The refs must have money on these games. When an NFL player fumbles the ball out of bounds through the end zone, it automatically results in a touchback. For you people saying that Watkins gave himself up because he was on the ground, he fell to the ground after making the catch. Take away ur 3 pt drive and give the bills 3, maybe 7 pts right there. Hawley was inspired by the minimalist lifestyle and decided that he wanted to try it out. Bad calls and non calls both ways, the only good thing I can say is that both teams got screwed enough to cancel each other out. He was down the moment his butt touched the ground, because he stopped trying to advance the ball. But I think they got this one right. If MLB and the NFL got together and had a kid it’d probably be a pretty decent replay system. Until serial liar Goodell leaves, nothing will get resolved and many issues will get worse. The undefeated Pats are a goldmine for media dollars. They need to adopt Belichick’s suggestion that every play is reviewable and should be subject to review even in the last two minutes. Except for kneeling in the end zone to create a touchback or a fair catch on a punt or kickoff, there should be no “giving himself up” rule in the NFL. You do realize that the league is the one who is keeping this in the courts, correct? Until the NFL embraces professional officials they will have to deal with the “pickup” team results they get every week. jchipwood says: see Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1 (d) (1). After all of this whining I take the Bills LOST. It’s the same crews– week-in and week-out—- Year-in and year-out… Mistake after mistakes. Clearly can be seen on replay, which is why the NFL is not showing us that replay – up close. ——————– But they still should have got it. I swear, every game I watch has worse officiating than the last. The need to remove Pass interference call to a 15 yard penalty and it must be OBVIOUS err on the side that the defender is allowed to play DEFENSE.. It was ruled wrong. First do you really think a measly million dollars means much to billionaires ? Meanwhile, hardly any penalties were called on my Packers when it was clear holding was going on. Nov 24, 2015 10:10 AM. If so, then the call was clearly correct. Oh, wait a second, that call went against Buffalo & IN FAVOR of the Pats??? The reason him giving himself up is important is because if he was considered "downed," as he would be if he gave himself up, the ball is dead when it leaves his hands and therefore Seattle did not recover posession on a fumble because a fumble never occurrd. As bad as it all was the final spot was not really a case of either team getting badly robbed. You must be logged in to leave a comment. — It was a complete one-sided delivery of the rule book. Bills have been jobbed by refs in Foxboro a lot. An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended when a runner declares himself down by falling to the ground, or kneeling, and clearly making no effort to advance. Disagree. I’m a Pats fan, and I’ll take the way the game turned out…but that game was badly officiated -toward both teams- for the entire game. Not much is being made of it because it helped the Patriots – as usual. Fortunately, in that case, review overturned it. And to think you had to trade up to get him! He wasn’t moving backwards. I think the officials were just tired of the game and wanted to go home after screwing up for the thirty-seventh time. #thissucks. Don’t increase number of challenges (so game won’t get longer). Too much. If his butt had hit the ground out of bounds, it would have stopped the clock. Disagree. Bengals/Cards game Fitz caught the ball and ran sideways and jumped out of bounds. The million dollar bribe Kraft gave the NFL over deflategate was the best investment he could have made to ensure himself another SB win. Millions of dollars spent trying to frame and embarrass the Pats, stolen draft picks and Kraft is “running the league” ? They go out backward sideways forward on every play. That same ref who called Watkins giving himself up, also called a pass incomplete a few plays earlier when it clearly wasn’t. Coaches all across America are figuring out how they’ll stop the clock on future 2 minute drills this morning as obviously down and outs designed to run out of bounds and stop the clock will no longer be allowed. Forward progress in bounds seems to be the actual understandable reason he kept the clock running, but the fact he fell backwards and landed in bounds before rolling out – they use the official term “give himself up” meaning no attempt to advance. Yes only in Foxboro there are bad calls, in no other stadium throughout the NFL, only in Foxboro. bostonstrippers says: if you want to see it for yourself, it is Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1 (d) (1). rollotomasi14 says: ————————————————————– NFL needs less rules not more! While it may have been a “judgment call” by the official, the end result reflected poorly-formulated judgment. If so, then the referee clearly erred since Watkins was obviously not trying to declare himself down in the field of play. Over the past few years the product just isn’t the same. It looked like he was trying to get out of bounds. And that kind of call should be reviewable (or nothing should be). Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Steratore says Watkins “gave himself up” on final play, Report: Cam Newton re-signing with Patriots, Chiefs release Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz, Report: Andy Dalton agrees to one-year, $10 million deal with Bears, NFL Top 100 free agents 2021: Shaq Barrett highest-ranked player not to get tagged, Report: Tom Brady earns $41.075 million in 2021, Patrick Mahomes restructure will free up $17 million of cap room for Chiefs, Jerry Jones: I’ve overpaid for most special things in my life. In the end, as bad as the officiating was, I don’t think it altered the outcome of the game. I swear I’ve seen a few times where the player is going out of bounds backwards and the clock keeps moving. Just all around odd, and an unpleasant viewing experience. The call was clearly blown to anybody that wasn’t a Patriots fan. vietnambob2473 says: ——————— I just can not understand the thinking that goes into someone making a statement like this. Instead, we give them probation and a time out from doing their job. “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying”. 538 has done studies on this and found no penalty bias for any team, except a slight tendency in favor of home teams. Rambo grabbed a big handful of jersey and yanked it, slowing up Gronkowski and causing the pick. Another few seasons of this and I will have to find another hobby. It was, from ESPN’s perspective, another poorly-discussed, late-game snafu, with Mike Tirico pointing out the curiosity before the broadcast ended, but with no explanation from Gerry Austin or anyone else regarding why it was or wasn’t the appropriate decision to end the game. Who knows could of been a dropped pass, int, or pass deflection. ======. … Every time there was a close call, whatever the Pats sideline lobbied for he gave to them. You are allowed to give yourself up and the refs determined that setting the ball on the ground while in complete control of the ball counted as giving yourself up. If you are on the ground (like he was) or on your feet and you are moving parallel with the line or backwards your forward progress is stopped. Yes, on the heels of a game where the officials blatantly stopped a potential TD pass by the Patriots with an “inadvertent whistle” we still have people convinced that the officials favor the Pats. Players regularly roll for yardage without making an attempt to get up. it’s not about forward progress being stopped. Now.”. We will never know for sure but I am only talking in terms of ‘likely’. The refs were abhorrent last night but the pats got jobbed several times over the course of the game. Taking an angle towards the sideline isn't giving yourself up. Watching, listening and learning has helped turn him into an elite high school football player as only a sophomore. “When that occurs and we deem that the runner, which he would have been after he maintained possession after his reception, he was now a runner, had given himself up in the field of play. It’s very normal for a receiver or running back to move backwards. I’m not complaining, but they have their favorites. Nov 24, 2015 10:16 AM If the player runs, rolls, stumbles, backflips, or makes any other motion backwards on his own, not instigated by contact from a defender, forward progress is not awarded. If he kneels, it is a touchback, and his team gets the ball at their 20 yard line. The NFL is starting to feel like the WWE. The NFL is the only sport where the networks feel the need to hire rules experts. But as I stated the NFL is “entertainment” which means Goodell can have refs call the game anyway they want. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude he gave himself up, It’s funny how the officials seem totally lost on the rules during the game but the minute they’re interviewed afterwards they’ve obviously read a few sections to try and cover their behind. how does this gang of rank amateurs end up on nationally televised games all the time? Hire FT refs. and clearly making no effort to advance” as synonymous with declaring oneself down regardless of intent? Denver probably can’t dial up that Rex Ryan defense which he obviously has worked on for many weeks. Of course, Belichick is not on the Competition Committee and many on that committee probably don’t like him or respect him, so the idea will never see the light of day. Ryan’s actions were certainly bad (the only actual ‘cheating’ on the play, the rest was all ineptitude) so the 15 yarder was called for. They need to get gambling out of football. This Steratore ref is dirty, I cringe every time he officiates the Broncos games. That is exactly what Watkins did. Thanks to last night’s inadvertent whistle at Gillette Stadium, another potentially significant officiating gaffe has received far less attention.