Sez Me \u2026<\/p>\n
NFL officials, also known as zebras, also known as a lot of things not for print, are criticized. A lot. Constantly. Relentlessly. Until their stripes are stripped.<\/p>\n
But not enough. Not nearly enough.<\/p>\n
I realize I could say this about every sport, especially baseball. But there are 162 baseball games. There are 17 NFL affairs. College football? Minor league refs make minor league calls. They stink, but what do you expect?<\/p>\n
It would be easy to say: \u201cWell, there goes Nick again, beating a dead horse.\u201d But the horse is not dead. It is alive. Kicking. It cannot be killed. It is Secretariat, AI. Screwing up games.<\/p>\n
OK, we know bad officiating \u2014 not to mention replay flubs \u2014 is rampant, but let\u2019s just focus on last weekend\u2019s NFL Team That Used To Be Here\u2019s (you know, the Judases\/L.A. Lodgers) game with the Texans.<\/p>\n
Not that the Judases deserved to win the game \u2014 it\u2019s incredible they can find victory anywhere \u2014 but they should be given a chance. And the officials took that away.<\/p>\n
With 2:32 remaining in regulation, the Texans, up 20-16 \u2014 thanks to a missed chip-shot field goal and extra point by incredibly reliable Cameron Dicker The Kicker \u2014 faced third-and-9 from their own 46. Houston QB C.J. Stroud went back to pass and lost 10 yards. But wait.<\/p>\n
Tarheeb Still was found guilty of illegal contact far down the field. It was a horrible call. If anything, receiver Christian Kirk pushed off. Anyway, game over.<\/p>\n
YOU DO NOT THROW A FLAG THERE.<\/p>\n
Even the announcers were aghast.<\/p>\n
In any event, although the Texans were going to punt, it\u2019s doubtful the J\u2019s would have been able to score a touchdown to win. But that should have been at Dicker\u2019s feet, not the officials\u2019 ineptitude.<\/p>\n
Craig Wrolstad\u2019s officiating crew had made just six illegal contact calls all year. They made two in that game. They have no idea how to call pass interference. They assume, which is the one thing they cannot do.<\/p>\n
They are above the law. The NFL simply shrugs.<\/p>\n
We do not go to games or watch them to see zebras decide the outcomes.<\/p>\n
The best officials are invisible. Unfortunately, you don\u2019t need special glasses to see them. \u2026<\/p>\n
Justin Herbert should not even go to Denver.\u00a0The erstwhile quarterback for the Judases should just stay home with Madison Beer, his erstwhile girlfriend, maybe take in a movie. Jim Harbaugh made a very wise decision, because, guaranteed, Justin plays if not shut down. \u2026<\/p>\n
Ladd McConkey is either a forgotten man or in a sophomore slump. He ran 42 routes vs. Houston and was targeted twice. I\u2019m saying a slump. \u2026<\/p>\n
Steelers back Kenneth Gainwell, who is a fine two-way guy, had 10 touches in their loss to the Browns. Bad, unaware coaching. \u2026<\/p>\n
John Harbaugh did the same thing the week before with Derrick Henry vs. New England, sitting him the final 12 minutes (and admitting his mistake). Then Henry vs. Green Bay: 36 carries, 216 yards, 4 TDs. And a win. \u2026<\/p>\n
Brian Flores is the best head football coach who\u2019s not a head football coach. In the world. \u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s December. It\u2019s January. You run the ball. \u2026<\/p>\n
With a broken right arm and two broken legs, Josh Allen doesn\u2019t make a throw as awful as he did at the end of the Philly game. Something was wrong with him. \u2026<\/p>\n
The team you\u2019re playing has 16 total second-half yards and you go for two? The Bills were at home and had been playing good defense. Trust your guys. \u2026<\/p>\n
Tom Brady talking about \u201cphysical, violent\u201d football. Then again, \u201cviolence.\u201d Can he be fined for that? \u2026<\/p>\n
The Raiders have not scored 30 points in 36 games. Is that all? \u2026<\/p>\n
Know who had more NFL rushing yards than Bo Jackson? Jim Harbaugh. \u2026<\/p>\n
The Colts will start Riley Leonard over Philip Rivers. Leonard should get his reps. Philip tried valiantly. \u2026<\/p>\n
