Do You Fully Trust NFL Outcomes ?

[ShyGuy]

I answered not 100% sure but would lean toward games are "influenced".

I kind of thought after the Patriots won in 2001... the league wanted them to win that year because it was right after 9/11. The name "Patriots" and their colors were red, white ,and blue.

I think the league is "pulling" for the Bills this year. As neutral to the Bills/Bengals game I really dont see why it's not played in Cleveland? A city right between the two teams. Also, why didnt the refs measure the last third down conversion the Bills got yesterday? Granted I tended to think Buffalo got the short end of the stick a lot of times but this year they are getting some nice treatment.

And yeah with all this Fan Duel, draft Kings, billion dollar deals the NFL has wit the companies.... its human nature things would get influenced so to speak

[The Operator]

I don’t think the games are outright rigged by any stretch but I think the NFL certainly has had their finger on the scale at times.

How many times have we seen where one of the media darling teams is down by a score late in the 4th quarter and suddenly things that weren’t a penalty all game long become penalties? Conversely, if a media darling team is up by a score and a lowly team is trying to come back, it’s funny how holding calls start to become a thing on plays that weren’t anything out of the ordinary earlier in the game.


This is 3rd hand info at best, but my wife works with someone who has a relative that attended the Super Bowl last year. Apparently they encountered multiple people inside the stadium - ushers, vendors, even fans, that said things like “Oh, they won’t let us lose this game. Not here” which they found really weird at the time.

I’ll go to my grave thinking that pass interference call by Logan Wilson against Kupp was absolute garbage.


Again, I don’t think the games are outright rigged. But I would not be at all surprised to learn that some teams get the advantage of having a finger on the scale.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

I thought I might take some heat for this topic(maybe a few tin foil hat memes, etc...) but as I stated in the opening piece, I think most on here think pretty critically and are fair and open-minded. I enjoy watching NFL games, particularly the Bengals, but I fear some outcomes are not 100% determined by the players on the field. I hope my fears are unfounded and all results are honestly determined by just the play on the field. I think the league probably preferred the Bengals to win to set up the game the nation wants to finally get to see---Bengals -Bills. I also wouldn't be surprised if the league is wanting that Buffalo-KC matchup that the media seems so warm and fuzzy about. The league has already sorta advertised the "potential" grand matchup in Atlanta. I think they see it has kinda a Superbowl before the Superbowl, plus all the warm, fuzzy emotional saga around Hamlin. Be interesting to see if anything fishy occurs at strategic points in the Bengals-Bills game in Buffalo. Let's just say I don't have 100% faith in the NFL to always be honorable in its actions and decisions.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

I don’t think the games are outright rigged by any stretch but I think the NFL certainly has had their finger on the scale at times.

How many times have we seen where one of the media darling teams is down by a score late in the 4th quarter and suddenly things that weren’t a penalty all game long become penalties? Conversely, if a media darling team is up by a score and a lowly team is trying to come back, it’s funny how holding calls start to become a thing on plays that weren’t anything out of the ordinary earlier in the game.


This is 3rd hand info at best, but my wife works with someone who has a relative that attended the Super Bowl last year. Apparently they encountered multiple people inside the stadium - ushers, vendors, even fans, that said things like “Oh, they won’t let us lose this game. Not here” which they found really weird at the time.

I’ll go to my grave thinking that pass interference call by Logan Wilson against Kupp was absolute garbage.





Again, I don’t think the games are outright rigged. But I would not be at all surprised to learn that some teams get the advantage of having a finger on the scale.

It was TOTAL garbage . Everything about it was fishy. Everything. Think about it, if they wanted to influence the ending, they HAD to do it on that play. Couldn't take the chance of letting it go to the last play. The flag HAD to fly on that play if they wanted to affect the outcome. And out it came.

[westofyou]

There are 32 teams, roughly 70 players per squad, 2,240 players per year. There are roughly 15 coaches on staff for each team, 480 coaches. There are 121 NFL on-field officials each season.

