new rule instituted in NFL???

[tony hipchest]

looks like a new "steelers rule" is taking hold.

the league has announced that from now on every incomplete pass thrown by a steelers qb, the opponents will be allowed to pick it up and run it back until the refs decide whether it is a "fumble" or not and if they want to award the opponents 7 points.

seriously, i havent seen this shit with any other team (and i watch all the games aired other than steelers) and yet it has happened twice to the steelers in consecutive weeks.

i understand letting the players play out a play and relying on instant replay to sort out the details, but it has gotten rediculous.

im not a conspiracy theorist, but an incomplete pass is an incomplete pass and should be ruled as such. if the opponents coach disagrees the honus should be on him to throw the challenge flag.

what the hell is going on?

[IowaSteeler927]

Completely agree. That "fumble" against the Giants was obviously an incomplete pass and they got the call on the field wrong against the Chiefs initially as well. My opinion so far has been that the real refs haven't been much better than the replacement ones. That "fumble" in the Giants game could have ultimately ended up costing us the game and that's wrong. It's not as big as the missed call in the Packers - Seahawks game but it's pretty damned close.

[Hawaii 5-0]

[teegre]

I was thinking the same thing.

I'll give the refs the NYG game, because JPP hit BB's arm... and it was tough to tell in regular speed. (Although, they should have gotten it right in slow-mo.) But, in the KC game, no one hit Leftwich's arm... his arm went forward... and the ball went forward. Even I could see that... at REGULAR speed (let alone slow-mo).

As soon as Houston started running it back, I thought: "Here we go again: another FREE TD for an opponent."

I don't like to think of the game as being fixed, but it seems like the refs are erring on the side of "giving the opponent a turnover" as opposed to (as OX stated) calling what they actually see.

[maddog78]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

looks like a new "steelers rule" is taking hold.

the league has announced that from now on every incomplete pass thrown by a steelers qb, the opponents will be allowed to pick it up and run it back until the refs decide whether it is a "fumble" or not and if they want to award the opponents 7 points.

seriously, i havent seen this shit with any other team (and i watch all the games aired other than steelers) and yet it has happened twice to the steelers in consecutive weeks.

i understand letting the players play out a play and relying on instant replay to sort out the details, but it has gotten rediculous.

im not a conspiracy theorist, but an incomplete pass is an incomplete pass and should be ruled as such. if the opponents coach disagrees the honus should be on him to throw the challenge flag.

what the hell is going on?

Yeah, and the one we needed against Warner in the Super Bowl didn't go our way. That was way worse than Ben's "fumble" against the Giants.

Thank God they got the second one right that ended the game, and there was even media-controversy over that one.

[TRH]

its almost funny watching the refs skipping around and waving their arms all over the place like seagulls when this same thing happens to Brady, Brees, Manning (Peyton), and Rogers to signal incomplete pass.

I agree - what the *^%#& is this crap?

[steelfury02]

Originally Posted by TRH

its almost funny watching the refs skipping around and waving their arms all over the place like seagulls when this same thing happens to Brady, Brees, Manning (Peyton), and Rogers to signal incomplete pass.

I agree - what the *^%#& is this crap?

two words: preferential treatment - I'm convinced it exists - If you think they don't talk about keeping certain players safe in marketing strategy meetings - you are wrong. Ratings with Brady hurt, Brees hurt,or Rogers hurt = down for that media market.

[MACH1]

They also gave the chiefs a 4th timeout. Not sure how many of you noticed that.

[terpsnation]

I think nowadays w/ the automatic review of every turnover, you'll probably start seeing this a lot more often. The refs obviously think that it's better to rule it a turnover, then have it automatically reviewed than to rule it a dead play and have the defense decide whether to challenge. If they could actually get the correct ruling from the automatic review, then I'd be okay with this. Unfortunately, the refs are inept and often blow calls even after a review. Also, the fact that you need irrefutable evidence to overturn the ruling on the field makes it slightly more likely that the turnover will be upheld.

Originally Posted by MACH1

They also gave the chiefs a 4th timeout. Not sure how many of you noticed that.

You are given an injury timeout after you have exhausted all 3 of your regular timeouts.

http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/timingfinal

[Terminator]

I still think the worst was that "helmet to helmet blatant hit" called on Ryan Clark against Victor Cruz. What a fuckin joke.