The first half of last night's Bills-Seahawks game "ended about as chaotically and bizarrely as possible -- with the Seahawks ultimately benefitting from some officiating confusion," according to Bob Condotta of the SEATTLE TIMES. With Bills K Dan Carpenter lined up for a 53-yard field goal, Seahawks CB Richard Sherman "took off from the left edge, turned the corner and headed toward Carpenter, ultimately plowing into the kicker, who went down in a heap holding his leg." Sherman was "called only for offsides." But NFL Senior VP/Officiating Dean Blandino later said that Sherman "should also have been flagged for unnecessary roughness." It was then determined that Carpenter, who appeared injured on the play, "had to leave the field for a play since the Bills had no timeouts." As referee Walt Anderson "made the announcement, players on both sides started to leave the field, apparently thinking the half was over." Once order "was restored," the Bills decided to "spike the ball quickly and try the field goal again." The spike worked, leaving Carpenter to "try about a 48-yard field goal." But with umpire Butch Hannah "standing over the ball until about four seconds remained on the play clock, the Bills couldn’t get the snap off in time" to kick the field goal and were "called for delay of game." The Bills missed the ensuing 53-yard field goal to end the half (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/8). ESPN.com's Mike Rodak reports the NFL "will review the performance" of the officiating crew. Blandino will "look into the matter." ESPN's Ed Werder cited a source as saying that "discipline for egregious mistakes by Anderson and his crew is a possibility" (ESPN.com, 11/8).
SAME OLD STORY? ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg said this was "another missed opportunity by the officials." Greenberg: "It was just a totally mishandled situation" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 11/8). Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio: "You have to get the calls right. These games are too important. ... One of the reasons you have fans disconnecting is they see these things happen and they think the NFL is incapable of officiating, or some who think the games are rigged" ("PFT," NBCSN, 11/8). THE MMQB's Jenny Vrentas wrote the officials' handling of the situation "sparked outrage from pretty much everyone not living in the Seattle zip code." Bills coach Rex Ryan called it "ridiculous." The reaction at NFL HQ last night "couldn’t have been much less intense." Vrentas: "During a season plagued by ratings dips and prime-time duds, the NFL finally gets an excellent Monday Night Football matchup -- and it’s marred by a totally avoidable officiating debacle?" (MMQB.SI.com, 11/8). In Rochester, Sal Maiorana writes, "The end of the first half was a travesty. How the NFL can allow that to happen is beyond me" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 11/8). In Buffalo, Tim Graham writes the officiating was "atrocious at the end of the first half." The sequence before halftime was a "basket of deplorable officiating decisions" (BUFFALO NEWS, 11/8). ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert writes Anderson last night "blundered through the most ridiculous officiating sequence of the NFL season." His series of mistakes "likely cost the Bills three points and forced a change in their endgame strategy." The NFL "can suspend officials for errors in administration of games but not for poor judgment" (ESPN.com, 11/8).
GOING UNDER THE HOOD: Blandino later tweeted that Sherman should have been called for unnecessary roughness, and ESPN Radio's Greenberg said, "I appreciate the transparency of the league coming out and saying, 'This was a mistake, that was a mistake, this should have been called, that should have been called,' that I'm fine with. ... But it seems to me it can't be both" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 11/8). PFT's Florio: "I love transparency, but I don't know how I feel about someone from the league office telling us a flag should have been thrown when there's an apparatus in place for telling the only person that matters that a flag should have been thrown." Florio: "One of the realities of this is anytime anything happens that an NFL fan doesn't like, they just say, 'Well, that's why people aren't watching.' The National Anthem protest? 'That's why people aren't watching.' Never mind that last year the numbers were as high as they've ever been through a series of high-profile officiating errors in primetime" ("PFT," NBCSN, 11/8). FS1's Skip Bayless said, "Maybe we should add this to the list of why ratings are declining across the board in the NFL. Maybe fans have lost too much faith in the referees.” FS1's Shannon Sharpe: “It's their job to understand the letter of the law and the rules and what's governing the game. You would think an industry that makes $10-12 billion a year would leave no stone unturned, nothing would be too pricey for them to make sure that the product is better" ("Undisputed," FS1, 11/8).
TWITTER REAX: Fox Sports' Jason Whitlock: "Officiating has violated the integrity and authenticity of football. That's No. 1 reason ratings are down. No one likes Flag Football." The Green Bay Press-Gazette's Aaron Nagler: "Outstanding NFL game marred by refs helping determine the outcome. Need to start making ref jerseys available in the @NFL Pro Shop." Handicapper Lee Sterling: "Wow! That was the biggest screw up in back to back plays by #NFL officials in the #Seahawks - #Bills game since yesterday. #NeedFullTimeRefs." Some Twitter commentators took aim at Blandino. Buffalo-based WGR-AM's Howard Simon: "If the supervisor of NFL officials knew the rule, why didn't the crew at the game? and why can't the NFL tell game crew they're wrong?" ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi: "Got to believe that Dean Blandino is a lame duck head of NFL officials."
CALLED OUT: ESPN's Sean McDonough during a recent appearance on ESPN Radio 1200 Syracuse discussed his criticism of the officiating during an Oct. 17 "MNF" game between the Cardinals and Jets, saying, "The game we did was a lot of ticky-tack stuff that had nothing to do with anything. All it does is bring the game to a screeching halt. I said at the time that no one wants to watch that kind of a game" (SYRACUSE.com, 11/7).
