Sunday in Hell’s Sports Bar, every flatscreen was tuned to Detroit at Arizona, a cringeworthy pairing of awful teams. But in that otherwise forgettable contest, Larry Fitzgerald did something that almost never happens—he beat a Jerry Rice record.
Fitzgerald now has passed Rice for most receptions with the same NFL club. Rice’s other records seem pretty safe—no one else in team sports has such a vast edge over the number two.
Rice has 22,895 receiving yards, versus 16,503 for Fitzgerald—a 39-percent margin.
Rice has 197 touchdown receptions, versus 156 for Randy Moss—a 26-percent margin.
Rice has 1,549 receptions, versus 1,325 for Tony Gonzalez—a 17-percent margin.
In other all-time football leaders, nobody else has a Rice-like edge. Emmitt Smith has 10 percent more rushing yards than number-two Barry Sanders. Bruce Smith has one percent more sacks than number-two Reggie White. Adam Vinatieri has one percent more points than number-two Morten Andersen.
In other sports, the number-one home run hitter, Barry Bonds, boomed it out of the park one percent more times than Hank Aaron. The NBA’s all-time scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, has four percent more points than number-two Karl Malone. Hockey’s all-time goal guy, Wayne Gretzky, has 12 percent more goals than Gordie Howe. Nobody’s got the range of broad edges across several categories that was achieved by Jerry Rice.
And Rice did it before the contemporary rules changes that were designed to increase pass completions. For Tuesday Morning Quarterback’s money, Jerry Rice, from Division 1-AA Mississippi Valley State, was the greatest football player ever.
Of course, it helped that Rice played most of his career with Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young. It helped that Rice lined up across from excellent receivers John Taylor (from Division 1-AA Delaware State) and Brent Jones (from Santa Clara University, which doesn’t even play football anymore), who distracted the safeties, and that Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh was running the show. It helped that Rice played almost all of his career for fair-weather teams with ideal climate conditions for the forward pass.
But mostly, Jerry Rice was the greatest football player ever. And even with the NFL gone pass-wacky, his records are safe.
In other football news, two games foretold the postseason, Rams at Bears and Ravens at Chiefs.
In Chicago, kickoff temperature 27 degrees Fahrenheit, the Southern California hot-tub Rams seemed out of sync, held to 6 points, well below their 35-point average coming into the game, by the defense-first hosts. Does this mean that defense trumps offense—or that shivering in the wind trumps a day at the beach?
It may not matter, as the Rams’ sked favors warm weather and dome stadia all the way. Through the remaining regular season, LA/A has two home dates and a game in Arizona. Then the Rams will open the playoffs at home. In the next round, they will either play again at home or, probably, go to the New Orleans ideal-conditions dome. If they reach the Super Bowl, it’s indoors in Atlanta. Playoff permutations are notoriously complex, but there doesn’t seem a scenario where the Rams play outdoors in cold weather again this season.
Baltimore at Kansas City matched the number-one defense against the number-one offense (measured by yards)—and offense won in overtime. The Chiefs now hold the inside track to home field throughout the postseason in the AFC. In their case, is this good? See Stat #10 below.
The Ravens slowed the Chiefs’ offense, at least somewhat, by using what this column calls the Times Square Defense. Presnap, Baltimore defenders milled around like tourists in Times Square. They moved so much presnap it couldn’t all have been choreographed: Several must have had the green light to move at random. Baltimore has the number-one defense in part because all defensive starters returned from 2017—they know how to work together.
Often what looked like it would be a Ravens mega-blitz turned into a standard rush with the blitzers dropping into coverage. During regulation, the Chiefs were held to a relatively low 383 yards of offense, in part because Patrick Mahomes was unsure where defenders would be. Baltimore having shown it works against Mahomes, the Chiefs are likely to face more Times Square Defense in the playoffs.
Kansas City prevailed because the number-one defense in the league could not stop the Chiefs on two desperation fourth downs.
Flintstones facing 4th-and-9 with 1:29 remaining in regulation, Baltimore showed a Cover 1—just one high safety—with 10 other guys near the line of scrimmage, daring Patrick Mahomes to throw deep. At the snap, most of the low guys backpedaled: Baltimore was trying to bait Mahomes into a deep throw. The Kansas City phenom scrambled around and bought time till he found Tyreek Hill, his fastest option, single-covered by Baltimore linebacker C.J. Mosley, for a first down.
