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SPORTS Tuesday 27 december 2016

Missed calls aplenty, and the NFL is looking for fixes

BY EDDIE PELLS stance in which officials
AP NATIONAL WRITER could have used help from
This has been the year of the booth to determine
the penalty in the NFL. whether to eject a player
Not so much because for targeting to the head.
more flags have been Darren Sproles of the Ea-
thrown in 2016 - through gles was moving forward
Week 15 teams were av- to field a punt when De-
eraging 8.09 flags a game shazor Everett of the Red-
this season compared to skins launched himself into
8.10 in 2015 - or because Sproles and hit him helmet
a larger-than-normal num- to helmet, knocking Sp-
ber of games have been roles out of the game.
decided by questionable In college, this play
calls. might’ve been sent to the
More because the ques- booth to determine if the
tioning of the competence rule calling for an auto-
of the officials began, liter- matic ejection should be
ally, on opening day with enforced. The NFL does
a flurry of unflagged hits to none of that, and Pereira
the head of the reigning explained that the call
MVP, Cam Newton, and wasn’t as automatic as
continued, in some form, many outraged posters
virtually every week, with- on social media made it
out a stop. sound.
Patterns? There weren’t In this Nov. 6, 2016, file photo, field Judge Mike Weatherford, left, throws his cap toward Kansas “Sproles didn’t call for a
City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) after Kelce, who was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct,
any, in particular. threw a towel in his direction during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jackson- fair catch, and you’ve got
Phantom pass interference ville Jaguars in Kansas City, Mo. a guy running toward him,
calls have been as com- Associated Press trying to time the hit with
mon as unflagged hits to the ball behind him and
the head, the likes of which he can’t see it,” he said.
sent Newton to the com- cially poorly called game good reason for it. Why rule, which calls for only a That doesn’t always make
missioner’s office to discuss. between the Texans and would an official quit his 15-yard penalty. it a play worthy of an ejec-
There were petty calls for Raiders. day job for one with very If Mike Pereira, the former tion, Pereira explained, but
hugging refs (Earl Thomas) “The scrutiny and the atten- little job security? Only if the VP of officiating for the NFL, rather a timing play that
and throwing towels (Tra- tion are at an all-time high league and the unions rep- could change one single went awry.
vis Kelce got ejected ), all on anything related to NFL, resenting the players and thing in the NFL, this would SPOTTING THE BALL: The
underscored by a flurry of and that is a very positive officials can figure out a be it. Nov. 21 game between
flags for celebrations that thing,” said Dean Blandino, way to guarantee full-time “You can change the the Raiders and Texans
grew more subversive the the NFL’s senior vice presi- officials some job security course of a game on one may have been the worst-
harder the NFL tried to dent of officiating. “And will this work out. Even then, of those calls, and what if called game of the season.
curb them. Replay worked sometimes it can be nega- 17 full-time referees will only a referee’s not sure?” said Among the misses: a pair of
- sometimes. But it didn’t tive, and we understand represent a bit more than Pereira, now an analyst for questionable spots with the
change anything at the that in officiating.” 10 percent of the work- Fox. The con to this is that it Texans trying to gain short
end of the Cowboys-Vi- What to do about all this? force. would now pay for a badly yardage to keep a poten-
kings game. Cedric Thorn- Nothing new here - there “Over 60 percent of (ques- beaten defensive back to tially go-ahead drive go-
ton wasn’t flagged even is no single answer, but tions from coaches) are not dive and tackle a receiver ing. Replays indicated the
though he clearly hit Min- merely a list of remedies about calls made but those who was breaking open for officials may have missed
nesota quarterback Sam the NFL has committed to not made,” Blandino said. a sure touchdown. the spots both times. (That
Bradford in the head as and could consider in the “So we could cover more Of course, the league Texans coach Bill O’Brien
Bradford threw for a poten- offseason. of the field of play, which could consider a major didn’t challenge the first
tial tying 2-point play. FULL-TIME REFEREES: The of course is a positive.” and minor version of pass spot is another issue).
Also not reviewed: The league is considering hir- PASS INTERFERENCE: It’s an interference, though that The league is looking into
non-call for Richard Sher- ing 17 full-time officials and almost annual cry: The NFL has the potential to raise technology already used
man’s takedown of Julio increasing the size of offici- should consider changing as many questions as it an- in soccer: inserting a chip
Jones at the end of the ating crews from seven to its long-held rule on penal- swers. into the football that would
Seahawks-Falcons game; eight. The part-time official izing pass interference at TARGETING REPLAY: Week help officials locate the
or a particularly poor spot- has long been a staple of the spot of the foul in favor 14 was Exhibit A, but hardly ball and make more accu-
ting of the ball in an espe- the league, and there’s of the more lenient college the only example of an in- rate spots.q