Fisher flags ’em back, FOX answers the bell, NCAA head-scratchers, and give a Seagirl a pacifier. 

Bad calls happen. Fair or not, in football, a 10-yard penalty can kill a drive before it even begins. For St. Louis, the opening two weeks has been an officiating nightmare. Arizona benefited from three 15-yard type penalties including a taunting call at a pivotal time, but got away with a hit out-of-bounds on Austin Pettis later than the hit Cortland Finnegan got docked $8k for.

Sunday in Atlanta, the Rams were flagged seven times for 53 yards; but after reviewing film, Jeff Fisher, who co-chairs the NFL’s Competition Committee, thought only two of those penalties warranted flags. He went as far to say Chris Long’s offside was “false start 101”. For a guy who oversees rule changes, I’m guessing he knows a thing or two.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, those calls directly impacted Sunday’s result in Atlanta. The offside penalty turned a potential 3^rd-and-17 into an eventual touchdown. The officials also missed a would-be safety when Matt Ryan threw a ball from the end zone without a receiver in the area while still in the tackle box. In addition, Tony Gonzalez got away with murder using veteran techniques to shed off a young secondary. Fisher was quick to point out the Falcons special team’s deserved credit for solid punt placement. 

It’s hard enough winning at the Georgia Dome; getting screwed by zebras sure doesn’t help.

Fisher on hurry-up offense: 

Differentiating between hurry-up and no-huddle: 

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

I griped last week about the shoddy FOX production if your in-market team has anything BUT the top two broadcast crews for a given network. Sunday, FOX had #2 crew Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa broadcasting. And bang: Replays, explanations, solid analytical work, a broadcaster not 10 minutes behind. I’m a stickler about this…maybe you’re not.

NCAA C’MON MAN

Three of them …

Alabama @ Texas A&M

• How ridiculous is that. The referee says, “It was not a targeting foul” so the player is not ejected, but the flag for targeting is still intact. Right.

Wisconson @ Arizona State

• Granted, Wisconsin completely F’ed up. I have no problem with letting the clock bleed, but at least know your team can do it first. Secondly, the bone head field judge should return his game check. The lineman laying on the football is a clear cut delay of game. Complete debacle.

Oklahoma State

• Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. It’s comparable to leaving a room of kids with a boat load of candy. When you come back, the candy is gone and Johnny’s parents are SHOCKED their good boy ate it without permission.
• It’s like steroids in baseball. Pay to play was and still is very prevalent — nobody’s shocked.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman is very talented, probably a top 5 defensive back in the game. But, shut the hell up. You’re an obnoxious blowhard who hasn’t even played two years in the league.

After telling critics, “Every time you doubt us you look stupid”, it only took critics a second to remember this Seahawks team went 3-5 on the road in 2012, and barely escaped Carolina with a 12-7 win last week.

Finding a good MLB road team is tough. Statistically, the Dodgers are a league best nine games above .500 away from LA, but every other NL postseason team is within a handful of games apart.

Even so, if the Cardinals are forced to play the majority of a playoff series on the road, they better find a pitcher capable of getting it done away from Busch. Right now, that task seems disastrous.

Thanks.