Here we go again…NFL officiating once again affects the Lions organization. History will show that inept officiating has influenced outcomes in games far to often. The question is: Is the National Football League finally ready to take action to rectify the situation. According to league sources, they are. Although anonymous, executives are indicating that the officiating in the Rams-Seahawks game, which also affected the Detroit Lions playoff destiny, was the worst officiated game of the season. Among the discussion taking place with the powers at be, is more training for officials. However, it would behoove the league to add disciplinary consequences for incompetent field officiating. Despite immediate actions that appeared to be taken by the league, longer term solutions still need to be implemented to maintain the integrity of the game.
To avoid scenarios that occurred in the Rams-Seahawks game, the NFL appears ready to implement policies to sure up officiating on the field. In the past, the NFL said the proper things to ensure the proper changes took place, but those plans were never fully implemented. Now, there seems to be more agreement than ever that it is finally time to make meaningful adjustments to the way in which officiating operates. Some of those changes include more training for officials. To show the importance of this issue, it is incumbent on league leadership to go a step further by ensuring that field officials are full time employees to give them time to hone their craft, and complete training that may be needed from season to season. Furthermore, disciplinary consequences need to be attached for officials that habitually continue to get calls wrong. This should include, suspensions, fines, and ultimately firings, for the worst offenders. If many of these policies are adopted, officiating would improve, and errors would be minimal.
During recent history, poor officiating has seemingly had a disproportionate effect on scoring outcomes in Lions games. One of the most prominent instances of this was Calvin Johnson’s catch that wasn’t. When this occurred Calvin Johnson made a catch in the end zone, only losing the ball when attempting to stand up to his feet after the catch. At the time, this resulted in an incomplete pass, nullifying the touchdown. Later, the rule was changed, requiring the receiver to “complete the process” of catching the ball, the rule would informally become known as the “Calvin Johnson Rule.” If such a rule was in effect at the time, that catch would have been ruled a touchdown. In a game that was that had a bit more consequence, a bad call would bite the Lions once again, when a pass interference call was rescinded against the Dallas Cowboys in the 2014 playoffs, which would ultimately result in a game winning drive by Dallas on the ensuing possession. Inevitably, the history of Lions success may be a little different, had some officiating policies been in place when the aforementioned events took place. Now, the powers at be have an opportunity to redeem themselves, hopefully they take advantage of it.
Though wholesale changes are difficult to implement in the middle of a season, it would appear the league is attempting to get calls as correct as possible under the given rules. It was apparent that in recent games officials would confer with one another frequently, in theory, to ensure they got calls correct. Along with this, after the conference it appeared calls were changed more often than usual. This leads one to wonder if certain calls were changed by the review booth. If his is the case, this is a good thing because games are being called more accurately, and human error has less of an impact on the game. Yes, it may add length to the game, but at least the call is right, which is in the best interest of all involved.
For too long, it seems like poor officiating in the National Football League has not been addressed properly. The right things are articulated from a communications standpoint, but as of now, enough action has not been taken to rectify the issue. As a result, teams have been inhibited from achieving their highest potential. Lately, however, there is enough dissatisfaction with the officiating product, the NFL may be compelled to act. If they choose to modify officiating policies on a meaningful level, a more balanced and fair game will result.
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