Hopefully the NFL makes penaltys challengable/reviewable

[BloodType49]

Case in point 49ers Strong Safety Donte Whitner was flagged five times this season for " Unnecessary Roughness " but was not fined once by the NFL meaning when later reviewed they were deemed legal within the context of the rule book. I do not like having to slow the game down anymore with reviews but this is something the NFL has to seriously consider because it is costing teams games and the refs cant seem to distinguish what is a " dirty" hit and what is just a fast clean hit that looks violent.

Oh and Ahmad Brooks was also not fined for the illegal hit on New Orleans QB Drew Brees that could have costed the 49ers HFA throughout the playoff's.

 

[Midnightangel]

Case in point 49ers Strong Safety Donte Whitner was flagged five times this season for " Unnecessary Roughness " but was not fined once by the NFL meaning when later reviewed they were deemed legal within the context of the rule book. I do not like having to slow the game down anymore with reviews but this is something the NFL has to seriously consider because it is costing teams games and the refs cant seem to distinguish what is a " dirty" hit and what is just a fast clean hit that looks violent.

Oh and Ahmad Brooks was also not fined for the illegal hit on New Orleans QB Drew Brees that could have costed the 49ers HFA throughout the playoff's.

Roger Goodell actually said they might do this - and I think it's about time. The vicious hits that give the offense a first down and 15 free yards could be reviewable. And I agree. To many times I've seen legal hits that the ref threw the yellow hankie on.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

Yeah, I'm with you on this one Bloodtype49. Something has to be done because the officials on the field can't really see things properly at full speed. The biggest problem area I have is this "somewhere in the head or neck area" b.s. Far too general a term for me. The "defenseless receiver" is another one that has become totally screwed up. There was a hit in last weeks game where the flag came in for that and when they showed the replay, (A) the receiver was being tackled from behind already and was ducking because he saw the other DB coming and (B) the hit turned out to be shoulder pad on shoulder pad. There was only a slight brushing of the helmets after the initial hit, probably not enough to even create a scuff mark. Yet the defense gave up 15 yds and a first down. Totally unfair, imo and I get that we don't want injuries but we are sucking the life and soul out of the sport. Fwiw, I believe it was my team that benefitted from the call, too.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

I know this is very difficult but there has to be some way to establish what appears to be intent. When I see a LB or SS or whatever already in his tackle position and clearly has a B-line on the mid-section only to have the offensive player go low at the last second and some inadvertent contact to the head occurs, some common sense judgement has to realize that this is incidental contact. Not some head hunting tactic. The other ones are the hands to the helmet of the QB. Obviously, some of these are justified but sometimes in an attempt to swat the ball and barely a pinky finger touches the helmet and it gets called, I get disgusted. Too many bullshit, ticky tack calls in the game today and that, more than replay slows the game down.

 

[Midnightangel]

Yeah, I'm with you on this one Bloodtype49. Something has to be done because the officials on the field can't really see things properly at full speed. The biggest problem area I have is this "somewhere in the head or neck area" b.s. Far too general a term for me. The "defenseless receiver" is another one that has become totally screwed up. There was a hit in last weeks game where the flag came in for that and when they showed the replay, (A) the receiver was being tackled from behind already and was ducking because he saw the other DB coming and (B) the hit turned out to be shoulder pad on shoulder pad. There was only a slight brushing of the helmets after the initial hit, probably not enough to even create a scuff mark. Yet the defense gave up 15 yds and a first down. Totally unfair, imo and I get that we don't want injuries but we are sucking the life and soul out of the sport. Fwiw, I believe it was my team that benefitted from the call, too.

I don't recall that happening in the Seattle game. It may have but I don't remember one. I know it happened in the Denver game, though.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

It may have been the Saints game I'm thinking of but it was Kearse that got hit, I believe. My memory isn't great so you will have to bear with me.

 

[Midnightangel]

It may have been the Saints game I'm thinking of but it was Kearse that got hit, I believe. My memory isn't great so you will have to bear with me.

Well, suffice it to say it's happened a LOT.

 

[BloodType49]

I don't recall that happening in the Seattle game. It may have but I don't remember one. I know it happened in the Denver game, though.

Is this the hit you were referring to? Cost the 49ers a 15 yard penalty and first down.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

In all fairness to the refs though, a lot of these hits look bad at full speed and it isn't until we can slow it down that we see what really happens. A quick call from the booth would definitely remedy that, possibly change it to a 5 yarder and not a personal foul, I don't know. Those 15 yd calls are hurting teams big-time. The thing here is that they throw the flag and there is usually 30-40 seconds of chatter amongst the on-field guys anyway. Plenty of time for the booth to review the tape. It wouldn't slow the game down at all.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

Yep, that was the one and it was shoulder pad to shoulder pad. Thx Bloodtype.