Next it’s 4th-and-3 on the Baltimore 5 with a minute remaining in regulation. The Chiefs showed a trips to the right, with little-known, undrafted Damian Williams next to Mahomes as a seeming blocking back. At the snap, the trips guy angled sharply to the left, taking Baltimore defenders with them. Williams paused to fake a block then went “underneath” where the trips guy had just been—touchdown. The decisive touchdown passes of both the Chicago and Kansas City victories were to guys who rarely see the ball.
In defending champion news, Dallas had the initial possession in overtime and reached 4th-and-1 on the Philadelphia 19. A field goal would be nice but also would allow the Eagles to win with a touchdown the other way. Boys head coach Jason Garrett went for it. The team converted and scored a touchdown three snaps later, winning the day and also increasing the odds that the defending champion won’t return to the playoffs.
This bold, manly-man decision by Garrett stood in contrast to the normally bold Doug Pederson of the Eagles. Philadelphia scored to pull within 23-22 at 1:45 remaining in regulation. Pederson kicked for the PAT to tie, rather than go for the deuce to lead.
This season the Eagles are five-for-five on deuce tries. More, Dallas was called for roughing the snapper on the PAT kick. Pederson elected to take the yards on the kickoff—rather than replay the down, enforce the penalty on the try, and go for two from the Dallas 1-yard line. (A penalty against the defense under the new try rule gives the offense a choice changing from a one-point kick from the 15 to a deuce try from the 1, following enforcement of the foul.)
Why did the normally bold Pederson do the “safe” thing? Especially knowing that the visitor usually loses in overtime, as happened to Philadelphia?
Stats of the Week #1. The Dolphins are on a 5-1 stretch versus the Patriots at home.
Stats of the Week #2. Tennessee is on a 6-1 stretch versus Jax.
Stats of the Week #3. Since taking a two-score fourth-quarter lead in the AFC title game, the Jaguars are 4-10.
Stats of the Week #4. The Steelers, who began this Christmas month on a 18-3 stretch in December, have lost two straight December games.
Stats of the Week #5. In a season of flashy passing stats, Seattle defeated Minnesota on Monday Night Football despite just 60 net yards passing. Russell Wilson is on a 5-0 streak versus the Vikings; Kirk Cousins is 5-13 in primetime.
Stats of the Week #6. In two games this year versus Houston, T.Y. Hilton of Indianapolis gained 314 yards receiving.
Stats of the Week #7. Eli Manning is 19-10 versus the Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons.
Stats of the Week #8. The Panthers have followed three straight wins with five straight loses.
Stats of the Week #9. In this pass-wacky season, Houston, Miami, Seattle, and Tennessee have more rushes than pass attempts.
Stats of the Week #10. Kansas City, which holds the inside track for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs in the AFC, is on a 0-6 streak in home playoff games.
Sweet Play of the Week. Centuries from now highlight reels will still feature the Dolphins’ double-lateral 69-yard winning touchdown, after the clock expired, versus the Patriots.
To understand this very sweet play, don’t look at the Miami players and don’t look at the ball—watch the defenders. After the short pass completion (the hook part of a hook-and-lateral), New England players mostly stand still, watching. Maybe they’re trying to stay in their lanes. Maybe they think the game is over. But mostly, they stand there. Even after the second lateral gets the ball to Kenyan Drake, who will end up scoring, most of the Flying Elvii are just standing around watching.
Miami’s victory brought to mind what is surely the greatest play in football history, if not the greatest moment in human history—Trinity of Texas completing 15 laterals to defeat Millsaps on a 61-yard touchdown that began with 2 seconds on the clock and required almost a full minute. That is, the play continued nearly 60 seconds after time expired. It takes a while to complete 15 laterals!
After you’ve marveled at all the laterals, watch again—but don’t look at the ball. Look at the Millsaps defenders, most of whom stop running after the third or fourth lateral. Like the highly-paid professionals of New England, Millsaps players seemed to assume the game must be over.
Sweet ‘n’ Sour Plays in a Meaningless Game. Giants taking possession on their 22 in the second quarter, Jersey/B lined up with two tight ends close together on the right, creating an overstack. The Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons lined up just two defenders across from four blockers (two offensive linemen and two tight ends). Saquon Barkley went 78 yards untouched for a touchdown. Seventy-eight yards untouched! Later in the second quarter, the Giants showed the same overstacked right side. Again, Washington did not react; this time Barkley ran 52 yards. Yes, the R*dsk*ns have injury problems. But Sunday at home, they couldn’t even line up properly.
