brawl. I also feel strongly that the Ravens were the much bigger culprits. James fumbled two plays later.

00:31:48 – Two things immediately before James fumbled. Crabtree arguably blocked Pollard in the back. Kind of gets his arm, but that could have been called. Then Ellerbe comes up and grabs James by the back of the helmet, jerking him off balance right before Graham comes in to make the tackle. Probably good no-calls on both.

00:41:15 – The INT. Lots going on here so I’m going to break it up.

Suggs blocked Moss in the back before Davis made the tackle.

Jones basically dove – might have fallen? – at the back/side of Staley’s right knee, after which Staley went after him while he was on the ground and was flagged as a result. Camera pans away too quickly to see much more of that, but from what I saw it was both a low hit and a block in the back by Jones; very dangerous play and I can’t fault Staley for going after him. If deliberate, that was bush league. Definitely should have drawn a flag.

When the camera gets back to the scrum, Boone goes back into the pile to knock a few guys off. Definitely could have been flagged. Cary Williams pops up and effectively attacks the official. Anthony Davis is just getting mugged at the bottom of the pile. Cary Williams punches Davis in the midsection at least twice before Boone knocks him off. After Williams gets up, Pollard literally stands over Davis and drags him along the ground. Even after pushing the official, Williams just keeps going after Miller and a teammate has to physically separate him from the same official he shoved, who is now standing between him and Miller.

Officials have no one to blame for this but themselves, given all the late shots and chippiness they’d shrugged off to this point. I still don’t know how Williams wasn’t ejected for this one. Watching it through a second time, it’s even worse as Williams keeps getting in the official’s face. This entire episode was a joke. Ravens fake the FG at the end of the ensuing drive.

00:45:53 – 3rd and short-ish, Flacco checks down to Rice. Goldson is in position to make the tackle shy of the first-down marker when he is clearly and blatantly blocked in the back by Tandon Doss. That missed call upset me while watching the game live. So obvious. The no-call might have helped the Niners ultimately as Baltimore likely would have just kicked the FG instead of faking it, but ridiculous that wasn’t called.

00:54:13 – Smith is ALL OVER Culliver on this one. Culliver has his arm out, but isn’t restricting progress and has the better angle at the ball by far. Smith grabs at Culliver’s arm, hits the top of his head, grabs his backfield shoulder, and jumps into the back of Culliver’s head all before the ball arrives. He then grabs him by the helmet – not the facemask, but it would still qualify as unnecessary roughness based on the language of the penalty – after the ball gets there and drags him down backward. I still have no idea how this isn’t called. Culliver should have picked it regardless. The ball went right through his hands. But there was a ton of offensive contact before the ball. Joe Flacco complaining about no flag is absolutely laughable. Next play is the long TD to Jacoby Jones.

01:07:15 – The KO return TD. Clear hold by two players on Miller. Pereira tried to explain this one away, but it’s not what the rule says. That kind of hold is only permissible in close line play. The holds created the crucial gap in the return. Definitely should have been called. We all know how this one turned out.

01:11:25 –Boone and another DL kept shoving a bit after the play, and once they broke off Cody comes in and pushes Boone. Boone pushed him back. Pretty minor, all things considered. It would be rare to see this called, but this is the sort of stuff that went unchecked all game. Kap gets sacked on the next play, lights go out, and we fall short on third-and-long.

01:47:28 –Deep pass to Crabtree. Graham made contact well down the field. He then grabbed Crabtree’s arm, pulled it back, then hits Crabtree in the head just before the ball arrives. Crabtree still needs to make this catch. Ball was in his hands. Nonetheless, there was an awful lot of defensive contact on this one. We went down and got the Crabtree TD, but it took longer than it should have if the contact had been called correctly.

02:08:30 – This is the big third-down pass to Boldin that got the Ravens’ offense moving again in the second half. Lots of movement on the OL before and right around the snap. The RG is all over the place, but appears set shortly before the snap. Looks like Oher might’ve started his kick slide a split second before the snap, but too tight to call. This drive ends in a FG.

02:14:32 – 3rd and goal. Flacco waits for the last possible moment to get rid of the ball as he’s going out of bounds, but Sopoaga definitely hits him as he’s out of bounds. It’s close, as neither player even takes another stride before contact, but certainly could have been called. Break for the Niners, and IMO the only no-call that really favored the Niners.

