This Thursday, the Ravens and the Browns get to play in the first game of the season that will be officiated by NFL referees.
Throughout the past three weeks, fans have noticed an upsetting amount of “bad calls.” Sunday night, the Ravens played against the Patriots and several people disagreed with some calls the replacements refs made.
Early Wednesday, news broke that Head Coach for Baltimore, John Harbaugh would not be fined for his actions toward one of the referees during the game. However, Bill Belichick, New England’s Head Coach, will be fined $50,000 for coming into contact with a referee.
Both coaches found themselves arguing with the refs during the whole game. At one point, Harbaugh was trying to call a timeout, but no one was responding to him. When he “bumped” into an official to get his attention, the Ravens were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fortunately, Harbaugh was able to defend himself so the NFL has decided to not take any serious action.
On the other hand, Belichick did have a different reaction that did not have a valid reason. In the final seconds of the game, the teams found themselves in a similar situation when they played each other in the 2012 post-season. The game came down to a final field goal for the Ravens. Kicker Justin Tucker kicked the ball just right to make it a close call. As a viewer, I honestly did not believe it was good until they played it back a few times. The ball was just inside the right side of the upright, and was slightly high.
One of the announcers verified that if a ball is kicked higher than the goal posts, it is strictly up to the referees to make the call, and therefore the play cannot be challenged by a coach. Belichick was not pleased with the call, and chased down one of the referees while Baltimore celebrated their victory. He ended up “grabbing” him and therefore will have to pay up.
As a fan of football in general, I cannot wait to see if bringing back the properly certified referees makes watching the game fun again.
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