Only 1.6% of college players make it to the NFL. All of them think it\u2019s 100%. The president says 600%. \u2026<\/p>\n
Jalen Hurts threw for minus-2 total yards in the second half during the Eagles\u2019 win in rainy Buffalo. Another tribute to Smokey Gaines. Minus-2 less than a dead man. \u2026<\/p>\n
The Donner Party had better weeks than the Diggs family. \u2026<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 police blotter roster is impressive. But Mike Vrabel says he\u2019s \u201cnot disappointed at all\u201d about the allegations against Stefon Diggs and Christian Barmore. Football coaches. Where do they come from? \u2026<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t sleep on the Rams. Davante Adams makes touchdowns. \u2026<\/p>\n
If not for the transfer portal, Indiana fans would be thinking basketball by October. But it exists. The Hoosiers have been the best team. They are also the oldest. \u2026<\/p>\n
The four head coaches remaining in the college playoffs all were picked off Nick Saban\u2019s Alabama coaching tree. I don\u2019t believe in coincidences. \u2026<\/p>\n
I saw Curt Cignetti smile. Honestly. But Mona Lisa he is not. No practice. \u2026<\/p>\n
The Lakers are \u201crecalibrating.\u201d I don\u2019t know what that means, but that kind of word involving an NBA team cannot be good. I\u2019m guessing it\u2019s LeBron\u2019s fault. \u2026<\/p>\n
All you need to know about the dumbing down of America and television: \u201cSurvivor\u201d remains on the air. It has survived. It is crap. \u2026<\/p>\n
What\u2019s with TV directors and football? After some plays, they continuously show close-ups of players in the huddle, coaches on the sideline and fans holding signs. Show the damn replay! \u2026<\/p>\n
There are 30 football players on the All-CIF first team. I love high school football. But the game is played with 11 on each side of the ball. Somebody is always better than someone else. Not a disgrace. \u2026<\/p>\n
The win-loss percentage of teams played by the Patriots this season was .386. Lowest since the first man to crawl out of the swamp hosed himself off. \u2026<\/p>\n
I hate it when I turn on a football game, and it\u2019s raining. Maybe I feel as though I\u2019m being cheated. \u2026<\/p>\n
If an owner spends games on the sideline, he\/she is one of two things: 1, a great owner who cares about (his\/her) team; 2, a meddling owner who needs to be seen. \u2026<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know why you go to a bowl game if you\u2019re going to give up 49 points to North Texas. Was Mean Joe Greene playing QB? \u2026<\/p>\n
The portal is great for college football. Iowa State has 16 players remaining on its roster. One starter. \u2026<\/p>\n
Elon Musk\u2019s estimated worth: $700 billion. So he can buy every American pro sports team and still have around $200 billion left over. So what\u2019s he waiting for? \u2026<\/p>\n
Troy Aikman said Bijan Robinson reminds him of Barry Sanders. Troy is unique. Nobody reminds anybody of Barry Sanders. \u2026<\/p>\n
Troy has also been hired to aid in the Dolphins\u2019 GM search. His final choice? \u201cMe.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n
Lane Kiffin, who left a landfill mess in Oxford, gets half a mil for the Ole Miss win over Georgia. From LSU. Wonderful world. \u2026<\/p>\n
Do I need a passport to go to Greenland? \u2026<\/p>\n
Gen. George S. Patton: \u201cFatigue makes cowards of us all.\u201d No wonder I\u2019m tired all the time. \u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been raining cows and coyotes. Can\u2019t wait for water rates to rise like the tides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sez Me \u2026 NFL officials, also known as zebras, also known as a lot of things not for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,74,76,75,127,1326],"class_list":{"0":"post-119211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-sports-columnists"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}