Elmgrovegnome
Legend
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2013
- Messages
- 22,775
You nailed it3 things that caused this loss, and you already stated them.
Zach Thomas - nothing more needed on that. But that said, Hendrickson is easily their best pass rusher. Somehow the Bengals can keep AD in check (mostly) by scheming for him. Why the hell did we not scheme to help Thomas out on their best pass rusher? Lucky Stafford escaped without injury here and it would have been on the coaches.
Tutu - I saw zero clear evidence that his heel touched. Don't they say that we need clear obvious evidence to overturn a call made on the field? How did they determine that? What I saw was he tip toed and his heel not touch. Utterly ridiculous.
Run Game - Seriously McVay? Against arguably the worst run defense in the league we barely even attempted to run, and, ironically, when we did, we averaged nearly 6 yards.... but yeah, lets have the oldest player in the league (who missed a majority of last season hurt) drop back 40+ times with perhaps the worst LT in the league trying to block their best pass rusher. Makes sense.
It wouldn’t have to go past the commissioner and the refs. That is how NASCAR did it for years. Engine inspectors okayed engines that didn’t have the regulation restrictor plates. It eventually came out because some of those engines were purchased by other teams and they failed inspections. NASCAR is still going strong.Two comments on the ridiculous thought that the NFL is rigged.
First, such an extreme degree of institutional corruption would need to be so extensive that it could never be fully and permanently concealed; and, that leads to the second comment ...
If the NFL was rigged, and that came to light, the Sport of Professional Football would Immediately Die simply because so many fans would become disinterested; and would just stop supporting it.
Back to the NFL- it wouldn’t end the league. It’s too big and too popular just like NASCAR and mlb with the steroid La. Refs sign a nondisclosure agreement and cannot speak to the press. That must be an ironclad agreement because it hasn’t happened. So all it takes is a play here or there. Sometimes it only takes one bad call. The league don’t have to rig every game but if a Super Bowl contender is 0-2 do they really want them to be 0-3?
I’ll site a game that the penalties were absurdly bad. Rams vs Pittsburgh 2019. No official could be as bad as the group that called that game. It’s not humanly possible. Coincidentally the Steelers (still a media darling at the time) needed that win to stay in playoff contention. I think it was rigged.
Okay I’ll site another. Seahawks vs Dallas in the playoffs when Hasselback was the QB. The Seahawks picked up a lot of momentum. They were effectively driving down the field by running the ball, and looked like a legitimate threat to beat Dallas. Then the phantom offsides penalty called. Nobody could see it. Even the announcers couldn’t see it. But that one call changed the outcome. Pretty inconspicuous and easy to get away with. It gave the Cowboys defense the chance they needed.
The last one I’ll site is the Rams / Pats Super Bowl back in the GSOT days. That entire game was rigged from start to finish. The Patriots 9/11, Krafts big TV rights deal. They had reasons.