Sweet ‘n’ Sour Plays in a Monster Game. The Rams got the ball to start the second half in the cold at Chicago, game tied at 6; a penalty on the kickoff return pushed Los Angeles back to its 13. On first down, Todd Gurley was TFL (tackled for a loss). On second down from the Los Angeles 8, four Chicago rushers overcame five Los Angeles blockers—and left tackle Andrew Whitworth was two-arms-wrapped-around holding—unflagged!—for a safety. Sweet for the defense-first Bears.
Chicago took the free kick and advanced to 3rd-and-goal on the Rams 2. The Bears sent out a heavy package with six offensive linemen plus two defensive linemen. The big guys, including extra offensive lineman Bradley Sowell, reported eligible; the referee walked over to the Rams and made the reported-eligible gesture, sweeping his hand across his chest (as if wiping off a number). At the snap, Mitch Trubisky play-faked a handoff to a defensive lineman (simulating the famed Refrigerator Perry handoff), then threw to Sowell for a touchdown. The really sweet thing about this play was that two linemen went out for the pass. One was covered; Sowell was open.
On the Beeb, Quaint English Towns Are the Headquarters of Murder Incorporated. TMQ has supposed that primetime television’s unrealistic depiction of crime—in primetime serials, violent crime is increasing, affluent whites are the primary victims, and the cops always get their man, all of these assumptions being false—was a factor in Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 victory. Trump endlessly said crime was increasing when actually it was declining (and declined again in 2017). ABC, CBS, and NBC devote considerable resources to reinforcing Trump’s “American carnage” claim, Hollywood liberals providing Trump with support for the alarmism he fed to voters.
Well, you say—that’s the commercial networks. Everyone knows they only air pabulum. Surely it’s different in high-quality cable, the movies, and on the BBC! It isn’t. Preposterous exaggeration of homicide rules all three.
The much-praised BBC series Luther, staring Idris Elba—season five kicks off soon—is centered on preposterous exaggeration of criminal violence. Elba hunts serial killers who, the BBC would have you believe, are rampant across London, staging gruesome slaughters left and right. In one episode, a serial killer commits a murder every day until finally stopped by Elba—has there ever been an actual murder-a-day killer in British history? In another episode, a maniacal cop-killer guns down a dozen Met Police officers in a short span, more than the total actual number of London police fatalities on duty during the period that Luther episodes so far have been produced.
On the Beeb, the homicide rate in charming small British towns is awfully high—little old ladies who know mysterious secrets better keep their doors locked or get popped off. Shetland, a BBC hit that follows a detective in the Shetland Islands, has depicted dozens of brutal murders there. The Shetlands are a territory of Scotland. There were 61 actual murders in all of Scotland in the most recent reporting year. Since four percent of Scotland lives in the Shetlands, we’d expect two or three murders annually across these islands. But on the BBC show Shetlands, bodies are piling up in all directions.
Paired on BBC is Hinterlands, a crime show that depicts Wales as the most dangerous place on Earth, with killers stalking every alley and undertakers working overtime. Violent death is constant on Hinterlands, though actual Wales had 30 murders in a recent year.
Longmire, a crime show that enjoyed a six-year run on A&E and Netflix, and was praised for quality and realism, was about a small-county sheriff in present-day Wyoming. Longmire depicted dozens of murders in just one tiny corner of a sparsely populated state, plus drug running, extortion, kidnapping, and other serious crimes. (For some never-explained reason, what the show called “the Boston Irish Mob” was obsessed with taking over rural Wyoming.) During the years Longmire aired, the entire actual state of Wyoming averaged about 15 homicides annually, fewer than were depicted on the show as happening in the same span in just one of the state’s 23 counties.
Longmire further depicted, under the guise of “realism,” massacres of law enforcement officers. In one episode, FBI agents are transporting a prisoner who (preposterously) breaks free of shackles and gets one of their guns. When the hero, Walt Longmire, arrives on the scene, five FBI agents have been shot to death. The honor roll of actual FBI line of duty deaths lists nothing like this. As with many other TV serials that exaggerate the odds of a police officer being gunned down, Longmire played into the Trump-world fantasy that for cops it’s kill or be killed.
Then there’s the recent big-budget flick Wind River with Jeremey Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. Also set in a small Wyoming county in the present day, Wind River depicted a dozen people murdered in a 48-hour period—that is, about as many murders in two days as the entire actual state would experience in a year.