02:24:10 – THAT’S the only PI that’s called all day??? Some contact past five as Culliver puts his hand on Smith’s shoulder, but it’s not clear it was obstructing Smith’s progress. Smith then pushes off violently to create separation, and Culliver grabs at his jersey, though again, it doesn’t appear that action impeded Smith’s progress at all. Plenty of contact as the ball is in the air, but it looks pretty two-sided to me. Smith basically boxes Culliver out. Obviously a huge call in this game. Was it PI? Probably. Given what we’d seen Smith do to Culliver earlier in the game, and Graham do to Crabtree a couple drives earlier, this seems pretty mundane. Illegal contact would have been a better call given that most of the contact occurred before the ball was in the air. The penalty extends the drive and the Ravens get a TD to extend the lead to 5.

02:41:15 – The third down play of the goal line stand. Jimmy Smith leads with his helmet and just slams Crabtree’s head. I didn’t realize watching this the first time how much he led with the helmet and how directly he hit Crabtree. Tough to expect a call there given the circumstances, but if the league is concerned about safety, that’s a textbook helmet-to-helmet hit.

And then the fourth down pass to Crabtree. I think that play was something of a toss-up. Crabtree was clearly held, and the claims that he initiated the contact so the holding was ok are BS – Crabtree made contact within five yards, Smith held him well past that mark. But given the situation, officials aren’t going to called anything unless it’s egregious. Similarly, though, I don’t like the talk about “uncatchable.” If Crabtree wasn’t held, he’s got the length to bring that ball in.

Anyway, probably not healthy to dwell on this game, but that may be the worst-officiated game I’ve seen since the Hawks’ super bowl – discounting the replacement officials. And under circumstances that were quite similar. The Niners still would have won if they had played even moderately well in the first half, but the officials really made a difference in this one IMO.

 

[Bemular]

Your attempt to move-on lasted a whole 24 minutes - Not bad (Better than me!)

I take it these mis-cues are just against us, as opposed to for us? (Watch Gore's 33 yard run - we got away with (at least) two mistakes on that play)

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I wanted to include my specific observations as part of the "moving on."

I tried to be even-handed when I did this review. Admittedly that is hard for me. I was also looking at more obvious stuff. Basically I was watching a play or two at a time while doing work, and if there wasn't something that was fairly obvious, I moved on quickly. I'm sure I missed plenty of things that could have been called, especially holding.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Out of curiosity, what are you seeing on the Gore run? Walker might have hooked Pollard a bit, but I can't tell from the angle if he actually grabbed. He was in position to wall Pollard off regardless, and that's not the sort of thing I would expect to be called. I'm not seeing anything else that would be an obvious call. Staley and Miller's blocks both looked clean, as did Iupati's.

 

[Bemular]

Out of curiosity, what are you seeing on the Gore run? Walker might have hooked Pollard a bit, but I can't tell from the angle if he actually grabbed. He was in position to wall Pollard off regardless, and that's not the sort of thing I would expect to be called. I'm not seeing anything else that would be an obvious call. Staley and Miller's blocks both looked clean, as did Iupati's.

Oh no, Walker had a fist full of jersey. It was a definite hold that could have or even should have been called. The second mistake was the spot - Gore stepped out at the 8 not the 7.

 

[Bemular]

I wanted to include my specific observations as part of the "moving on."

I tried to be even-handed when I did this review. Admittedly that is hard for me. I was also looking at more obvious stuff. Basically I was watching a play or two at a time while doing work, and if there wasn't something that was fairly obvious, I moved on quickly. I'm sure I missed plenty of things that could have been called, especially holding.

I'm very disappointed the NFL has not addressed some of the BS that transpired in their showcase event and in the absence of at least some recognition a long shadow has been cast over the credibility of the league.

 

[Arete Tzu]

Your attempt to move-on lasted a whole 24 minutes - Not bad (Better than me!)

It's so fucking hard to move on. You never realize how long people talk about the superbowl, till you lose one. It's unavoidable. Then those fuckin sports illustrated ads for ravens fans pop up ever 10 seconds!.

 

[Bemular]

It's so fucking hard to move on. You never realize how long people talk about the superbowl, till you lose one. It's unavoidable. Then those fuckin sports illustrated ads for ravens fans pop up ever 10 seconds!

LOL!!! THAT!!! Right There!! UGH!! The ads are the worst!!! Especially the ones that show up here on this, our 49ers forum!!

