At least the league didn’t add insult to injury. Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews revealed on Friday that he wasn’t fined for the egregiously bogus roughing the passer call against the Vikings.
The call cost the Packers a victory and then the NFL and their dick head of officiating backed up referee Tony Corrente’s bullshit call. It would be a pile of crap if said game and call cost the Packers some home-field playoff advantage, wouldn’t it? But that’s what the league has set itself up for. And that’s a reality we will have to live with.
By not fining Matthews for the hit, the NFL has essentially admitted that, hell, maybe that wasn’t a foul?
Two of the league’s former VPs of officiating, Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino, disagreed that Matthews’ hit was a penalty. However, the league decided they were going to use that hit and the Eric Kendricks hit on Aaron Rodgers earlier in the game as teaching tools. In other words, you can’t do this. Frankly, both calls were bullshit.
“Friday we usually have video of plays throughout the league,” Matthews said. “It’s interesting they released it as of [Monday] trying to get ahead of this whole situation. I’ve heard me and Kendricks, our hits on the quarterback will be teaching tactics, but I mean every week this gets a little bit harder as far as what they’re asking us to do.”
Yeah, what they are asking defenders to do is essentially not hit the damn quarterback.
So what’s even the point of the edge rusher position? Might as well eliminate it.
Everyone has been on Matthews’ side. Earlier this week, even now-rival Khalil Mack backed Matthews. The coach of the team the Packers are playing this week, Washington’s Jay Gruden, backed Matthews. He had this to say.
“These guys are big men,” Gruden said, “and they’re going at a high level of speed. To ask them to contort their bodies in the spur of the fraction of a second, sometimes it’s hard. You’re trying to wrap up mobile guys like Aaron Rodgers or big guys like Cam Newton or Carson Wentz, you’re putting these guys in a pickle.
“It’s just a tough deal but it’s something that we have to continue to monitor and coach and do the best we can.”
Aaron Rodgers also backed Matthews. Earlier this week he said he didn’t like the way the rules are going. He also said the flag on Kendricks was BS.
“What do you say to Clay? His head is out of it. His hand is on the ground. That’s not roughing the passer. Same thing with Kendricks. What do you say to him on that? I didn’t get up off the ground thinking, ‘Where’s the penalty?’ I saw a late flag and couldn’t believe there was a penalty on the play,” Rodgers said.
What do you say to anyone? It’s obvious that the NFL is worried about people not playing football, but isn’t the point of playing football so you can hit another person?
That’s not the only point, but football is a contact sport. That’s the game. Stop trying to make it another game, you dumb fucks.
Ok, so he rightfully didn’t get fined, that’s cool.
But you don’t need to rehash all the points everyone has already heard 500 times this week. Lets not be queen and Bear fans.
It’s a damn good time to move on i’m thinking.
If the NFL keeps this shit up they better start worrying about people not watching football. What a joke..
At this point, it is starting to directly affect the outcome of games. The NFL would be better off putting a red Jersey on the QB and giving him 3 seconds to throw the football. If the ball isnt out of his hand in 3 seconds, it is a ten yard loss on a “sack.”
Where are the previews of this game? Is anyone else going to be on the edge of their seats watching Rodgers play on a wet field with the knee injury?
This tie is a loss for the Packers and a win for the Vikings. There’s no other way to view it.
At the end of the season it will cost them either in playoff seeding or possibly making the playoffs.
This same stuff happened when the NFL decided to change the rules on contact with receivers prior to the catch. At the start of seasons, so many pass interference and illegal contact penalties were called the games were hard to watch. As the season(s) go on fewer penalties were/are called. Once the playoffs hit teams (patriots) that were smart could get away with the contact that was called earlier in the year, allowing them a playoff advantage.
The roughing the passer calls will end up being the same way this season as the illegal contact and interference calls on receivers. The league, and the league officials will adjust from their early season over-enthusiasm to “train” the players. The league will then cause more confusion among the players and the fans by not making the calls made earlier in the year. The teams that will prosper will be the ones that understand that the early season calls are just a lesson that will be put aside as the season progresses and goes into the playoffs. As long as the QB hits are not to egregious.
GO PACK!!! I’d give a prediction of today’s game except I’m waiting for Shawn and Monty to go first ;-).
The Redskins #1 defense is a mirage, because it’s early, and they played the helpless Arizona offense and their bankrupt defense. Arizona is averaging 3 points a game, while it’s defense is giving up 29 PPG, nuff said.
With that, the Skins are are yielding only 13.5 PPG, but their offense is only scoring 16.5 PPG. The Packers defense needs to face a team like this to get their defense going in a different direction, like we were told it was going, but haven’t seen it yet.
I can see the Packers scoring around 30 or so, and winning by two TD’s.
I can also see myself being very, very wrong and never talking about it again.
One final thought on the Mike Daniels play no one is saying boo about. Yes, i think Daniels should have brought him down regardless of if he thought Cousins threw the ball and here is why……
Daniels was already up against (wrapping up) Cousins when Cousins did his pump fake, he still could have brought him down legally.
Secondly, Daniels let go of Cousins then INSTANTLY turned his back to Cousins and started talking with Mike Remmers. Then Remmers (rightly so) gave Daniels a bitch shove because the play wasn’t over.
Conclusion..Daniels should have checked Cousins because he then possibly could have went for another sack, instead of simply turning away, thinking the play is over. But instead, he’d rather turn and start jawing with Remmers
I get that everyone wants to give Daniels a pass and blame it on the refs, I say BS.