There has been nothing but talk about that call ever since the game ended... that normally doesn't happen, despite all the missed calls that occur every game. This was a big one.... sure, they'll move on because they have to, but you're really selling the magnitude of what the nation cares about pretty short. That multi-year set contract gets negotiated and re-negotiated on based on ratings. Ratings go up... contracts skyrocket. Despite the NFL being king, they've been having trouble selling Super Bowl ad spots the last two years, along with now increased competition from the juggernaut ratings that the college football playoff's just received. They want more viewers, and won't be scoffing when the matchup allows that to happen. Ratings for Dallas-GB will dwarf every other game other than the Super Bowl, including the conference championship games.
And how do you rate the offensive player's grip on the defender's facemask? Pretty obvious offensive PI? Had there just been NO flag thrown at all on the play, nobody would have cared, because BOTH players made mistakes on the play, and clearly Hitchens was obviously trying NOT to interfere - he had his hands up and back and away from the receiver, demonstrating to the refs that he was NOT attempting to interfere. That, coupled with the closer ref's vantage point also showing both the offensive player's PI as well, plus the fact that the receiver was not negatively impacted from catching the poorly-thrown ball, the decision to pick up the flag was the correct call. Sadly, the refs made the worst possible mistake they could have made in that situation, throwing the flag in the FIRST place, then compounding the error by announcing it THEN picking the flag back up - just terrible terrible management of the officiating crew. The refs were terrible both ways, and it seems fairly obvious that the majority of the bad calls went against the Cowboys, not against the Lions. That ridiculous FLOP on the part of the punter - geez, that was Ginobili bad. Maybe that ten-yard SHANK in the 4th by their punter was the result of him being wounded and woozy from the mighty blow he received in the 1st qtr.. lol.. And, so ok, the play left Detroit with a 4th-and-1. Late in a PLAYOFF game, and their own head coach didn't believe enough in his own players to go for it on 4th-and-1. Yes, the flag being picked up slightly reduced Detroit's odds of winning, from about 75% to around 66%, but had Caldwell gone for it on 4th down instead of punting, my gut says they probably would have made the first down fairly easily, and then still gone on to get at least another FG, meaning Dallas would then have HAD to get the TD instead of being able to fall back on a tie at the end of reg. There were plenty of reasons Detroit lost that game, and that one play contributed, but it was by no means the sole reason. How about they stop Dallas on a 4th-and-6? Yeah, Rodgers may totally torch the Dallas D, but maybe not.. that's why they play the games. All these sad haters have to deal with it for at least another week..
It's totally understandable that refs miss calls in real time on the field. That's unavoidable. It's pretty different when they reverse a call that was clearly correct in replay. Especially at a critical point in a playoff game. I don't follow the NFL much anymore, so maybe my memory is hazy. But I can't remember ever seeing a pass interference call reversed like that.
Didn't watch the game, have no rooting interest in either team, but based on the replay, I rate that N, for non-existent. Cowboys homers can accept it was a blown call without conceding that they should/would have lost the game otherwise. Bad call. I'm sure it's one of probably a few or more in the game. But obviously the most critical one.
All the talk about the call is amongst people that post about sports on message boards or watch Sportscenter all day. The vast majority of America watches sports, talks about it for a bit, and then moves on. This is the same mistake people make with CSN when thinking they would have leverage forcing people to switch to Comcast. It's the same reason that sports ratings of major events drop dramatically when put on cable - if the games aren't on, people just find something else to do instead of making the effort to find a watch to watch it. The vast majority of America simply doesn't care beyond the few hours that the game is actually on and entertaining them (and that's not a bad thing). The multiyear NFL contract goes through 2022. You're assuming that one game in 2015 will affect negotiations in 6 years, and that the networks are too stupid to realize that the one individual game's ratings were influenced by the two teams that happened to be playing, and would then pay more because of that. Do you really think, if the NFL and networks were negotiating a new TV deal today, a single highly rated playoff game from 2008 would change the value of that deal?
I've had 5 people who've never mentioned anything regarding "sports" all year talk to me about that call today. Sure, the vast majority of America doesn't care about sports. So what? The ones that do follow (whether diehard or only casually) are focusing on that call non-stop today. That doesn't happen with any other missed calls. This wasn't your run of the mill "missed call" that occurs every game, as you tried to present it. It was huge... almost music-city miracle huge (another missed call). Advertising rates change year to year based on ratings... like I said, networks have been struggling to sell SB ads recently due to a perceived "maxed out" effect of interest. More buzz/interest helps with that. Its a trickle down effect towards every network that covers football... more interest, more buzz, more viewers, more money. It isn't just about the NFL media rights contract... but even then, a huge windfall viewership for a divisional round game won't hurt that one bit.
Maybe you should at least watch the replay before passing judgment. Pettigrew had hold of Hitchens' facemask; in in fact it would have been impossible in that critical moment for him to have been *playing the ball*, as so many people have complained, as he was being grabbed by his face and pulled into the receiver. Again, while the referees have not specifically mentioned this, I suspect it is the primary reason why the ref with the best view declared that the play did not warrant a flag for defensive PI. At worst is would have been offsetting penalties, in which Detroit would have had an extra down, so I do sympathize with them for that at least. Again, had no flag been thrown at all, I'm sure there would have been a little bit of squawking, but the announcers would probably have noted plainly that there was interference on both sides, and the refs just let it go, since it didn't actually affect the outcome of the play anyway. The true error, and the one which should draw the most ire, is the extremely poor management of the game by the officials, throughout the entire game. Picking up the flag in the manner in which it was done, after erroneously having thrown it in the first place, was a colossal blunder. Maybe the NFL will re-think this whole 'all star crews' thing they have going, because it clearly did not work well yesterday.
Sorry, meant to say, you should watch the replay AGAIN, because it is clear if you are looking for it.
Yeah, can you please show the screenshot of this nasty facemask? Cause my Cowboy lovin' MIL couldn't ID it when she brought up this argument last night.
Terrible call. I don't know how Jerry fans don't agree. You don't have to agree that the outcome of the game would have been any different, no real way of knowing that. Obviously the odds for Det would have been much better.... But that was a terrible flag to pick up. Should be a fun game this week....if I watch any of it.
I agree that the refs handled that whole sequence absolutely terribly. As for the call itself, the PI's should have either been off-setting (because BOTH players interfered), or no flag thrown at all. As for the Defensive holding, I have seen that called many times, so I would not have had a problem with a defensive holding call there. As for Bryant coming on the field, that's a non-issue, as it's not an automatic penalty and in the opinion of the refs, it didn't warrant a flag. So yeah, the Lions would have been in a better spot there had they got a 5-yard defensive holding call. But they didn't lose because of that one call. Nobody forced the Lions' coach NOT to go for it on 4th-and-1, and nobody forced their punter to shank a 10-yard punt. And nobody forced the Lions to let the Cowboys make a 4th-and-7 play go for 21 yards. And there were plenty of calls which went the other way, so, you know, it's in the history books now. Bad officiating happens, and it happens to everyone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>NFL admitted to Lions today that officials missed a hold on Ndamukong Suh on the 4th-down conversion from Tony... <a href="http://t.co/E14FCc3iwr">http://t.co/E14FCc3iwr</a></p>— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/552566471638130688">January 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
