Bruce Arians Had More Reasons To Gripe At The Refs
October 5th, 2021
Nearly shafted.
Yesterday, Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians told all how he called the league office to chew a suit’s ear about a blown incompletion call that should have been fumble recovered by the Bucs.
Arians had every right to be peeved.
Apparently, he had more reasons, which Arians did not discuss yesterday but did discuss with Albert Breer of SI.com after Sunday night’s game.
It seems Nick Folk’s missed field goal in the final moments Sunday should not have even been attempted as the zebras, per Breer, missed as many as three penalties by the Belicheats in that New England possession.
…It came out when Bruce Arians and I discussed his defense making plays in the final two minutes to keep the degree of difficulty up on Nick Folk’s eventual bid at a go-ahead field goal. “Defensively, we had a chance to stop them there at the end—We got picked and it wasn’t called, but still the kicker hit the upright,” [Arians] said. “But I watched him make 60 from that direction in warmups, so I was a little worried.” And indeed, the video evidence is there backing the Bucs up on this. On second-and-6 from the Patriots 49, Kendrick Bourne lined up to Mac Jones’s right, tight to the formation. At the snap, he ran right at linebacker Lavonte David, who was trying to get out to the flat. With David’s path blocked, Brandon Bolden came wind open on a swing route, and easily picked up the first down. Further angering Tampa in that spot? Both the Patriots offensive tackles jumped, and should’ve been flagged for false starts. Which, you could argue, was a fitting end to a game that was officiating relatively sloppily all the way around.
This just gives ammo to the idea that Bill Belichick himself has proposed for years; every play ought to be eligible for review.
It just makes all the sense in the world to Joe.
Now this is not to say there should be unlimited challenge flags. Keep that at three. But Joe has no idea why some plays are unable to be reviewed and some are not. Hey, a mistake is a mistake. Isn’t replay review there to correct them?
October 5th, 2021 at 9:04 am
The PI on Whitehead when he was going for the ball was BS too. Hunter Henry didn’t even see the ball it was so far behind him and Whitehead was making a play on the ball.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:09 am
not to mention the out of bounds catch 2 plays before the field goal that wasn’t even reviewed…..Just abysmal and makes this game hard to watch
October 5th, 2021 at 9:09 am
That left tackle jumping early could be seen from low Earth orbit. He even hanged his head in shame….. Yet the refs didn’t notice
October 5th, 2021 at 9:17 am
The fix was in……Pete thinks at least 15 people need to go to prison for this
October 5th, 2021 at 9:21 am
You already knew the Refs were going to help them get back down field. And for sure it would be against the secondary somehow. So the call against Whitehead did not surprise me at all. I just expected later to put them closer!
October 5th, 2021 at 9:22 am
The league doesn’t want to get it right, how would they be able to fix games that way? Not every game, but certain games like the over hyped Sunday night affair I truely believe the refs are told to tip the scales. The networks, the sponsors didn’t want anyone going to bed before the end of the game, to much money on the line. Let’s say the Bucs are given that fumble early, than score. Things snowball out of control for N.E., and everyone goes to sleep at the half. That’s bad for business, and the NFL is a business. I read that book by the NBA ref who got fired for gambling a long time ago. In it he discusses how certain games are told to be called for ratings sake. Now it’s the NFL doing it also. They know what sells, and an early blowout by the Bucs wouldn’t sell.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:23 am
All the more evidence deflategate was Belicheat and not Brady.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:23 am
..yeah we seeing a pattern here, and the week before, and before that….
question is why: incompetence?? , TB12 haters (they were accused loving him when he was a Pats)??, TV 🤡 punishment(he is the ONLY HC sh$t talking about them openly with reporters)??
So why US??
October 5th, 2021 at 9:24 am
First time I agree with Pete.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:25 am
The BUCS have been on the bad end of so many important blown calls this year. Non calls on blatant penalties and calls on very questionable ones! The NE game was very bad. The LA game double pick TD non call comes to mind. I’ve seen quite a few non buc games this year and those games weren’t much better!! These Ref crews are having perhaps their worst efforts I can remember!!! I’m for allowing a challenge on all plays too! The tv networks could get to run more commercials.. a win win! The refs shouldn’t be allowed to determine the outcome of games. Especially with all the sports books around!!!! WAKE UP NFL!!!