Wind River too was big on the unrealism of depicting law-enforcement agents being slaughtered. Dramas on the BBC, CBS, and NBC all overstate the occurrence of police on-duty death, making suburban voters think cities are hellish—an illusion that was central to Trump’s presidential campaign. Dozens if not hundreds of Honolulu cops have been depicted being gunned down in the nine years of the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, far more in a short period than the 19 law-enforcement officers killed by gunfire in the entire history of the state. In Wind River, numerous federal, tribal, and county police officers are shot to death by bad guys. In actual Wyoming, one law-enforcement officer was killed on duty in the last five years combined.
Yet moviegoers at this star-studded big-budget flick are given to believe that police are being slaughtered and no one cares—a Trump-serving misimpression promulgated by trendy Hollywood lefties. (Wind River was the last movie released under Harvey Weinstein’s name.) The movie’s message was the same as the subliminal message to BBC viewers that crime is out of control and the coppers are losing the struggle. In the praised-by-critics BBC miniseries The Bodyguard, modern London suffers one terrorist bomb or sniper attack after another, with police officers lying dead everywhere—the sort of illusion that feeds Brexit sympathy.
Wind River fun fact: Renner portrays a Fish and Wildlife Service wolf-tracking expert who is said to perform astonishing feats of backcountry tracking to catch the killer. What Renner does in the climactic scene is notice a deep snowmobile rut leading away from the crime scene (somehow the rut is perfectly preserved long afterward). He follows the rut to the incriminating evidence. How could cops have been to the crime scene before and never noticed this totally obvious clue, which anyone could have followed without special skills?
Fortune Favors the Bold! Jersey/B, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Oakland all scored touchdowns on 4th-and-goal—and all won.
Idris Elba Should Play James Bond in Stormbreaker. Military operations have zoomy names. The 9-11 counterattack began as Operation Infinite Justice, evolved to Operation Enduring Freedom, and now, in Afghanistan, is Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Weapons can have prosaic names (AMG-65) or zoomy names (the same thing is also called the Maverick). Raytheon has gone over the top by renaming what was previously the prosaically designated Small Diameter Bomb the Stormbreaker™. That’s with a trademark.
It’s hard to believe pilots will say, “Sparky, I’m goin’ in, rack up a Stormbreaker™.” But why should a weapon bear a trademark—so sidewalk merchants along Times Square can’t sell knockoffs? Though Stormbreaker would make a good name for a James Bond movie.
For the public policy significance of development of the Small Diameter Bomb, see my new book It’s Better Than It Looks.
New York City on Outside Looking in as Chicago, Los Angeles Shine. The success this season of the Bears, Chargers, and Rams has brought a big-city buzz to the NFL, and surely is a factor in the league’s ratings bump. Both teams that are somewhat related to New York City are struggling (the Jersey/A Giants and Jersey/B Jets play, practice, and even have the offices in the Garden State), but Chicago and Los Angeles have been pulsing with pro football excitement this season.
Sunday’s Rams at Bears contest was the first day in the lifetimes of millennials that a visit from a Los Angeles NFL team to Soldier Field meant anything. Los Angeles Raiders at Bears in 1984 was the last time these cities paired playoff-bound teams on Chicago’s turf. Thirty-four years without a monster NFL game involving Los Angeles at Chicago! At least one inequity has been fixed in 2018.
Air Shaft Update. NBC’s Blindspot and The Blacklist are easily confused, with similar names and a similar predilection for action plots that make no sense. They’re similar in that both involve scenes in New York City and Washington, D.C., in which huge explosions happen, machine guns are fired—and no one notices.
But what they’ve really got in common is great air shafts. On Blindspot, the FBI headquarters for New York City is attacked and sealed off by terrorists. All phone and computer lines fail. To go for help, the heroes crawl out through the gigantic air shaft—which somehow is horizontal, though the offices are in a skyscraper. On The Blacklist, a felon escapes from the FBI’s secret high-value detention facility by crawling through an airshaft. Make that walking: It’s big enough to stand up in, and well-lit.
Hollywood’s It Girl of the moment is Saoirse Ronan. She got her start in the 2011 sci-fi flick Hanna, in which she was held in a super-secret government detention facility that was described as escape-proof. She crawled out through an air shaft.
Hanna was overlooked, and with good reason. Yet this flick hit a TMQ trifecta—air shafts, a Kill Five Club introduction, and An Agency Far, Far More Secret Than the CIA.
The Kill Five Club is TMQ’s honorary organization for TV and cinematic action heroes who are depicted as so ultra-macho, using only their bare hands they need mere seconds to kill five muscular heavily armed men. Jack Bauer is President for Life of the Kill Five Club.
