The Chiefs, the NFLers, and Making It Right

Yesterday was another atrocious day of NFL officiating that may actually be getting people to pay more attention to what is going on with the American professional football game. The Chiefs themselves were hammered mercilessly by the most antagonistic reffing, as they are quite often, and what is actually pretty cool is that I'm not the only one seeing it. 

With new social media venues like Twitter people are screaming about how rotten it is. I've even collected a number of tweets, most of them from the remarks in a tweet by excellent analyst of all-things-Chiefs Seth Keysor. I've put a number of them at the end of this post. 

The Chiefs are not the only team that can suffer. 

Last night I watched the last minute of the Giants-Commanders game. I only saw the last minute, when down 20-12 the Commanders were at the Giants two yard-line. They handed the ball to a bruising running back who pounded his way into the end zone, only to have it called back because of an illegal formation penalty. The judgment was that the wide receiver on the right side was not covering up the tackle.

Please.

It was a wickedly bad call that cost the Commanders a chance to win the game. The television referee expert they consulted afterwards even said it was a technicality and it should not have been called. Never mind that the receiver was close enough to the line anyway especially when all the NFL team's receivers try really hard to situate themselves so the formation rules are followed and as such are all pretty much all over the place all the time anyway, never mind that the receiver even took a step forward to signify that he's working real hard to follow the rule, never mind that we know the NFL favors the big market teams and the Giants play in the biggest market in the game and that officials are categorically influenced by what the NFLers want with regards to game outcomes.

Thing is the Commanders had another chance to win the game right after that when on 4th down their QB threw a strike to his receiver in the end zone and the Giants defender pulled him down -- slightly but very clearly impeding his ability to catch the ball. Incomplete pass. Should've been a pass interference call, absolutely. No "interpretation" that it wasn't pass interference may be accepted, it was pass interference.

Still, no call. Game over.

I have to add that one of the several rotten calls going against the Chiefs Sunday was one in which L'Jarius Sneed got a PI for barely touching the receiver's left hip. He didn't turn him, the pass was a near-impossible one to catch anyway, it was just excellent coverage. Well, you know what happened. It was on a 3rd down giving the Texans new life on a critical scoring drive. 

The pass interference call is one of the most aggravating things in the NFL, and I know everyone knows it. The "interpretation" thing is just crap because it goes so many different ways, and more times than not it goes the way that the NFLers want it to go.

Another egregious call that was particularly noteworthy was in the Patriots-Raiders game. I am no fan of either team, but with barely any time left in regulation and the score 24-17 in favor of the Pats, the Raiders receiver caught a pass at the side of the end zone that was ruled a touchdown. Upon further review they confirmed it, but everyone watching saw clearly that the dude's foot was out of bounds.

At that point the ball game should have been over, Patriots winning. But, well, the Raiders play in that new spiffy stadium in Las Vegas filled with ravenous Raiders fans who've been ever-so disappointed so far this season and having a tie-game would just be closer and better and funner and much more conducive to not having furious Raider fans be ever-so unhappy with such an crushing defeat by just one single little toe that was actually out-of-bounds but ever-so close so just give it to them...

The Raiders ended up winning the game in the end.

In fact, as I write this, just now I thought I'd check. I typed into Google just these words, "NFL officiating Sunday." That was it. Sure enough, the page lit up with stories and tweets about how wretched the officiating was (again, see below). I can't help but put Brittany Mahomes' tweet right here, because one of the most ugly non-calls yesterday was when the Texans lineman body-slammed Patrick to the turf. 

So the NFL people really appreciate their most marketable stars and don't want them hurt? Really? They really want to protect their most valuable commodities, and please know, not just Patrick Mahomes? Really? They'll make a game-altering call against our lineman just for blurting "Yo momma" to an opposing player but they won't protect the physical health of our quarterback by penalizing an obvious unnecessary roughness penalty that could cause a serious injury? REALLY?