October 5th, 2021 at 9:25 am
If i’m not mistaken, there is no challenging in the last 2 minutes (I think). The refs can…………………well, you know
October 5th, 2021 at 9:28 am
cindy lauper. “money changes everything” Infomeplease, you nailed it
October 5th, 2021 at 9:29 am
It’s global warming
October 5th, 2021 at 9:30 am
it’s Trump’s fault
October 5th, 2021 at 9:32 am
A team should be able to challenge anything…anytime……limit them to 3 challenges, win or lose. There is too much riding on these games to let bad calls stand.
I can only surmise that the league doesn’t want the challenges because it will end up making the refs look even worse.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Correct that……2 lost challenges is enough
October 5th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Agree Jughead. Announcers making big deal of toe drag… Well his toe casm off the ground right before ball was secured. He only got one foot down after the actual catch
October 5th, 2021 at 9:33 am
The bottom line is you have to play well enough to weather the various gaffs by refs that happen in every game played.
Humans are officiating, therefore mistakes will be made.
Whatever, so again the teams play well enough to absorb the crappy calls that happen to every team.
The good teams make enough plays to win more than the bad teams, that is the bottom line.
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 5th, 2021 at 9:36 am
All the money was on the Bucs to cover. Vegas called in a few favors during the game and mission accomplished
October 5th, 2021 at 9:42 am
@alton d green Says:
“it’s Trump’s fault”
————————
that MUST be it. I was thinking that, but was afraid to EXPRESS MYSELF. 🤐
October 5th, 2021 at 9:43 am
Bill Vinovich was the head ref & is known for controversy & is 60yrs old with recent heart problems. Google it
October 5th, 2021 at 9:50 am
I think the game has too many rules that in combination with these part time refs who have weekly jobs as well as officiating it is just not a recipe for success and the more rules you insert into the game the harder it is to regulate
October 5th, 2021 at 9:53 am
Bangkok…. read on line that the “smart money” the day of the game was on the Patriots side. Still…makes you wonder. It only takes one Ref.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:01 am
The idea that refs didn’t have money on that game and kept it within the spread is silliness. The officiating is out of hand this year as (not verified data) 90% of all fans can call games better than these jackasses.
Too much money to be made and the leagues zero tolerance for criticism of their terrible jobs just reinforces the idea that something fishy is going on. Frankly, it’s long past time for the Glazers themselves to throw their ownership weight around when it comes to officiating and the league office. It has been YEARS of this garbage.
Coupled with Joey Bosa’s criticism last night and the league better wake the heck up. People are wise to their BS money grab act.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:03 am
The list of blatantly bad calls in that game was pretty pathetic-
David got picked.
On that last drive on a 3rd and 4 a receiver was open because Devon White was illegally blocked by a TE several yards downfield.
There were two times that an offense of tackle jumped and that didn’t get called.
Then there were the PI and non-PI calls against the Bucs. By my count, there were 4.
I try to be pretty objective when it comes to the refs but I only saw two questionable calls that went in favor of the Buccaneers.
Probably officiate a game but they got the win and the defense overall played much better. Now it’s time to start punching it in the end zone again!
LFG!!
October 5th, 2021 at 10:10 am
gotbbucs Says:
October 5th, 2021 at 9:04 am
The PI on Whitehead when he was going for the ball was BS too. Hunter Henry didn’t even see the ball it was so far behind him and Whitehead was making a play on the ball.
^^^^^^^^^
I always thought that pass interference could only be called on a catchable pass. Was there any way that Henry catches that pass? I only watched the game once, live, and it didn’t look catchable to me.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:14 am
We won despite the refs…so it balanced out.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:14 am
I know ageism is a thing. But a game played by elite athletes, among the fastest quickest and strongest men on earth, should not be refereed by aging, decrepit old men. There is a place for wise counsel and tacit consideration. It’s on the courts, and I don’t mean basketball. But it’s not on the field of play in a game played by elite athletes. All of that said, Belichick has gotten this right from the jump. Clearly every place should be reviewable with the number of reviews kept the same. That way the length of the game is not affected.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:17 am
National Fixed League
October 5th, 2021 at 10:17 am
Bonzai, it didn’t “balance out”. A balance out would probably have resulted in a much easier win for the team. Instead it was left to chance and we came out on top. Good fortune perhaps, and maybe a bit of karma, but not a balancing out.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:20 am
Joe, Whitehead was completely turned and facing the ball and had his arms in position to try to catch it. Henry was farther away from the ball than Whitehead. It was a terrible PI call, one of the worst I’ve seen recently. I would like to know a tally of how many extended drives and plays they had due to egregious flags.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:28 am
Pete’s doing research on that crew. The umpire follows some questionable people on twitter. MAJOR RED FLAGS
Head Referee: Bill Vinovich
Umpire: Tony Michalek
Down Judge: Patrick Holt
Line Judge: Mark Perlman
Field Judge: Joe Blubaugh
Side Judge: Jimmy Buchanan
Back Judge: Jimmy Russell
Replay official (from New York): Kevin Stine
October 5th, 2021 at 10:33 am
this is just stupid. Buc fans complaining about refs is crazy. Were there some missed calls? Sure but I am willing to bet the Chiefs fans think there were some bad calls that put them behind the 8 ball in the super bowl. I did not see one buc fan complaining about the refs in that game. Stop it already. As 1976 said, it happens every game to EVERY team.