As for An Agency Far, Far More Secret Than the CIA, this is the lurking organization that many TV shows and movies depict as the utterly unstoppable hidden hand behind U.S. government actions. It even has an unlimited budget that Congress doesn’t know about! The organization’s actual name is An Agency Far, Far More Secret Than the CIA—or AAFFMS/tt/CIA for short.
Best 99-Yard Drive. Tuesday Morning Quarterback lauds 99-yard drives. Hosting Jax, the Flaming Thumbtacks achieved a 99-yard drive in a single snap. On the down, Tennessee lined up at its 1-yard line with three tight ends on the left side, showing power run left. Both Jacksonville edge defenders on that side “crashed”—gave up their contain responsibilities and crashed straight toward the ball at the snap. Titans tailback Derrick Henry got around the crashing defenders, aided by the three tight ends blocking, and did not stop till he reached the end zone.
Since edge defenders are supposed to “maintain contain,” why did the Jax guys crash?
The snap just before Tennessee’s 99-yard run had been Jacksonville going for it on 4th-and-goal from the Titans’ 1. On that play, all Tennessee defenders “crashed,” resulting in Jaguars tailback Leonard Fournette being stopped for no gain. Having just watched Tennessee edge players abandon their contain and make a big play, Jacksonville edge players seemed to want a taste of the same.
But when Jacksonville ran from the Tennessee 1, the worst-case scenario for the Flaming Thumbtacks was that they’d allowed a one-yard gain. In that instance, giving up contain to crash is a good gamble. Once the direction of play was reversed and Tennessee was at the same spot but headed the other way, the worst-case scenario for abandoning contain was a 99-yard gain, which is what happened.
Just to prove the team’s institutional meltdown is no fluke, getting possession with 1:41 remaining in the first half and trailing 13-2, Jacksonville went incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt, taking only 24 seconds off the clock and not forcing Tennessee to spend any time outs. This left enough time for the Titans to advance to the field goal that split the uprights on the final snap before intermission. True, trailing 13-2 a team needs to score. But Jax head coach Doug Marrone knew he’d get the ball to start the second half. Not allowing Tennessee to add more points before intermission was essential.
Those Who Don’t Know Diplomatic History Are Doomed to Repeat It. At the start of the 2014 Crimea crisis, Russia sent into Ukraine out-of-uniform soldiers wearing no insignia, riding military vehicles from which identification marks had been stripped. Why didn’t the United States and European Union hammer on the fact this was a violation of the Geneva Conventions?
Barack Obama’s CIA director during the 2014 attack was John Brennan. Today this supposed spymaster is available for television shows 24/7—if assured of softball questions and the opportunity to flatter himself. Yet he did not warn Obama, or the American public, of the approaching Russian 2014 attack. Brennan’s screwup numbers among the worst intelligence failings in American history. But since Brennan now styles himself as a Donald Trump victim, the MSM has given Brennan a free pass on his own failings.
Which brings us back to Crimea and Ukraine. The Geneva agreements, to which the Russia Federation is a signatory, require soldiers to be in recognizable uniforms, so it is clear who is a combatant and who is a civilian. This is not just a legalism—soldiers engaged in military movements out of uniform are viewed by the Geneva Conventions as common criminals, not enjoying the protections of prisoners of war. Soldiers who kill when out of uniform are murderers under the Geneva Conventions, subject to the local nation’s homicide statutes, including to capital punishment. This is not some minor legalism.
Yet in 2014, Washington, Brussels, and London said little about Russian use of out-of-uniform forces. In the past, Moscow leadership has proven sensitive about appearing to abide by international law. The 1975 Helsinki Accords, the first crack in the iron curtain, is an important example: Once Moscow was on record as endorsing human rights on paper, the idea began to sink in to Russians. International agreements matter in Russian society. Yet in 2014, it was as if Western diplomats had forgotten what kinds of pressure worked on Moscow in the past.
So let’s blame Barack Obama! But the cycle is repeating, with Trump and his diplomats averting their eyes from pressuring Moscow about violations of treaties happening in the same place right now.
As part of the 2014 Crimean attack, the Russian navy scuttled two obsolete ships, positioning the wrecks so they would prevent the Ukrainian fleet from breaking out into the Black Sea. That Ukraine allowed its warships to be caught at anchor does not say much for the country’s naval leadership. In any event, the Russian move was illegal.