That's just the people standing on the field during the game. There are numerous trainers, owners, executives and other individuals that are immersed in the clubs day to day actions.

And you ask, are NFL games on the level?

Wouldn't we know if they were not?

[Ky Fried Redleg]

There are 32 teams, roughly 70 players per squad, 2,240 players per year. There are roughly 15 coaches on staff for each team, 480 coaches. There are 121 NFL on-field officials each season.

That's just the people standing on the field during the game. There are numerous trainers, owners, executives and other individuals that are immersed in the clubs day to day actions.

And you ask, are NFL games on the level?

Wouldn't we know if they were not?

If games were scripted, I'd say most certainly. But games are not scripted. The question is, does the league attempt to influence certain outcomes? I worry that the answer to that might be "yes."

[KronoRed]

The massive amount of gambling around these games (which the league encourages) says things aren't 100 percent on the up and up, I don't know if we've reached black sox territory yet, but we will, except it's the league and not a sneaky gangster from Chicago this time.

[Slyder]

I've said for years. There's 3 rulebooks in the NFL... 1 for the popular teams, 1 for everyone else, and 1 for Al Davis.

Ever since the Snow Job in 01 I've questioned. Then you start showing things like the Dez Bryant "catch", the soft penalty for spy gate, etc.

[WrongVerb]

I have a friend who's retired Army vet. Spends his time in Vegas betting sports. He won't bet NFL games because he doesn't trust the outcomes. I'll leave it at that.

[RedTeamGo!]

There are 32 teams, roughly 70 players per squad, 2,240 players per year. There are roughly 15 coaches on staff for each team, 480 coaches. There are 121 NFL on-field officials each season.

That's just the people standing on the field during the game. There are numerous trainers, owners, executives and other individuals that are immersed in the clubs day to day actions.

And you ask, are NFL games on the level?

Wouldn't we know if they were not?

The game are clearly not scripted. It would be impossible.

With that said: they say a holding penalty can be called on every single play. I’ve seen so many holding calls over the years completely halt a drive. Many at interesting times and usually against the less popular teams. Again, not saying it’s WWE wrestling, but wouldn’t be surprised at all if the NFL throws a couple more holding calls against Steelers or Cowboys opponents.

[Wonderful Monds]

Tim Donaghy laid out the way any sports official or referee could put their thumb on the scale. You just have to be selective in what you do and do not call.


I do think it’s really interesting how the Bengals seem like they get some pretty lucky breaks these days on penalties and etc. Before this current team, they were one of the most penalized teams in the league where it seemed fishy in that direction. Especially when they played the Steelers.

They draft an extremely marketable QB first overall and it’s like the balance completely shifts.

I don’t there’s a real conspiracy there and most of that is due to the Bengals talent level being a lot higher. But it is admittedly pretty funny.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

The game are clearly not scripted. It would be impossible.

With that said: they say a holding penalty can be called on every single play. I’ve seen so many holding calls over the years completely halt a drive. Many at interesting times and usually against the less popular teams. Again, not saying it’s WWE wrestling, but wouldn’t be surprised at all if the NFL throws a couple more holding calls against Steelers or Cowboys opponents.

I was getting ready to post the same. It's not at all outlandish to think that holding calls may be used by Goodell's proxy enforcers to halt drives of some teams or continue drives of others.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

Tim Donaghy laid out the way any sports official or referee could put their thumb on the scale. You just have to be selective in what you do and do not call.


I do think it’s really interesting how the Bengals seem like they get some pretty lucky breaks these days on penalties and etc. Before this current team, they were one of the most penalized teams in the league where it seemed fishy in that direction. Especially when they played the Steelers.

They draft an extremely marketable QB first overall and it’s like the balance completely shifts.

I don’t there’s a real conspiracy there and most of that is due to the Bengals talent level being a lot higher. But it is admittedly pretty funny.

Like Mr. Tucker said, there are plenty enough odd instances of penalties called or not-called at certain key points of a game that at least make you go, "hmmm." Is it possible the NFL wants to showcase their young , hot commodities, especially in heavily watched games like conference championships or Superbowls? I believe the league was salivating over this Bengals-Bills matchup after the Monday night no contest game. The poor Ravens probably had no chance when it got to the fourth quarter last night. lol A questionable spot on TH run prior to the fumble and then the stripe looked right at #51's push in the back of Andrews but kept his yellow laundry in his pants. Now, do we expect that the NFL wants this Bills/ Hamlin feel good story to end with Allen saying "Damar and I are going to DisneyWorld"?

[medford]

Hard to tell. There are some blatant calls missed and some phantom calls made. Sometimes they seem to be called at very convenient times that make me go hmmm.

And does the NFL have full time refs yet? I’ve always found it very odd that they have jobs outside of refereeing. MLB and the NBA don’t do that.

I think saying the refs are "full time" is overblown. As they work their way up the ladder, they all have to hold some sort of job outside of the reffing to financially support themselves. They ref games less than half the year, almost always on the weekend. They make enough money that it could easily be considered a full time job in pay if they wanted to (roughly $200k these days, plus they earn a pension if they remain in the league long enough). I'm sure that is less than MLB umpires and NBA refs, but those guys are working multiple games a week in various cities and really wouldn't have time to give something else their full attention. By the time an NFL ref makes the NFL, they have established themselves in their other line of work and can make both work.

My grandfather was an NFL ref, granted it was a long time ago but I know how their schedules worked in the late 80s, early 90s. I assume its mostly the same setup these days, but w/ increases in technology some aspects have certainly changed. They used to all have homework during the middle of the week to work, plus film to review. On Saturday evenings they would meet at their hotel and review film of issues the prior week, not only issues with the teams they are reffing the next day, but rule issues that came up thru the week. With technology these days compared to then, I'm sure a lot of that work can be done mid week, especially the film review. My grandfather also sold medical supplies in the midwest, certainly he had time to handle that business and handle the NFL gig (though how he had time for 10 kids is beyond me, God bless my grandmother for certain). My grandfather also retired and went into scouting refs. He would be assigned various college games in the midwest that he would go to each weekend to scout and grade the refs that requested it. So again, you can easily make a career of it these days if you wanted, but keeping another source of income isn't all that hard.

Could refs be on the take? I'm sure it has happened more than once and nobody was ever the wiser. If my grandfather were alive today I'd love to hear his thoughts on this, especially as gambling has become more prevalent. If a ref was smart, and not greedy they could probably get away with it, but keep in mind, refs are scouted and graded every week, so if you started calling specific penalties at specific times it would come under question. I'm sure more than one ref has been warned that they are "under review", but I'm guessing some have pocketed a few bucks on the side keeping a game tighter than it really should be.

Its a very difficult job, the players are so large and move so quickly while at the same time TV coverage has become so good with a ton of cameras in each game (plus thousands of fans with their phones recording live action every game). The biggest thing is to be consistent. They all miss calls and replay technology has helped with a bunch of that, at least on the key plays. Fans and players would complain if they called the game too tight, but then they turn around and complain when they let things go. There is a fine line between the 2 and getting it all right live is impossible.

[medford]

Like Mr. Tucker said, there are plenty enough odd instances of penalties called or not-called at certain key points of a game that at least make you go, "hmmm." Is it possible the NFL wants to showcase their young , hot commodities, especially in heavily watched games like conference championships or Superbowls? I believe the league was salivating over this Bengals-Bills matchup after the Monday night no contest game. The poor Ravens possibly had no chance when it got to the fourth quarter last night. lol

What were the key missed calls on the Ravens? The running into the punter was obvious, they could have called holding on the Ravens on the final play, but didn't throw a flag on a ball that was inches away from being a TD. They did call the holding on the running play near the end, but that was pretty obvious. Am I missing anything that went against the Ravens that prevented them from a better shot? Certainly it wasn't the refs fault that they burned all that time at the end.