 

[MHSL82]

It's so fucking hard to move on. You never realize how long people talk about the superbowl, till you lose one. It's unavoidable. Then those fuckin sports illustrated ads for ravens fans pop up ever 10 seconds!.

Yep, I got that even last year and that wasn't even the freaking SB. I'm always optimistic, so I felt we'd win this one and the Pats one last year (Pats didn't play well, running game, defense, no turnovers, etc.).

 

[MHSL82]

Oh no, Walker had a fist full of jersey. It was a definite hold that could have or even should have been called. The second mistake was the spot - Gore stepped out at the 8 not the 7.

I'm very disappointed the NFL has not addressed some of the BS that transpired in their showcase event and in the absence of at least some recognition a long shadow has been cast over the credibility of the league.

Now, with our luck, the NFL will come out saying that Walker should have been called for a hold, just like they implied, "Harbaugh was outside of the box, anyway."

 

[Bemular]

Now, with our luck, the NFL will come out saying that Walker should have been called for a hold, just like they implied, "Harbaugh was outside of the box, anyway."

Three different things

 

[MHSL82]

Three different things

True, but it would be a slap in the face. Because some people who've already said things in defense to the non-call on a "let them play" belief, would point this out (if the NFL admitted to missing it), which would not in support of letting them play (unless Walker's hold was worse than Smith's, which I don't think it was).

 

[Bemular]

True, but it would be a slap in the face. Because some people who've already said things in defense to the non-call on a "let them play" belief, would point this out (if the NFL admitted to missing it), which would not in support of letting them play (unless Walker's hold was worse than Smith's, which I don't think it was).

Actually it wouldn't.

 

[MHSL82]

Actually it wouldn't.

Ok.

 

[smackdown380]

I re-watched the entire super bowl over a period of several days (work has been insane lately), keeping an eye particularly on the officiating. I was keeping track based on the timing of the YouTube full-game clip (NFL Super Bowl XLVII Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49's [Full Game] - YouTube), and I'll post that review below. But I also had an overall officiating epiphany of sorts that I wanted to begin with.

First, as I've said many times, the Niners played poorly and it started on the first play of the game. That illegal formation penalty was a big one, and it didn't get much better from there. If they had come out ready to play, they win this game easily. They also had a great opportunity to win at the end, but blew it with bad play calls. How they didn't give Gore at least one run in the final goal line drive is beyond me. He was averaging nearly 20 YPC in the 4th quarter.

Considering that final goal-line stand, were there potential penalties? Absolutely. I didn't originally think Crabtree was interfered with on second down, but re-watching it - and this was clearer on Sound FX than the game tape - there's little doubt the contact was early. On third down there was a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit. And we all know about 4th down. But none of those was so blatant that you would expect to see it called at that point in a super bowl. My major complaints with the officiating arise earlier.

What bothers me the most about the officiating - other than the simply egregious decision not to eject Cary Williams and not to call holds on the safety, even though they would have been irrelevant - is that a single call and a single no-call completely shifted the game in Baltimore's favor in the second half.

IMO, Baltimore had only four big "offensive plays," loosely defined, in the second half. More or less in order of significance, I would rank them as: 1) the KO return, 2) the third-and-one pass to Boldin on the Ravens' final scoring drive, 3) the third-and-nine PI call against Culliver in that same drive, and 4) the 30-yard catch-and-run by Boldin in the Ravens' only other scoring drive in the half. The first of those was made possible by the blatant holds on Bruce Miller. The second and third were made possible by the PI call against Culliver - the second in that the PI call extended the drive. We keep hearing that officials don't want to be the difference in the game, but by allowing the TD return and calling the PI, they did just that.

Mike Pereira can talk all he wants about two players not bringing a guy to the ground, but that rule specifically applies to close line play. The holds here were absolutely blatant, and Miller was the guy whose gap was blown.

As for the PI against Culliver, I watched that play a lot to see what happened. There was illegal contact, but both teams had been committing illegal contact all game and it was never called. In this case, although Culliver put his hand on Smith, it's not at all clear that he impeded him. Smith pushes off, and Culliver grabs him a bit. Then Smith basically posts up on Culliver. There is plenty of contact here, but it's mutual. Smith doesn't really even make a play for the ball until it's by him. In a normal game, I wouldn't be surprised that this was called, though I think illegal contact is the better call here. Given the way this game was being called, I find it outrageous that this was the single PI that was called. A very significant play, and no flags were thrown earlier in the game when obvious early contact prevented Culliver himself and Crabtree from catching balls that hit their hands.