Russia’s act violated the Paris Declaration of 1856, signed by Moscow after the Crimean War. That treaty caused Abraham Lincoln no small number of headaches regarding the legality of blockading Confederate ports. In 1871, Russia abrogated the portion of the Paris Declaration that barred warships on the Black Sea. The bulk of the agreement, including the titles Russia violated in 2014, passed into international law, where it remains today. Obviously, the Paris Declaration of 1856 is not a household name. But it’s an international agreement that binds all major nations, including Russia. Moscow was able to ignore this agreement without penalty in 2014 because both Western diplomats and the Western the press ignored the agreement.
What’s happening now, under Trump? Russia has violated the Paris Declaration again, using a merchant ship to block access to the Sea of Azov.
Okay, that’s not a household name either. But the White House has been silent about this violation of a treaty binding on the Russian Federation government. Unless I missed it, the Western press has been silent, too.
If I were the United States Navy, I’d worry that consecutive presidents have not seemed to care about international rules regarding freedom of navigation. Treaties are not just formalities! The Helsinki Accords showed that international agreements have significant impact on Russian thinking. Yet Obama, and now Trump, both have simply thrown out the window the chance to use this as a pressure-point against Moscow.
Best 27-Play Drive. Eric Sommerness of Prior Lake, Minnesota, was among many TMQ readers to note a 27-play drive in swirling snow that allowed Minnesota State to defeat Tarleton State and advance to the Division-2 semifinals. The drive begins at 11:19 of the third quarter. To entertain the football gods, and the 1,358 people who braved the weather, on the drive Minnesota State rushed 26 times and threw once—for the winning touchdown on 4th-and-goal.
The Football Gods Chortled. As a Jets kickoff return man broke into the clear, Buffalo placekicker Stephen Hauschka, from Middlebury, was alone against him in the open field. Apparently terrified of making a tackle, Hauschka tried to trip his opponent—and missed.
The Football Gods Switched to Netflix. In the second quarter, the home team down 34-0 to Jersey/A, Washington fans were streaming for the exits.
The Football Gods Promised an Investigation. Baltimore and Buffalo entered Sunday as first- and second-ranked defenses in the NFL. Both of these top defenses failed to hold fourth-quarter leads; both allowed fourth-down touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Year of the Geezer Quarterback. Drew Brees, 39 years old, and now the NFL’s all-time leading passer, threw a pick-six, then later scored a leaping touchdown on 4th-and-goal. Tom Brady, 41 years old, took the record for most total touchdown passes, combining regular season and postseason. But he completely botched clock management at the end of the first half at Miami, costing NE a field goal in a contest ultimately won by the Dolphins by one point. Aaron Rodgers, 35 years old, took the record for most consecutive passes without an interception. But he’s perceived as having a bad year.
Adventures in Officiating. The defending champion Eagles trailing Dallas 23-16 late in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia hit a 75-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Goedert. Zebras called Goedert for offensive pass interference. I watched the play five times and didn’t see a thing—a pure phantom penalty. Goedert made the “swim” gesture with his arms as he got off the line of scrimmage, but NFL receivers make this gesture constantly, and I’ve never seen it called a foul. There was no push or shove. Why didn’t the referee simply pick up the flag?
A week ago the Bills lost when a flagrant offensive holding went uncalled on Miami’s winning touchdown. This week there was a flagrant offensive holding uncalled on the Jets’ winning touch—Jersey/B right tackle Brandon Shell wrapped both arms around Buffalo defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and pulled him down, at the point of attack of the play.
Monday Night Football in Seattle has been home to many NFL officiating blunders, and not just the 2012 Fail Mary. Vikings at Blue Men Group on Monday Night Football added another.
Seahawks leading 6-0 with 6 minutes remaining, the hosts blocked a Vikings’ field goal attempt. Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner, one of the sport’s best athletes, used a playground leapfrog move on a teammate to get leverage for the block. But leveraging against a placekick is illegal—rules prohibit “placing a hand or hands on a teammate or opponent to gain additional height to block or attempt to block an opponent’s kick.” No flag. A few snaps later, the count was Seattle 14-0; failure to penalize the home team on the field goal block was the game’s decisive snap.
Sports fans always complain about officiating; nevertheless, the zebras have been really bad in the NFL this season. Now they are fulltime employees, yet perform terribly. TMQ continues to think that the quality of officiating is a larger problem than the NFL is letting on—and that as more states legalize wagering on professional sports, really bad officiating will make it seem like the games are fixed.
Next Week. Producers announce the first football-themed James Bond movie, Tiebreaker.
