... that is clearly pass interference, imo, but is not getting called.
I hate seeing a WR run a go route up the sideline, the qb throw a beautiful deep pass that is accurate, but the db is a step behind and is clawing and pawing at the wr's shoulder pad and inside arm and anything else he can grab in desperation, and pass is incomplete because the wr can barely get one hand on the ball.
Not because the db had superior position. Far from it. The db was beat almost the whole way. He was in an inferior position the whole time. But the refs let him get away with massive mugging and thugging.
It's like somebody let Derek Harper back into pro sports. I thought that nightmare shiit was over!
I watched most of the nfl games this weekend, and I saw very few "go" balls (the 9 route) THROWN, much less completed.
Why? Because QBs have been trained by the refs to not even attempt that throw. It's an incredibly low % play. Because the refs let the DBs get away with cheating. And that sucks.
What are an the ways it sucks? Let me count the ways:
1. It makes fans cynical. Fans have eyes. They understand what the word "interference" means. And to see the rules not enforced... it reduces trust in the integrity of the nfl. Puka Nukua has complained about the refs fixing games. That is DANGEROUS territory for an entertainment venture to get into.
2. The entertainment value of a WR skying to high point the ball along the sideline, 30 to 40 yards downfield, is IMMENSE. Fans LOVE that play. They dream about it. And taking it away from the fans by letting the DBs cheat is brutal.
3. The refs show how chickenshiit they are by refusing to call PI. They don't want to be booed by the fans. Or threatened by them, either after the game or in their private lives. Violence towards refs is real. But the nfl is the real villain here. The nfl needs to publicly declare that it is instructing the refs to enforce PI calls, and that the game will be better for EVERYONE if more of the best and most exciting plays in football are given a chance to occur. (The one group that will be worse off are slow DBs who can't keep WRs from getting behind them. And you know what? Fvck those guys. Seriously. Go sell insurance. Just get the fvck off the field and find some 6-3 stringbean bball players who can't shoot to play corner.)
4. Won't more pi calls make a mockery of the game? True, some things will need to change... here's what I propose:
4a. PI becomes a 10 yd penalty, not a spot of the foul penalty. (CFB gives 15 yds for a PI call.)
4b. Yes, if PI occurs in the end zone, ball is placed on the 1.
4c. And if ball is snapped from inside the 10, the the penalty is spot of the foul. Not half distance to the goal.
5. Nfl games can become boring, brutal to watch slogs. The Pitt game tonight was fugly. If Pittsburgh at least had the option to take the top off the defense, they would have maybe had a fighting chance to make some plays. And here's the deal... with my proposed changes, the cornerbacks probably need more than a 5 yd cushion. Defenses probably have to play more cover 4 (aka, "quarters", aka "4 deep"), which opens up more underneath short passes because there will be only 3 zone defenders in the 0 to 10 yd "band" of the field.
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I would love to see a "lowlight" reel of all the times this year a DB mugged a WR on a deep ball, and no flag was thrown. I hope it would shame the nfl into making the game better.