I could go on, but I do want to put down some things that can be done, and believe it or not none of these items include a call to get rid of this ref or that ref. Chiefs fans had it in for one particular official, not even going to name him here, but it has way less to do with any given official on the field than it does with what I've called many times before the Scorecasting factor.

Again, the Scorecasting factor comes from the book written by guys who did the research, provided the evidence, and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that officials particularly in games like football and basketball can affect outcomes simply by implicitly -- or yes in some instances explicitly -- knowing what calls to make to please the NFLers. As I've shared here a number of times: I cannot urge you enough to read this book.

I will add that in looking at some comments made for a piece at Arrowhead Pride I was introduced to this book, The Fix Is In, one I know nothing about so I won't remark except to say that if veracious enough based on its premise, then it only adds to everything I've been saying here.

So here are five things -- good, solid practical things all of us can do to one degree or another to maybe perhaps possibly hopefully make all of this right and if not, maybe a little bit better.

1. Tell the NFL to get rid of the official gambling relationships. Please know this truth, no matter how much ridiculously rapturous fun it is or how much blamtastic interest in the NFL it generates, organizations like FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and the like are horrifically immoral operations and in my view should not only have their relationship with any official sports organization promptly terminated but should have their operations made totally illegal and completely shut down. Will illegal gambling sites still proliferate? Of course they will, but this shouldn't keep the NFL from upholding the integrity of the game by working to thoroughly distance themselves from any of that, as they always did for years and years up until just a little while ago. 

Really, this particular item should actually be something I've hoped for for some time now: Fire Roger Goodell. The problem is that he is just one of hundreds of what I've called "NFLers," these are those who have a financial stake or gain from the competitive duplicity that occurs as elucidated by the Scorecasting factor. Firing Roger Goodell would have to include firing those hundreds of wealthy, powerful, mostly commercial enterprise people who are exploiting all of this to their advantage. It is wicked as all get out, but what do you do. Can we still see if at least that one thing can happen though -- summarily ending that relationship with gambling interests? Maybe when enough people see how much it compromises the integrity of the game then maybe it will happen.

2. Call it out. It is amazing how little is said about this situation especially from those whose voice would be quite influential. But hey, I get it. As one wise person once said, when your salary depends on it, then "See no evil hear no evil speak no evil" is the rule of the day. Two of my favorite Chiefs sites, Arrowhead Pride and Arrowhead Addict have today said zero about any of this. The Chiefs Bleacher Report page which posts tweets like they are candy has also posted nothing about the officiating. Fortunately again there are tweets by the thousands out there calling out the horrific officiating in all the games where it occurred.

I will also add that we need to call it out when it is happening among non-officiating personnel. I have to tell you whenever I see Jerick McKinnon do as well as he did yesterday, it always makes me think about how Andy Reid so inexplicably failed to have him run like the wind against a three-man Bengals rush in the second half of that AFC Championship game last season. I already wrote about it in my blog last year, but I am convinced the NFL implicitly tells coaches and others to keep games close, you know, because those NFLers are paying a lot of money for all of this.

My hope is it gets to the point when people are calling for games to be voided -- even though I personally think no games ever should be voided no matter how much cheating was going on. Catch the cheating when it is happening and stop it before teams benefit from it. That's the solution, but I do think it has to come from enough principled fans calling it out and making it obvious.

3. Get the NFL to put those two officials in the booth with monitors. Even if no one quite sees all of this happening, and even if we all believe it is merely officials just missing calls, one thing that can happen that is the easiest thing in the world to do is get those original play-call officials in the booth with monitors to see these things clearly, immediately wire down to the on-field officials, and make the right call.

Easy examples, from yesterday's game, the in-booth officials:

"That PI call you made against Sneed? Didn't happen, pick up your flag. 4th down Texans. Good stop for those Chiefs, don't be the official that determines outcomes especially with calls like that that shouldn't be made."

"That fumble you think Smith-Schuster had? Nope, he regained control of the ball before he was body-slammed to the turf. Make that a possession Chiefs, and tack on the 15 yards for unnecessary roughness against the Texans. And that other call you made against McKinnon there on the same play? Not. That's not the infraction you think it is, sorry. Pick up that flag too."

