‘All-time high’ for ref scrutiny
League knows it has some issues to deal with in offseason.
This has been the year of the penalty in the NFL.
Not so much because more flags have been thrown in 2 01 6 — t hrough Week 15 teams were averaging 8.09 flags a game this season compared to 8.10 in 2015 — or because a larger-than-normal number of games have been decided by questionable calls.
More because the questioning of the competence of the officials began, literally, on opening day with a flurry of unflagged hits to the head of the reigning MVP, Cam Newton, and continued, in some form, virtually every week, without a stop.
Patterns? There weren’t any, in particular.
Phantom pass interference calls have been as common as unflagged hits to the head, the likes of which sent Newton to the commissioner’s office to discuss. There were petty calls for hugging refs (Earl Thomas) and throwing towels (Travis Kelce got ejected), all underscored by a flurry of flags for celebrations that grew more subversive the harder the NFL tried to curb them.
Replay worked — sometimes. But it didn’t change anything at the end of the Cowboys-Vikings game. Cedric Thornton wasn’t flagged even though he clearly hit Minnesota quarterback Sam Bradford in the head as Bradford threw for a potential tying 2-point play.
Also not reviewed: The non-call for Richard Sherman’s t a kedown of Jul i o Jones at the end of the Seahawks-Falcons game; or a particularly poor spotting of the ball in an especially poorly called game between the Texans and Raiders.
“The s c r ut i ny a nd t he attention are at an all-time high on anything related to NFL, and that is a very positive thing,” said Dean Blandino, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating. “And sometimes it can be negative, and we understand that in officiating.” What to do about all this? Nothing new here — there i s n o s i n g l e a n s wer, b u t merely a list of remedies the NFL could consider:
Full-time referees: The league is considering hiring 17 full-time officials and increasing the size of officiating crews from seven to eight. The part-time official has long been a staple of the league, and there’s good reason for it. Why would an official quit his day job for one with very little job security? Only if the league and the unions representing the players and officials can figure out a way to guarantee full-time officials some job security will this work out. Even then, 17 full-time referees will only represent a bit more than 10 percent of the workforce.
“Over 60 percent of (questions from coaches) are not about calls made but those not made,” Blandino said. “So we could cover more of the field of play, which of course is a positive.”
Pass interference: It’s an almost annual cry: The NFL should consider changing its long-held rule on penalizing pass interference at the spot of the foul in favor of the more lenient college rule, which calls for only a 15-yard penalty.
If Mike Pereira, the former VP of officiating, could change one single thing in the NFL, this would be it.
“Yo u c a n c h a n g e t h e course of a game on one of those calls, and what if a referee’s not sure?” said Pereira, now an analyst for Fox.
The con to this is that it would now pay for a badly beaten defensive back to dive and tackle a receiver who was breaking open for a sure touchdown.
Of course, the league could consider a major and minor version of pass interference, though that has the potential to raise as many questions as it answers.
Spotting the ball: The Nov. 21 game between the Raiders and Texans may have been the worst-called game of the season.
Among the misses: a pair of questionable spots with the Texans trying to gain s h o r t y a rd a ge t o ke e p a potentially go-ahead drive going. Replays indicated the officials may have missed the spots both times. (That Texans coach Bill O’Brien didn’t challenge the first spot is another issue).
The league is looking into technology already used in soccer: inserting a chip into the football that would help officials locate the ball and make more accurate spots.
No fun league: Penalties for celebration were up more than 50 percent from 2015 midway through the season. Blandino said for all the fuss, only 27 had been called through Week 15. But the league will review the rule in the offseason.
“The (competition) committee is really focused on not taking the spontaneous emotion out of the play,” Blandino said, “and not take away that collegial feeling with the fans in the stadium.”