Ravens will not be fined, league sucks

So those Ravens who were complaining about the calls? The ones who would have been fined in a split second last season (see previous comments on 'fines,' particularly those from the Indianapolis Colts game last year)? They are not being fined this time around. That is total crap. The league needs a consistent policy here. And let's not forget, this is the same league that charged Wes Welker last year for making a snowman.

In case you're curious, here is the infamous Suggs hit. Did Brady signal for a penalty? Yes. What is a penalty? Yes! Dude was charging straight for his knee! He could have avoided the direct helmet going toward it, he wasn't being pushed by another player.

In an even stupider move by the league, Mike Wright (Patriots) did get fined for hitting the Ravens' QB on the helmet. Because that's consistent.

Reiss provided a nice analysis of who has been fined for what in regards to QB penalties. Baltimore is leading with 4 calls against, and the Patriots are second with 3. Because the refs are biased for us, obviously.

Argh. Whatever, it's time to let this go. Championship teams don't lose because of 'bad' calls, they win in spite of them.

That's a fine

Ed Reed, of the Baltimore Ravens, sort of insinuated that the Patriots only won because they had calls go their way.

*sigh*

Sometimes calls go your way, sometimes they go the other way.

PS - Your catch downfield late in the 3rd should have been overturned. So quit whining.

PPS - I do agree that Brady got a freebie on the 'roughing the passer' one. But that is football. We had the same problems in the game against the Bills. Again, sometimes calls go your way, sometimes they go the other way.

PPPS - Dumb: when your coach complains enough to the referee to get a penalty, then keeps complaining.

PPPPS - No seriously, quit whining.

Follow-up on Snow-Angel-Gate

The NFL has been nominated as the Grinch of the (sports) Year. Even over the New York Yankees. And it's all for the fine on Wes Welker (which came on Christmas Eve no less) for making that snow angel.

No Fun League

Wes Welker was fined $10 000 for making a snow angel on Sunday. The league rule states that you are not allowed to 'go to the ground' after a touchdown unless it is to pray.

They couldn't have just let him off with a warning? Come on!

Criticizing the officiating? That's a fine

A comment from Torry Holt of the St. Louis Rams on a call from their game yesterday against the Seattle Seahawks:

“He said he looked up in the Jumbotron and saw that I pushed off,” said Holt, who is in his 10th year with the Rams (2-12). “I told him I never extended my arm. It is one thing if you extended, because that is pass interference. But everything was in motion catching the football. I don’t even know if I had my hands on the guy.

“That was his explanation, and I told him it was a bad call.”

Expect a phone call any minute from the NFL.

Thoughts post-Jets vs. Pats

Thought #1: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Thought #2: We should have been able to hold them at 3rd and 15, particularly considering that they threw up the middle to 81. It would seem that Favre now has exactly three plays: short throw to the right, short throw to the left, and medium throw up the middle to 81. Great time to choose man over zone.

Thought #3: Two words: special teams. In fact, if the game had continued in the second half as it did in the first, my post was going to be, 'Two words: SPECIAL TEAMS.'

Thought #4: Do you think Mangenius/Manjudas (thanks Sarah!) would feel better with a teddy bear on the sideline? He looks very unhappy.

Thought #5: What I most remember from this game is that for much of the first half we looked cruddy, then for much of the third quarter we committed irritating errors like fumbles and missed balls and snaps that were just not quite there and "holding" calls. Plus we held the Jets to, like, 34 yards. Yet at the end of regular play, we were tied.

Thought #6: Matt Cassel was pretty awesome. Nay, extremely awesome. That last drive was excellent. Nay, superbly, supremely, sublimely excellent.

Concluding thoughts: good happened in this game. Lots of good things. Unfortunately, the bad things offset many of these good things. If we can continue to build on the good things, we're in a good position for the rest of the season (after all 6-4 is not bad in this division or actually overall). Probably we will have another loss or two though, which is a concern (maybe Pittsburgh and/or Arizona?).

