Problem in football is you have refs on different sides of the field so even if each ref is consistent themselves they may be inconsistent between each other. So things that you get away with on one side may end up being penalties on the other. Football is so fast and these calls are so subjective. Need an eye in the sky.
There’s so many penalties every play, how do you have a real game? There’s always a lineman holding. There’s almost always some form of pass interference.
How do we get through the flag on almost every play in every game?
If you call things tighter, players will adjust. If there are rules that players can’t adjust to, then the rules need to adjust. For example, people like to talk about offensive holding going on for every play, but the NFL’s rulebook has a list of exceptions that aren’t holding that actually make it so that even if you called it strict, there’s a lot of plays where there wouldn’t be holding called, because it’s not against the rules.
You’d have a real game because players and rules makers would adjust. That sounds a hell of a lot better than “Break the rules some, and we’ll call it sometimes, possibly at times when it fucks you over, good luck!” Or the alternative, “When it matters, people can break the rules and screw you over, because we won’t call it during high impact plays at the end.” We see both now.
DPI is kind of like a strike zone in MLB… as long as the referees make it clear how they are going to call it and call it the same way for both teams.
Unfortunately, MLB doesn’t do this well ever and lately NFL referees are struggling with this as well.
Problem in football is you have refs on different sides of the field so even if each ref is consistent themselves they may be inconsistent between each other. So things that you get away with on one side may end up being penalties on the other. Football is so fast and these calls are so subjective. Need an eye in the sky.
Here’s my thought on the eye on the sky thing:
There’s so many penalties every play, how do you have a real game? There’s always a lineman holding. There’s almost always some form of pass interference.
How do we get through the flag on almost every play in every game?
You’re not wrong. Need cleaner football or different rules.
If you call things tighter, players will adjust. If there are rules that players can’t adjust to, then the rules need to adjust. For example, people like to talk about offensive holding going on for every play, but the NFL’s rulebook has a list of exceptions that aren’t holding that actually make it so that even if you called it strict, there’s a lot of plays where there wouldn’t be holding called, because it’s not against the rules.
You’d have a real game because players and rules makers would adjust. That sounds a hell of a lot better than “Break the rules some, and we’ll call it sometimes, possibly at times when it fucks you over, good luck!” Or the alternative, “When it matters, people can break the rules and screw you over, because we won’t call it during high impact plays at the end.” We see both now.