Detroit Columnist Knows Bucs Got Jobbed
December 20th, 2010
NFL fans everywhere heard Lions fans cry and moan after the zebras apparently took a touchdown from them in a five-point loss to the Bears on opening day.
After yesterday robbery of the Bucs in Tampa, a Detroit Free Press scribe wrote that now the football gods have evened the score.
The breaks finally tilted in the Lions’ direction.
Detroit can stop whining now about the controversial Johnson non-touchdown in the season opener. The refs hooked them up this time on an equally controversial call midway through the fourth quarter, when Tampa Bay tight end Kellen Winslow and Lions safety C.C. Brown tangled in the end zone. Winslow caught the pass, but officials wiped it away due to offensive pass interference.
It was a badly blown call, because Brown kept his back to the ball, playing the man instead of the ball, and that’s defensive pass interference 99% of the time.
Only heard about the play on the radio? Here’s some evidence for you.
Joe knows the Bucs lost the game, not the refs. But that call was exeptionally heinous.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
It was obvious to everyone except the people ref’ing the game.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Has there been any talk anywhere onteh national media circuit about the blown call and whether the league wil review it?
December 20th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Jon does it really matter if it gets reviewed? In the rare event that the league admits it was wrong all you get is a letter and a pat on the back.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
This was the turning point in the game where Detroit would have been down by 4 instead of 17pt tie. I believe it was the difference in the end where the Lion only had to score a field goal instead of a TD. I understand what Rah was doing making the Lions use up all 3 time outs. Maybe he should have ran with Blount, but I think Ball security was at the top of his priorities so I can’t fault him for how he played it. it just didn’t work out by the luck of the draw on the coin flip. The refs clearly stole another one from the Bucs in my eyes. It has happened all year. This was not the year the Bucs would be ALLOWED to be a winner in the NFC South. The NFL officials made that perfectly clear, early and often. They have now cost the team about 4 games on bad calls. The Bucs won a couple despite the refs, and it is hard on a young team to screwed repeatedly. Thank You Very Much!
December 20th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Atrain WD40:
Hopefully, as Joe posted yesterday, that maybe this helps spur the NFL to allow reviews on interference calls.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
They’ve been getting robbed all year!! And it’s made a huge difference in the outcome of the games! The Falcons game was the worst one. One BS call after another. Especially that interception at the end of the game that was DROPPED and we should’ve gotten 2nd and 10 at the 27.
Yesterday, they give a long pass to Calvin Johnson when he obviously had one foot out of bounds, otherwise it would’ve been 4th and 8 and they would’ve punted it! We then could’ve let Blount run it downfield!
That K2 touchdown could’ve potentially won the game for us.
There has so been a trend here. Every Sunday there’s horrible calls against us.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Joe, I agree. Don’t care for more than an I’m sorry and a pat on theback. But to offically identify the trend and a new need to review interference calls would be the bigger benefit.
I don’t care to change the outcome of the game. In fact, we are not likely to get past the Wild Card game IF we make the playoffs. We’ve already done enought o shut all the critics up. But to at least see something come out of this, would be great.
Oh, and have the zebra publically chastized would help.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Joe, wishful thinking, as you and I know, the monster that has become the NFL will not create more scrutiny for the Vegas driven refs. It is hard enough making them accountable now and rewarding mediocrity is a part of their identity. The time will come when the NFL will no longer be the beast of a business it currently is, all products have a life cycle and the NFL will fall victim to this law of business also.
December 20th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Call sucks…but the moral of the story is that in the end, all of these calls even out. Oh yeah, and dont give up a 60 yard drive when your up by 3 with 1:32 left.
December 20th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-1/The-Playoff-Run-Continues/c9672f2b-d5a6-4314-930b-5ae9b2c0c525
Buccaneers.com lists all the different playoff scenarios for us to get in.
F.Y.I, if the Saints lose next week and if we win next week, then if we beat them in Week 17 finish 10-6 just like them, we would have the tiebreaker due to a better record in common games (8-4 to 7-5).
December 20th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
As I watched the refs make one horrible call after another, as they have made all season in ALL games, it dawned on me that these guys are part-time employees. They do not hone their craft like MLB umps do all year round, no they go home Sunday night and just like you and me go to their REAL jobs on Monday morning. It is time the NFL and the Officials union took the step and make these guys full time employees of the NFL, and make them accountable for their actions and calls on the field, because what we have now is beyond horrible, it is an out right fiasco. When part time employees can change the outcome of a billion dollar industry, something is definitely wrong.
December 20th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Growing pains suck what can we say!!
Bad calls happen to every team we notice ours more sure, but they happen.. more experience for our young players, I liked our young offense for the most part. Need to get over the putting of Miller in the back field he is a DT for a reason and not a FB. sure he is Big but there never is a crack where ever he blocks.. what gives…?
December 20th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Has me wondering if finances aren’t entering the picture….?
If you were an owner of a team, and your payroll was say $40 mil higher than the Bucs…and you were competing with them for the last playoff spot…would you make your concerns known about doing the right things by player compensation – yet getting schooled by a team full of rookies and a coaching staff full of below league minimum salaries?
So if the refs take a score away from Tampa Bay – that is as OBVIOUSLY wrong as this one was wrong…but GIFT us with an equally egregious call after our season is kaput (just to make it right/balance the injustice) – would it still be a coincidence?
I’ll let you know…because that was such a hideously wrong call…something else HAD to have been going on….the only thing that was missing was that the call was NOT overturned after the “infamous” booth review….
December 20th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
The pass interference call was atrocious. However, lets not lose sight over the fact that every team during the course of a season is the beneficiary and victim of bad calls. Fans of the Redskins were probably equally appalled last week with the non call on a blatant hold by Donald Penn on Brian Orakpo which resulted in a Buc touchdown. That was a huge non call in a 1 point game. Yes its ok to be pissed. The call was horrendous….but we have also benifitted by some bad calls going our way as well.
December 20th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Actually the Penn play was not a hold, that was Orakpo hooking Penn’s arm, a trick used by d-lineman who are hoping for the holding call, in this case the ref got it right by not calling it, as the defender put himself in that position and was therefore not being held.
December 20th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Video reviews of pass interference is NEVER going to happen. It would be just opening a huge can of worms. NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.
When I saw the play live I thought it was pass interference of Winslow. In real time he gets a nice shove in there at the end; however, in slow motion and in the reviews it does appear to be BS call!!!! Especially since the safety is face guarding the s$#t out of 82!!
Anyway, this season far exceeded my expectations and the BUCS games were a lot of fun to watch- unlike the gruden days. Keep of the good work Raheem and Dom, the key is learning from your mistakes.
GO BUCS 2011!!!!
December 20th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
It’s nice that we had the “wind assist” of a super easy schedule – but it won’t do much for us next year. Our win/loss record will have slotted as a better than average team which will determine a tougher schedule next year.
We will get a 19th/20th round pick in the first round – hopefully we can address DE/speed rush there. Would also be nice to get a speed-back to spell LeGarrette Blount.
We will also get our defensive starters back from season ending IR – and they will have valuable experience under their collective belts.
This was a heart-breaker against a team we coulda/SHOULDA beaten – if we were truly a wildcard playoff team – even with the injury decimated roster…
The more troubling issue for me over the past couple of weeks has been the lack of trust in our very consistent and high-performing offensive playmakers, as evidenced by the too-conservative playcalling and clock management…
That implies our coaches weren’t ready for the playoff’s either…
all-in-all – this was tremendous improvement, but that doesn’t mean we’re good, just means we got better – next year we have to be good.
December 21st, 2010 at 9:56 am
I would agree with that White Tiger.