These were not your usual offsides, holding or pass interference calls, these were roughing the passer calls. From memory, there were two calls that I can vividly remember that were absolutely terrible. One was on LaMarr Woodley following a “tackle” on Jason Campbell after he released the ball. This was merely a two hand touch to the chest that probably included some flopping on Campbell’s part in order to sell the hit.
This call came a week after a $12,500 fine for a roughing the passer penalty against Woodley. Not to long after the first call, there was another roughing the passer penalty, this one was called on James Harrison and negated an interception returned for a TD by the Steeler secondary.
Harrison supposedly lifted the QB and drove him into the ground well after the play. A second look at this play shows that Harrison did no such thing and it too was a bad call. Harrison has been in the news many times this year for certain hits and he has been fined twice this season, losing $100k. Since both of these calls were bad it leads me to wonder that Goodell’s fines are affecting how the referees officiate the game.
There’s no doubt that concussions are a big problem in the NFL today. As players get bigger, faster, and stronger it is inevitable that injuries will occur. But a big selling point for the NFL is the big hits, and if players are getting fined for them then it is a little hypocritical. All of this has been said multiple times in the past 10 weeks, but now my gripe is with the officiating as well. While these calls did not have a direct impact on the result of the game, it is only a matter of time until it does have that effect. The officia...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