"Pacheco did have a facemask penalty against him, address that now, get the Chiefs that penalty yardage. We know you may have missed it but, well, it's hard to see how because his helmet was pulled right off his head. Come on guys."

4. Pray for the players, all of them. This is one of the most important of all. Poor officiating is worst not when it affects game outcomes but when it threatens the health and physical well-being of the players. I actually fear for our Chiefs players when the officiating is so one-sided and they don't make the calls against actions that truly hurt our players. A few weeks ago JuJu was hammered as a defenseless receiver, suffered a concussion, had to sit out a game, and the defender was even fined later.

But there was no call on the field. This was absolutely inexcusable, it was inexcusable regarding yesterday's incidents, and again that no meaningful media organization of whatever stripe is contributing to the outcry about this is reprehensible.

So yes, besides calling these things out, please be in prayer for the safety and well-being of the players out there, all of them. Yes I do very much know it is a violent sport, but I am in favor of every precaution that can be made to protect them, even the ones so extreme that it leads to fans blithering about how soft the game has become. Officiating like we saw yesterday does not help.

I will add in that profoundly spiritual sense that along with prayers it is good to have an eternal perspective about all of this. For one it is best to accept that inherent in the game is need to keep all fans happy -- 17 straight Chiefs Super Bowl victories doesn't do that. The best fans are happy when the other team wins and their fans get to enjoy what we've got to enjoy. The thing is, that happens best when we all know the game was fairly and evenly called.

In the end God wins anyway, no matter what. This is besides the point that all this is just a game. It's entertainment. All this is just thrilling diversion, even this whole discussion about it, keeps us engaged, interacting with one another. For anything that is of value it is always nice to see players themselves treat it all that way -- after games they smile and give good-game handshakes to one another, and some even gather at midfield and pray, players from both teams giving God glory thanking Him for all our blessings. Very cool.

5. Encourage what Brett et al are doing. This is the main Chiefs-oriented thing that can be done to address the NFLer's competitive duplicity. Just enjoy Brett Veach and his staff working their tails off to make our team as good a team as they can. I do believe that Brett knows somehow, someway, that the duplicity is working against him and his team, and he fights it by doing what he does best -- putting together a competitive team that not only has to confront the other fine teams on the field but also the NFLer insidious duplicity and the antagonistic officiating that goes with it. 

In some ways it makes sense why so few are complaining about the officiating issue. In a very perverse way it is there because that's what they want. And in that sense it has made it that much more of a motivating factor to get Brett et al to work that much harder because they know what they're up against. In a way it makes our success that much more appreciated. 

There is no way we can't be proud of the Chiefs success. We just got our 7th straight AFC West title, only two other teams in NFL history have had such an achievement. We have two very significant Super Bowl wins, the last one of the AFL and the confirmation (after the Jets win the year before) that Lamar Hunt's league was for real and could compete just as well against the NFL teams; and the one on the 100th anniversary of the NFL and 60th of the start of the AFL. Both were wins for the ages, everyone knows about Hank Stram's "Matriculating the ball down the field" performance in the 4th one, and the Chiefs 21-point 4th quarter comeback in the 54th one stands alone among them all.

There are so many Chiefs Kingdom things to be proud of no matter what happens that is ugly and rotten and wicked no one seems to care to do anything about. 

Again, in many ways overcoming those things makes being a Kingdom member that much better.

__

Here're those tweets, by the way, as part of this blog effort to call it out. (Will add that I know none of these individuals. I don't see why I can't simply reproduce them here since on Twitter they are open about sharing their identities in whatever form they choose to share.) It is easy to see there are so many who see exactly what I see -- it isn't hard actually.

I cannot neglect to add this excellent tweet from Jason Whitlock related to the Commanders officiating debacle, this one speaking to another factor that is wrecking the game and one I also addressed in a post at the end of last season.

One more! I know I'm adding this a bit after posting this, but I can't neglect to include this one. Again, I'm not the only one thinking these things, seeing what's going on: