According to FOX Sports, the worst call in the NFL this season was...

[M2]

To hear a New England fan call the Patriots great when they are more often than not the beneficiary of questionable officiating falls on deaf ears.

I could care less about the Patriots. Haven't watched a single game of theirs all year. Never been a Pats fan. Never going to be a Pats fan. Though from what I gather the Bengals would do well to emulate them.

You can curse at the officials, god, or the rulebook -- but the end result is always the same: you've got to pick yourself up and go back to work. Good teams do have to make stops over and over again. That's what makes them good teams -- the consistency to be able to overcome situations like that. Mediocre teams will pitch 4 good downs and then get burned on the next 4 when something flukey happens to give their opponent a second chance.

Exactly. I've got no rooting interest here, but I can tell you that back when I cared about football, if the Redskins had let the Bucs travel those last 25 yards into the end zone, I'd have been furious at the Redskins, not the officials.

All I'm hearing is the rationale that the Bengals are such a tenuous enterprise that one bad call can pretty much undo them. Folks can complain till they're blue in the face over the call, but the larger problem is that the team pulled an el foldo after the call. If the Bengals stop the Bucs, like a good team should have, then no one cares about the call.

If the Bengals, like you, slipped into the trap of thinking they'd done enough to win when clearly they hadn't (fair or not, Tampa Bay had the ball on the Bengals' 25 yard line and needed a touchdown to win), then that's a football team in need of a "you play all sixty minutes like it's life and death" refresher course. My guess is the Bengals got read the riot act after that game just like every team from the NFL to Pop Warner would have in similar circumstances.

[Caveat Emperor]

I would agree with you if the call was not a game ending one, but it was.

So I guess the remaining 25 yards, 4th down TD pass, and 1 minute of offense that gave the Bengals a 62 yard FG attempt didn't happpen then?

[RedFanAlways1966]

So I guess the remaining 25 yards, 4th down TD pass, and 1 minute of offense that gave the Bengals a 62 yard FG attempt didn't happpen then?

Was there a fumble by the Tampa Bay QB on the ridiculous roughing call? Did the Bengals recover the fumble around the 50-yard-line (there was not a whistle blown until the Bengals recovered)? Didn't Tampa Bay have only 1 timeout left when this happened?

Yep... I'd have to say that fumble was pretty much the end for Tampa Bay. Except Mike Carey decided to give them a 2nd chance with a horrific roughing the passer call. It all worked out good for Tampa Bay... the charity I mean. Sure the Bengals still had a chance to stop them. However, that chance should not have happened and the game should have been over if not for a terrible call. Regadless of the Bengals less than spectacular offense that day. Regardless of the defense that allowed the charity-given Bucs offense to score on their last drive. Regardless of the last futile attempt by the Bengals. If not for that horrible call the Bengals win that game.

[ochre]

If you don't follow the Bengals closely, you can't really understand the apathy bengals' fans have for refs and their game-breaking bad calls. Sure the Bengals have been pretty bad for a while, but they are regularly impacted at crucial points in games by very bad officiating. I don't have a list at hand, but I know, from watch way too many Bengals games, that it is so. It's easy enough to sit back on a high horse and say "it's just the Bengals still sucking", but that really doesn't mean that it isn't happening (bad officiating). As to why, I can't say. Maybe there's an agenda, maybe it's happenstance. With the regularity and consistency I've seen it occur, I generally think it's more than random.

Of course, I don't follow most of the other teams as closely, so maybe it happens as often in other places. When 3-4 games a year are directly affected by late in the game, crucial moment, bad calls I get a bit worked up.

[duh_vinci]

M2, you haven't been a Bengals fan, so you have no idea. I echo Ochre and Redsfan's posts. Certainly, the Bengals did not get it done when they needed to. No argument there. But when you have TWO teams to contend against any given Sunday it is disgraceful. The zebras have sucked not just this year and not just in Bengal games. It's pretty bad, and they need to address it by making the ref's FULL time and holding them accountable.

my 2 cents.

And yes, I am a Bengal homer. We aren't out just yet!

[Chip R]

M2, you haven't been a Bengals fan, so you have no idea. I echo Ochre and Redsfan's posts. Certainly, the Bengals did not get it done when they needed to. No argument there. But when you have TWO teams to contend against any given Sunday it is disgraceful. The zebras have sucked not just this year and not just in Bengal games. It's pretty bad, and they need to address it by making the ref's FULL time and holding them accountable.

my 2 cents.

And yes, I am a Bengal homer. We aren't out just yet!

Yep, if it weren't for the officials, the Bengals would be undefeated.

[westofyou]

If you don't follow the Bengals closely, you can't really understand the apathy bengals' fans have for refs and their game-breaking bad calls.

I've been more apathetic over the Bengals pass defense for the last 30 years myself, it's the equivalent to the Reds and pitching.

[WMR]

Of course the Bengals still should have won that game CE, but the point is that the referee's call was absolutely indefensible and changed the game as it actually existed on the field, not what it "could have been had the Bengals seized 'other opportunities'."

[Dom Heffner]

not what it "could have been had the Bengals seized 'other opportunities'."

Yes- the Bengals overcame the missed opportunities (a sign of a good team, right?) and the refs stole it from them.

I"m not saying this game kept them out of the playoffs by itself, but the game was changed by the ref's call.

[duh_vinci]

Yep, if it weren't for the officials, the Bengals would be undefeated.

Way to not read my post. But thanks for the feedback.

[Caveat Emperor]

Of course the Bengals still should have won that game CE, but the point is that the referee's call was absolutely indefensible and changed the game as it actually existed on the field, not what it "could have been had the Bengals seized 'other opportunities'."

Of course it changed the game -- that's why people refer to certain plays as "game changing" plays and certain calls as "game changing" calls. But -- surprise -- plenty of teams are victimized by calls and plays that seem "game changing" at the time, yet still play hard and find a way to win.

The mark of a good football team is to power through the bad calls and bad plays to win, not be so mercurial that they get derailed when something goes wrong and being unable to right the ship. In fact, I think that if most Bengals fans looked dispassionately at this season, the Tampa Bay game was a microcosm for the rest of the year -- not because of some great refereeing conspiracy screwjob, but in the fact that the team lacked the poise and character to finish a game out when things didn't go exactly their way.

Or, continue to believe that the Bengals were the only team in the NFL to get victimized by poor officiating and that the guys in stripes were responsible even slightly for them not making the playoffs.

Your call, Bengals fans.

[Dom Heffner]

I'm not talking about the rest of the season, other teams, conspiracy theories, the Bengals playoff hopes, or what makes teams good or great.

I'm saying that when the officials change a game ending call, it costs you the game.

You can either choose to accept that, or continue to talk about all that other stuff.

[WMR]

Of course it changed the game -- that's why people refer to certain plays as "game changing" plays and certain calls as "game changing" calls. But -- surprise -- plenty of teams are victimized by calls and plays that seem "game changing" at the time, yet still play hard and find a way to win.

The mark of a good football team is to power through the bad calls and bad plays to win, not be so mercurial that they get derailed when something goes wrong and being unable to right the ship. In fact, I think that if most Bengals fans looked dispassionately at this season, the Tampa Bay game was a microcosm for the rest of the year -- not because of some great refereeing conspiracy screwjob, but in the fact that the team lacked the poise and character to finish a game out when things didn't go exactly their way.

Or, continue to believe that the Bengals were the only team in the NFL to get victimized by poor officiating and that the guys in stripes were responsible even slightly for them not making the playoffs.

Your call, Bengals fans.

Who said the Bengals were a good football team?

FOX SPORTS made this comment, are they Bengals fans?

FOX SPORTS SAID, and I agree, that no other official's decision this season had such a direct impact on the outcome of a game.

[Dom Heffner]

I guess the Tampa Bay Buccanneers are a great football team because they found a way to win that game.

[Caveat Emperor]

I'm saying that when the officials change a game ending call, it costs you the game.

You can either choose to accept that, or continue to talk about all that other stuff.

And I'm saying that for a team as talented as the Bengals are reported to be against a team as bad as I know the Bucs are, that call in Tampa wasn't a game-ending call. It's convenient to think that, but it simply isn't true.

Was it a factor in the game? Sure. But it still left both teams with a chance to play to win the game.

BTW -- I'm certain nobody complained loudly at Paul Brown when James Farrior was flagged for driving Palmer into the turf and the ref made the same judgment call to give the 15 yards to Cincinnati.