And to the idiot who has Brady on his breath, Brady was just as much involved in deflate gate as any one in the organization. Don’t be stupid just because he now plays for the bucs. He destroyed his phone to hide the text messages he sent to the ball boys etc. You can’t be that dumb to think Brady is innocent in deflate gate just because he now plays for the bucs can you? We really have some slow fans
October 5th, 2021 at 10:33 am
The OPI on Evans was really lame…..he very slightly pushed but the DB was on him…..Evans is constantly mugged and no calls….
October 5th, 2021 at 10:47 am
Well, well, well, praise the lord and pass the damn pudding. I’ve only been fed up with the zebs for 42 years. Dungy coached his team to play not only their opponent, but the refs, too. That Dallas game was the usual ref BS. When did the Cowjerks get called for holding? Maybe there is such a thing called karma. Bucs beat them and the Belicheats. Why is this dude called Beli-cheat to start with? This sort of crap hurts the game, and is not fair to the fans that support it. Kudos, BA!
October 5th, 2021 at 10:49 am
Joe in Michigan
The “catchable ball” is one criteria in pass interference calls and it is subjective. That isn’t why folks are pissed. You as a defender are free to make plenty of contact if you are in fact making a play for the ball. The defender earns that right if he’s facing the ball and making a play on the ball. Whitehead didn’t even have to turn around, as a safety he was already facing the QB when the ball was released. That’s what made it such a damn cringe-worthy play call by the ref. Worse, it was as plain as daylight. I’m pretty sure at least one other member of the crew noticed but either he was overruled or the crew was just collectively too gutless to admit that the dropped flag was a mistake.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:49 am
I’ve never understood why they bring replay into the game but then say only certain things are reviewable. I like the idea of giving the team the ability to review anything but still only given a certain number of reviews. ALL games have had terrible calls. Last night watching the Monday night game there was a horse collar call that magically turned into a face mask call. On the replay you could see that it was neither. Why shouldn’t whoever is in charge in New York be able to call in and say no you got it wrong no penalty and then move on with the game.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:57 am
Yep, the left tackle even put his head down knowing he moved as Shaq was pointing out. Not to mention, when can you as a kick returner touch the ball and then it hits the pylon and it comes out to the 20. That should not have been a DPI on Whitehead but they missed a tripping call in him. The hands to the face everyone is complaining about by Donovan Smith, Judson was masterful as he ducked under Smith’s hand, that was not the initial engagement. Judson caused that call.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:57 am
Life sucks.
The Bucs are 3-1.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:08 am
Every play should be reviewable including errant flags, and I think the head coaches should be given an additional red flag or two. The whole limitation on what is reviewable is extremely arbitrary.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:12 am
This ones easy……every gambler in the world was on the Bucs at -7. Keep the game close and Vegas wins big! Dont underestimate the power of Money even in the NFL!
October 5th, 2021 at 11:14 am
Buc1987 Says:
October 5th, 2021 at 10:57 am
Life sucks.
The Bucs are 3-1.
——————-
Yeah, well, so do the zebs.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:24 am
The only way to overcome the pathetic officiating is to score lots of points. The Pats got away with a lot of holding as well as a face mask on Evans that wasn’t called. No doubt the officiating crew was the worst in recent history, but as a long time Bucs fan I’m used to the refs hosing the Bucs. Does Jerry Markbreit ring a bell ?
October 5th, 2021 at 11:51 am
It’s so bad sometimes favoring against one team it’s as if the refs are trying to create their own winner. Makes me wonder if they are making bets or getting paid off to officiate a certain outcome. But hey don’t call me a conspiracy theorist, leave that up to politicians and the media.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:53 am
This is why Vegas didn’t move the line even though over 90% of the money was on the bucs. Vegas knows
October 5th, 2021 at 11:57 am
Coaches are designing picks or rub routes on every 3 and passing or in the redone. It’s getting ridiculous and needs to be addressed the the NFL. It use to be just a few coaches but since they’re getting away with it it’s forcing everyone to design these plays. It’s already illegal just needs to be called.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:06 pm
How is replay going to help when they still get it wrong? That fumble was overturned on replay.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:11 pm
Hey, we’re 3-1 despite all the calls!