Thoughts that will cause me concern during the week: red zone percentage is still far too low. As pretty much all of us noted, the Pats are currently something hideous like 10% in red zone touchdowns. But think this over: if they were at just 50%, we would be an extremely difficult opponent. So that is, in this humble fan's opinion, what needs to happen.

Thoughts on Belichick: I think that he's having more fun this season because he actually gets to coach, like draw diagrams and stuff. Last year, I think maybe everything started getting too routine.

Thoughts on officiating: Vrabel was not holding anyone on that called play. Hopefully I won't be fined by the NFL for that comment.

Schadenfreudlichen Thoughts: Who was covering Moss on that last second touchdown? Well, I'll be. It was rusty old man Ty Law.

Monday thoughts

Randy Moss's fine was rescinded because he did not actually say anything bad about the refereeing in the Indianapolis game, but hinted that he might have had bad things to say. Which I think the NFL might want to take as a sign that they are getting far too wrapped up in all of this.

My new question is, are the Colts here to stay? They pulled it off yesterday against Pittsburgh (in a close one). So perhaps they will be competitors, even though it will take a lot for them to get back on top. Also, I feel in a way that this makes the Patriots look even better considering that the Steelers (who I consider to be pretty dominant this year) didn't beat the Colts. We did hold them to fewer points, though, which I know in some ways is utterly irrelevant but still makes me happy.

I feel like every time I watch the Giants play this year, they really shouldn't quite win. Then they do. Last night only heightened that feeling.

I'm sure there will be much excitement leading up to the Jets game this week. I haven't seen them play this season (the first game against the Pats I was at the Bucs game), so no clue how they actually look. I really do hate losing to the Jets though.

Sunday afternoon observations

Detroit's remaining games are: Carolina, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Minnesota, Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Green Bay. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of these teams are currently .500 or higher. Which means that I think it is very possible they could be the first team to go without a win since the 1977 Buccaneers. They put in Culpepper today, so maybe he will improve. But that is a tough, icky schedule.

New England played a good game against Buffalo, although even I will admit that the calls went our way perhaps more often than not. The Jets had a decisive victory against St. Louis. Highlights showed some pretty ugly plays from the Rams.

I hereby declare that the situation in the AFC East has officially become exciting. Buffalo certainly seems to be waning, while the Jets have (as much as I hate to admit it) been quite effective as of late. Thursday night is the Pats vs. the Jets, so that should shed some light on the current divisional balance of power. I'm not sure if Miami can be as consistent as they need to be this season. They are having good games, but if indeed the Pats and Jets have become a force, that will be trickier for them.

Dave Thomas, as a follow-up, is appealing the fine. Randy Moss was also fined last week to the tune of $20 000 for criticizing the refereeing in last week's game. What exactly does the league do with this money? I'll leave that research for another day.

The Dave Thomas Penalty

First, I love that the guy is named Dave Thomas, which is an exceedingly Canadian name. Even though the Dave Thomas in question is actually from Texas.

Last week against Indy, there was the infamous Dave Thomas penalty for a hit after the play that cost the Patriots 15 yards, putting them out of field goal range. Most from the Patriots organization seem to feel that this was an unintentional mishap (and these things happen) that we should just let go. Thomas claims that he did not hear the whistle. Additionally, it wasn't a particularly cruel or unusual hit, just a pretty generic tackle that was late. I don't think anyone has questioned the lateness of it, or that the penalty occurred (in fact, Belichick came out and said that he felt the call was justified). And yeah, I would have much preferred for him to not get the penalty, but then again, I also really wanted Gaffney to catch the ball, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[As an aside, the Gaffney drop still pains me, much like the Grothe lob to the back of the end zone in the Cincinnati game with no one standing there]

So as a follow-up, Thomas was fined $7500 by the NFL for the late hit. This seems gratuitous and in fact unnecessary. The team was punished, he was punished in the game, and it was not a rancorous play. Irksome.

Maybe we should take up a collection to give him back that money...