 

[Midnightangel]

In all fairness to the refs though, a lot of these hits look bad at full speed and it isn't until we can slow it down that we see what really happens. A quick call from the booth would definitely remedy that, possibly change it to a 5 yarder and not a personal foul, I don't know. Those 15 yd calls are hurting teams big-time. The thing here is that they throw the flag and there is usually 30-40 seconds of chatter amongst the on-field guys anyway. Plenty of time for the booth to review the tape. It wouldn't slow the game down at all.

And that's why we need to review it. It happened in the Denver game.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Oh and Ahmad Brooks was also not fined for the illegal hit on New Orleans QB Drew Brees that could have costed the 49ers HFA throughout the playoff's.

Calls happen and this did not cost you home field advantage. Its funny because Niner fans had no problem with Green Bay losing on a questionable call to Seattle last year which gave the Niners the 2 seed over the Packers. Bottom line is maybe if you don't put up 9 points against Carolina at home or lose by 20 to Indy at home you would have gotten homefield.

Plus there's no guarantee the rest of the season plays out exactly the same for the Niners and Seahawks if they had won in New Orleans.

 

[SonnyCID]

I wouldnt hold my breath. The nfl wants to speed up the game, not slow it down.

Football will never be perfect.

 

[SonnyCID]

Plus there's no guarantee the rest of the season plays out exactly the same for the Niners and Seahawks if they had won in New Orleans.

Exactly. You cant change just one thing in a timeline and expect everything else to remain the same.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

And that's why we need to review it. It happened in the Denver game.

It happens in every game sometimes 3 or 4 times. Now, in these last 2 examples you can say they didn't effect the outcome. The Broncos/Pats game was one-sided and if memory serves that Seahawk one, they punted 3 plays later. But, in the Hawk/Niner game as well as many others, these calls allow a team to maintain control of the ball for at least one more set of downs which can be crucial for clock management at the end of the game. Not saying it doesn't come down to the same interception but who knows for sure. Maybe an extra minute or two allows San Fran and Kaep to be slightly more conservative and not force something. Of course, there was plenty of time not to force that play anyway. The league definitely has to deal with this for sure. 15 yard personal fouls are sucking the life out of the sport, imo. One of the things that make the NFL so exciting is the "big hits". Players do need to form tackle better, granted and the launching and spearing have become the norm but it surely isn't a penalty every time.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

I wouldnt hold my breath. The nfl wants to speed up the game, not slow it down.

Football will never be perfect.

That is the standard argument against replay but honestly, it doesn't hold much water. The officials routinely gather for several seconds after every flag and converse in an effort to get the call right. Scoring reviews from the booth have added nothing to the timeline in the majority of cases and they are often much harder to judge because of the pile-ups, etc. The open field hits are much more obvious, imo. I know you were referring to the league here Sonny so this isn't aimed at you specifically. I just don't buy it.

 

[Perpetual_Beast_Mode]

Is this the hit you were referring to? Cost the 49ers a 15 yard penalty and first down.

Looks to me like he grazed the helmet Luke Wilson and that might be why they called a hit to the head. Ultimately though, I think we ended up punting on that drive, anyway.

 

[BloodType49]

Calls happen and this did not cost you home field advantage. Its funny because Niner fans had no problem with Green Bay losing on a questionable call to Seattle last year which gave the Niners the 2 seed over the Packers. Bottom line is maybe if you don't put up 9 points against Carolina at home or lose by 20 to Indy at home you would have gotten homefield.

Plus there's no guarantee the rest of the season plays out exactly the same for the Niners and Seahawks if they had won in New Orleans.

I said it could have, we win that game in NO and maybe we would have gotten HFA maybe not, but our chances would have been a lot better.

 

[WizardHawk]

Instead of slowing down an already slowed down game with endless reviews how about stop making so many rules that don't have clearly defined lines for calling them? They have changed so many rules under the guise of adding to player safety, but haven't made those rules cut and dry. Too many interpretation rules. That's what is causing this problem, not the lack of replay. Better define exactly what is, and isn't an illegal hit.

 

[SonnyCID]

Instead of slowing down an already slowed down game with endless reviews how about stop making so many rules that don't have clearly defined lines for calling them? They have changed so many rules under the guise of adding to player safety, but haven't made those rules cut and dry. Too many interpretation rules. That's what is causing this problem, not the lack of replay. Better define exactly what is, and isn't an illegal hit.