One could argue that we have benefited from a few calls/no-calls as well. I’m having trouble remembering any, but I’m sure they’re there!
October 5th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
There were certainly some queer calls including those “after further review “
October 5th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
Fan man, the only call that didn’t go against us was a potential tripping on Whitehead. Seem like it might have been incidental but they definitely would have called it if they saw it. Other than that every call was against us.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Every play reviewable will result in longer games because every team will use 100% of their challenges. How many were used on Sunday? Zero?
If every play is reviewable, both teams will use 100% of their challenges. They typically take about, what, 5 minutes? so that’s 20 more minutes for the game.
That said, it still should be implemented. The officiating is getting worse and worse.
I agree with whoever said it’s cause these guys are too old. Corruption seems like a factor, but it strikes me that if it were a factor someone would have leaked it or got caught. Humans, with few exceptions, can’t keep their mouths shut. I don’t recall or see any internet history on any criminal NFL officiating scandals.
I say let Bezos into the league and ask Amazon to create a machine learning system to speed up the process and increase the accuracy.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Go back to defensive backs can knock the crap out of the receiver as soon as the ball is snapped.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:44 pm
Officiating in the NFL is a travesty and it has been for years. The inconsistency from game-to-game and crew-to-crew are absolutely ruining the game. I don’t necessarily think it’s a fix, or that the refs bet on the game, it’s one of age, incompetence and some really stupid rules. For example:
1. Offsides / encroachment – The rule used to be, if the defensive player jumps across and does not make contact and gets back, no offsides. It was up to the offensive player not to move. Easy rule. Clean. No interpretation.
Now, if you jump and that somehow scares the OLineman, you’re offsides. Now it’s a contest of who points at who for the penalty… except if you’re Shaq Barrett.
2. The ground can’t cause a fumble. Easy. If you have it, hit the ground and the ball comes out, you’re down.
Now, if you have the ball, hit the ground, get hit, rolled over on, THEN the ball comes out, you didn’t “complete the catching process” Makes sense…. right?
3. Replay in general – Put in place to correct the “obvious” errors… which for the most part, it does. But now it has become what we saw in the NE fumble. Called a fumble on the field. “He caught the ball, he took two steps, but the tip of the ball MAY have not been totally secured when you look at it from the third angle…..” That’s not what replay was intended to correct.
I’ve said it before in this forum, they are ruining the enjoyment of the game.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Bad calls can be reversed as fast, or faster than we see them. There was a face mask call in last nights game that clearly wasn’t. We all saw it within 2 seconds of the replay. So did the league refs in N.Y. who for some reason are powerless to fix it. Bad calls can affect a game as much as blowing a fumble, incomplete pass, etc. The NFL obviously doesn’t want to do it. What really bothers me is refs are calling what they think they see, not what they actually see. They don’t try very hard to correct each other also, another problem.
October 5th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
I’ve been bitter about the officiating ever since the Bert Emanuel no catch and I’m fully convinced that some calls are purposely called in favor of one team in order to help them win. The evidence is overwhelming and Sunday’s game just piled on additional evidence. I have zero issues with gambling, but I think that this rigged officiating is only going to get worse now that the NFL condones gambling. I mean, they literally invented a new rule on the fly regarding the Emanuel catch to help the Rams win and I’ve seen at least another 100 shady AF calls since then. Still easily the best sport on the planet, but I’m in love/hate relationship with it right now. 😜
October 5th, 2021 at 1:40 pm
We are free to discuss what we like Webster. You don’t control the site. Don’t like it you are free to skip the comments. Then again you could go to the Saints sites.
October 5th, 2021 at 2:08 pm
Do it so that as long as you have timeouts, you can challenge. Fail a challenge, lose a timeout. Let it be the coach’s decision as to whether he wants to burn his timeouts on challenges or stopping the clock.
October 5th, 2021 at 3:18 pm
“Isn’t replay review there to correct them?”
Or overturn a correct call as we saw with the fumble which was ridiculously ruled an incomplete despite lack of any “clear and compelling evidence” to justify the overturn….
Makes the NFL look slimy and like there are agendas influencing the calls when stuff like that happens in a nationally televised game for all to see….
