You Are What Your Record Says, But...

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Miami is a bad football team right now, no other way to spin it.

But, the officiating this year is downright atrocious. And I'm not just talking about Dolphins games. Every fan base is complaining, with the possible exception of Raiders fans, who finally feel like they are getting the calls.

There are so many examples of bad officiating. On that big run by Derrick Henry against Buffalo, there were two holds on Tennessee. Neither of which were called. That was a huge play for the Titans and changed the momentum of the game. Obviously, I wanted Tennessee to win. But I also want to see a game that is better officiated.

Against Jacksonville there were two phantom calls that played a big part in the Jaguars emerging with the win over Miami. The Dolphins were driving when Hollins was called for the push off. I believe the Dolphins ended up punting, while that play would have put them in scoring position.

Earlier Holland was called for unnecessary roughness. A few plays later, Lawrence throws a touchdown pass. Again, I didn't see anything on that play that should have been called.

The non call on PI against the Raiders, likely wins the game for Miami in OT if the ref makes the right call.

I know officiating is a very tough job. I don't think officials are deliberate sabatoging games either. So, I'm not calling conspiracy theory.

My problem is that there exist technology to get more plays right. If we can instantly see that an official got the call wrong, it shouldn't take much time to review the call on the field.

Personally, I think everything should be a reviewable call. Give each team one more challenge and we aren't talking about adding much time to the game. But we'd definitely see fewer blatant mistakes that are driving fans crazy.

 

[LibertineOneThree]

Works both ways. The league isn’t out to get us. The Hollins play was right in front of me and I instantly knew it’d be flagged.

And it doesn’t excuse the consistent horrific o line play and defence in general.

People need to take responsibility and be held to account. Which is at Ross’ door. Not the officials.

 

[fishbanger]

Coaching is bad too

 

[MrChadRico]

This is nothing new. Bad officiating is just part of the game.

The league makes so many rule changes year in and year out it makes the job of the officials almost impossible to catch everything.

I'll admit this year has been worse than most but every season you see idiot officials blowing games.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Works both ways. The league isn’t out to get us. The Hollins play was right in front of me and I instantly knew it’d be flagged.

And it doesn’t excuse the consistent horrific o line play and defence in general.

People need to take responsibility and be held to account. Which is at Ross’ door. Not the officials.

Did it happen earlier in the play? I sure didn't see it in replays.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Coaching is bad too

No question.

 

[1972forever]

Miami is a bad football team right now, no other way to spin it.

But, the officiating this year is downright atrocious. And I'm not just talking about Dolphins games. Every fan base is complaining, with the possible exception of Raiders fans, who finally feel like they are getting the calls.

There are so many examples of bad officiating. On that big run by Derrick Henry against Buffalo, there were two holds on Tennessee. Neither of which were called. That was a huge play for the Titans and changed the momentum of the game. Obviously, I wanted Tennessee to win. But I also want to see a game that is better officiated.

Against Jacksonville there were two phantom calls that played a big part in the Jaguars emerging with the win over Miami. The Dolphins were driving when Hollins was called for the push off. I believe the Dolphins ended up punting, while that play would have put them in scoring position.

Earlier Holland was called for unnecessary roughness. A few plays later, Lawrence throws a touchdown pass. Again, I didn't see anything on that play that should have been called.

The non call on PI against the Raiders, likely wins the game for Miami in OT if the ref makes the right call.

I know officiating is a very tough job. I don't think officials are deliberate sabatoging games either. So, I'm not calling conspiracy theory.

My problem is that there exist technology to get more plays right. If we can instantly see that an official got the call wrong, it shouldn't take much time to review the call on the field.

Personally I think everything should be a reviewable call. Give each team one more challenge and we aren't talking about adding much time to the game. But we'd definitely see fewer blatant mistakes that are driving fans crazy.

If every fan base is complaining about the Ref’s that means the bad officiating evens out over the course of the season. Every team gets calls that go for them and against them during the season and good teams are able to overcome the bad calls.

The Dolphins are what their record says they are and this year that record says they are not a good team. If everything in the game was reviewable, the games would last another hour and that would mean 58 minutes more of commercials.

I actually liked the games more years ago when there were no reviews. Human error was part of the game and I was fine with that because the refs actually make very few errors during games.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

This is nothing new. Bad officiating is just part of the game.

The league makes so many rule changes year in and year out it makes the job of the officials almost impossible to catch everything.

I'll admit this year has been worse than most but every season you see idiot officials blowing games.

The game is so well filmed now. The amazing work of camera crews, shooting at all angles etc. , also makes it harder for officials.

The fans see nearly everything now, while officials are seeing a play in real time. It's rare if the camera person misses something.

But because technology is so good, why not use it to make officiating better? That's really my point.

Not expecting 100 percent of calls to be perfect but if you can get closer to that, why wouldn’t you?

 

[urbanski]

Be thankful the officiating sucks. They could literally call a hold on our offensive line on every play. There is a dolphin holding on pretty much every pass play lol. It's embarrassing.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

If every fan base is complaining about the Ref’s that means the bad officiating evens out over the course of the season. Every team gets calls that go for them and against them during the season and good teams are able to overcome the bad calls.