Anyway, trying to move on after posting this. Doubt it will work...

Everything you said was on point but the thing that upsets me is the set of goaline plays at the end of the game which I know has been well documented by others, and very well.

In every game there is probably a penalty on every drive and I get that the refs don't want to call penalties in the Super Bowl and play it tight. However,there were 4 penalties that could have been called(on first down I think Reed was offsides) on Balt including the helmet to helmet of which the league is supposedly trying to cut down. Don't call all 4...just call one damn penalty and let us have a reset of downs. I have said this in other threads but by the refs not calling at least 1 basically said we hand Balt the Lombardi.

I have tried moving on but nothing works....

 

[yossarian]

Great post, I am finding it hard to move on, but I also am trying to get some perspective. I remember how absolutely outraged the Seahawk fans were over the super bowl they got jobbed in, and I think the a lot of people thought that they made plenty of their own mistakes to argue it came down to the refs. I am starting to think the same thing about our super bowl -- everything Crimson said is right, but, as Peter King pointed out -- had Harbaugh not called time out at the end, it's very likely Kaep would have just trotted into the end zone, the playcalling was bad and the defense was atrocious -- just horrible, and Kaep had the yips for a while. We were the better team, I'm convinced of that, but we didn't play like it for most of the game. And to me, that's harder to get over --- they choked at the beginning of the game and choked at the end -- no 49er team has done that in the super bowl before -- and that's a lot worse than playing a generally good game and having it snatched away by the refs.
However, I will say one thing --- we came in second, over the Packers, Falcons, Seahawks, Patriots, etc., and while it's frustrating not to win once you get there, it was a great fun filled season.

 

[MHSL82]

Great post, I am finding it hard to move on, but I also am trying to get some perspective. I remember how absolutely outraged the Seahawk fans were over the super bowl they got jobbed in, and I think the a lot of people thought that they made plenty of their own mistakes to argue it came down to the refs. I am starting to think the same thing about our super bowl -- everything Crimson said is right, but, as Peter King pointed out -- had Harbaugh not called time out at the end, it's very likely Kaep would have just trotted into the end zone, the playcalling was bad and the defense was atrocious -- just horrible, and Kaep had the yips for a while. We were the better team, I'm convinced of that, but we didn't play like it for most of the game. And to me, that's harder to get over --- they choked at the beginning of the game and choked at the end -- no 49er team has done that in the super bowl before -- and that's a lot worse than playing a generally good game and having it snatched away by the refs.

Well, this and tell Kaepernick the play in time to make the changes at the line. It would have been a 5 yard penalty, I don't think Kaep got it off. Some people criticize Kaep, but act like they'd have that same play had he not taken time. If he had hurried up to snap the ball without making the changes, we wouldn't have that play per se. With those changes, we would have had a delay of game, probably (depending on the refs timing). So therefore, the only way in my mind we score there is if Kaep had time earlier. There might be some factors as to why he didn't and some of those factors may change whether I think the coaches were slow or something else.

 

[Bemular]

Great post, I am finding it hard to move on, but I also am trying to get some perspective. I remember how absolutely outraged the Seahawk fans were over the super bowl they got jobbed in, and I think the a lot of people thought that they made plenty of their own mistakes to argue it came down to the refs. I am starting to think the same thing about our super bowl -- everything Crimson said is right, but, as Peter King pointed out -- had Harbaugh not called time out at the end, it's very likely Kaep would have just trotted into the end zone, the playcalling was bad and the defense was atrocious -- just horrible, and Kaep had the yips for a while. We were the better team, I'm convinced of that, but we didn't play like it for most of the game. And to me, that's harder to get over --- they choked at the beginning of the game and choked at the end -- no 49er team has done that in the super bowl before -- and that's a lot worse than playing a generally good game and having it snatched away by the refs.
However, I will say one thing --- we came in second, over the Packers, Falcons, Seahawks, Patriots, etc., and while it's frustrating not to win once you get there, it was a great fun filled season.

PK is mistaken - The flag was already on the ground so the play was dead whether or not Harbaugh had called the TO.

 

[MHSL82]

How long until Smoke comes here to share his thoughts?