The refs in that game were obviously making one sided calls against the Bucs. I’ve been seeing it happen like that for 40+ years – Bucs having to beat the opponent AND the Refs – so not sure why things would be any different now just because the GOAT is here…
October 5th, 2021 at 3:18 pm
These refs were gambling or paid off until proven otherwise. The calls and no-calls were just too egregious, too well-timed, too obvious, and too one-sided. Motive couldn’t be clearer.
What is the accountability? Why are refs who are terrible at their jobs and/or in cognitive decline allowed to continue doing this job?
October 5th, 2021 at 3:32 pm
Completely agree Joe.
The Stealers appear to have timed the snap of a FG at the end of the half perfectly on Sunday. The Refs assumed they were offsides on the FG attempt where the Stealers ran it back for a TD so they threw a flag. The Packers then were granted another play and made the FG. This was a 10 point swing, but the play was not reviewable.
October 5th, 2021 at 4:09 pm
As a Buc Fan I’m absolutely going to be a homer, BUT not counting the 50/50 calls that they got and we didn’t…
1) Punch out fumble, called that way on the field – reversed
2) No call when Evans got his facemask pulled coming out of his break
3) Lineman moves before snap (which some how the refs catch 99% of the time)
4) Pass Interference – called by the Middle back judge watching the receiver not looking for the ball and breaking to the middle of the field and defender simply reacting to the ball. It was so bad, it almost looked like the receiver was blocking 30yrds downfield.
October 5th, 2021 at 4:42 pm
Thanks for the clarification, PassingThru.
October 5th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
Refs should be fined for making bad calls or not making calls at all then maybe they will pay better attention, that is their job and the nfl and teams pay a lot of money to have these games and a lot is riding on them. One bad call can make the difference in a game.
October 5th, 2021 at 5:05 pm
The turnover call on the fumble was atrocious and frankly left me having zero faith in the NFL and they’re replay officiating. Why must they make things so difficult? That was a catch on every planet it in the universe. The micro managing in this league is killing it.
October 5th, 2021 at 5:12 pm
These are the same fans that wanted Brady out of the league for deflategate
October 5th, 2021 at 6:34 pm
Hey Webster, for your information, if Brady texted the
Ball boys, those texts would be on their phones. If you read the Wells report, their phones were confiscated and there was no texts from Brady. Your ingnorent ass is showing!!!
October 5th, 2021 at 6:37 pm
Hey Webster, for your information, if Brady texted the
Ball boys, those texts would be on their phones. If you read the Wells report, their phones were confiscated and there was no texts from Brady. Your ingnorent ass is showing!!!
October 5th, 2021 at 8:24 pm
Mike i see you must be from the fox news, stop the steal alternative facts crowd. There are countless articles (google is your friend moron) that shows text from brady to the ball boy who had worked for the pats for 20 years. But you are a rudy guliani clone where truth isnt truth. Phone records showed brady had not contacted the ball boy for 6 months and soon as deflategate broke, brady had called the ball boy countless times for several minutes of conversation and multiple texts from BRADY!!!!. He even invited the ball boy to the qb room for a talk which had never happened previously. The nfl even pointed out due to brady breaking his phone, it hurt their investigation efforts. But with all the evidence they gathered, they concluded brady was aware of the deflation of balls. So no, your sheer uneducated ignorance is showing by saying brady never texted. HE DID!!!! But again for people like you, its much easier to spew lies and uneducated statements then to do simple research that is out there for all to see.
October 5th, 2021 at 8:33 pm
@sb. Oh because im not a dolt who believes you can pin wins and losses on one man in a team sport, i need to go cheer for the saints? Gtfooh. Crying about refs is weak period. Funny, i never see a championship team cry about refs. Why? Because champions over come adversity no matter what it is. In a football game, there are atleast 140 plays. Crying about 2 or 3 calls that did not go your way while also not acknowledging the calls that did go your way is being a 6 year old child. Deal with it. Get over it. I bet a player running the wrong route, missing a block or kick, a player out of position on defense, a player dropping a 3rd down pass etc has bigger impact then a ref missing a false start. The players are not perfect and neither are the refs or replay system. Crying about it is weak. Man up
October 6th, 2021 at 11:28 am
Webster called it right. Refs blow calls every week to every team. Then the deflategate.. haha
Remember the ” philly special ” ? Famous TD IN super bowl . ILLEGAL FORMATION.
Also brady doing the ball pressure management. Although it wasnt illegal to adjust balls within the pressure range.. he was smart to break his phone. Joe’s new name idea.. belicheat and debradygate.