The Dolphins are what their record says they are and this year that record says they are not a good team. If everything in the game was reviewable, the games would last another hour and that would mean 58 minutes more of commercials.

I actually liked the games more years ago when there were no reviews. Human error was part of the game and I was fine with that because the refs actually make very few errors during games.

I agree with most of this.

It was also easier to accept the calls of officials when replays missed a lot as well, or fewer cameras were in play. As fans, we didn't have all the angles, views etc

I remember calls in the 70's and maybe actually seeing a camera pick it up 50 percent of the time.

Now, the camera crews are so skilled, there are more cameras etc. Why not use the technology to get more plays right?

I would only add one more challenge opportunity to each coaching staff, so that wouldn't slow the game down much.

 

[BennySwella]

We are a bottom half of the league team. Last year was different. That defense was different. Something is wrong with the team and it doesn't seem to be the players either because we have almost the same team.

Schematically on defense we are not anywhere near as effective as we were in the past. What happened to the amoeba defense and the trick plays on special teams? This team is not only worse personnel wise, they are worse at calling plays at all 3 phases.

 

[Penthos]

Works both ways. The league isn’t out to get us. The Hollins play was right in front of me and I instantly knew it’d be flagged.

And it doesn’t excuse the consistent horrific o line play and defence in general.

People need to take responsibility and be held to account. Which is at Ross’ door. Not the officials.

The OP starts off by saying "Miami is a bad football team"... I don't see that as not taking responsibility.

Honestly, I hate these kinds of replies because it basically says, the refs are not responsible for their bad calls. No matter how crappy the officiating is, it doesn't matter because the team that won should have won regardless of, or in spite of, the bad officiating.

Nobody is arguing Miami is a good team or that the reason they are bad is because of officiating. But a fan should be able to complain about atrocious officiating without being bombarded with "well actually" by know-it-all posters who think that bitching about officiating automatically means excusing a losing team.

Miami is bad. The officiating is bad. Both can be true.

 

[Penthos]

Miami is a bad football team right now, no other way to spin it.

But, the officiating this year is downright atrocious. And I'm not just talking about Dolphins games. Every fan base is complaining, with the possible exception of Raiders fans, who finally feel like they are getting the calls.

There are so many examples of bad officiating. On that big run by Derrick Henry against Buffalo, there were two holds on Tennessee. Neither of which were called. That was a huge play for the Titans and changed the momentum of the game. Obviously, I wanted Tennessee to win. But I also want to see a game that is better officiated.

Against Jacksonville there were two phantom calls that played a big part in the Jaguars emerging with the win over Miami. The Dolphins were driving when Hollins was called for the push off. I believe the Dolphins ended up punting, while that play would have put them in scoring position.

Earlier Holland was called for unnecessary roughness. A few plays later, Lawrence throws a touchdown pass. Again, I didn't see anything on that play that should have been called.

The non call on PI against the Raiders, likely wins the game for Miami in OT if the ref makes the right call.

I know officiating is a very tough job. I don't think officials are deliberate sabatoging games either. So, I'm not calling conspiracy theory.

My problem is that there exist technology to get more plays right. If we can instantly see that an official got the call wrong, it shouldn't take much time to review the call on the field.

Personally, I think everything should be a reviewable call. Give each team one more challenge and we aren't talking about adding much time to the game. But we'd definitely see fewer blatant mistakes that are driving fans crazy.

I agree with most of this. While I don't think EVERYTING should be reviewable. Personal fouls should definitely be reviewable and there should not be a bias toward what was called on the field. That "leading with the head" call was absolutely atrocious. The defender has just as much right to the ball as the receiver and there was zero intent to hit him.

 

[LibertineOneThree]

The OP starts off by saying "Miami is a bad football team"... I don't see that as not taking responsibility.

Honestly, I hate these kinds of replies because it basically says, the refs are not responsible for their bad calls. No matter how crappy the officiating is, it doesn't matter because the team that won should have won regardless of, or in spite of, the bad officiating.

Nobody is arguing Miami is a good team and that the reason they are bad is because of officiating. But a fan should be able to complain about atrocious officiating without being bombarded with "well actually" by know-it-all posters who think that bitching about officiating automatically means excusing a losing team.

Miami is bad. The officiating is bad. Both can be true.

Calm down.

Anyone can point out bad officiating across the league. Maybe in the NFL section. This was in the Dolphins section so I related it to the Dolphins’ current plight.

I would say we’re a complete mess. And I would say it’s 99% incompetence within the organisation and perhaps 1% due to bad officiating. At most. That’s all I meant. Sorry if I ruined your weekend.

 

[Marino2.0]

Bad officiating is ruining the NFL product. The inconsistency of pass interference and holding calls ruins the sport. And the fact that penalties aren’t reviewable makes absolutely no sense and contributes to the diminution of the product.

All of this is true independent of the fact—and it is a fact—that the Dolphins are a terrible football team.