"All-star" officiating crew for Rams-Chiefs game

[Eleazar]

NFL ups intensity with all-star officials for Rams-Chiefs game

Kevin Seifert
ESPN.com NFL Nation



The NFL took the unusual step this week of assigning an "all-star" officiating crew to the most highly anticipated game of the season, adding to the playofflike frenzy for Monday night's matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams.

Referee Clete Blakeman will work the game with only two members of his regular crew, umpire Ramon George and down judge Dana McKenzie. The other five officials -- including Jim Lapetina, who will handle replay -- were plucked from four other crews.

The approach is similar to how the NFL assigns officials to playoff games, a process that is based on performance and seniority rather than crew. But it is rarely, if ever, employed before the postseason. Officials typically work on the same eight-person crews throughout the regular season to maximize continuity and familiarity among members.

Individual crew members are occasionally juggled for health or scheduling reasons. But a series of actions this season have indicated the league is moving away from the consistent crew concept, in favor of a more aggressive administration of officiating. Earlier this season, the league bounced down judge Hugo Cruz among four crews before ultimately making him its first-ever official to be fired for performance during the season.

NFL spokesman Michael Signora confirmed Sunday that "there is a rotation amongst the crews throughout the season." Signora did not provide details on the decision to overhaul Blakeman's crew for Monday night's game.

An officiating source said Sunday that the five officials added to Monday night's crew are all highly respected and have performed well this season.

The Chiefs-Rams game, originally scheduled to be played in Mexico City before it was relocated to Los Angeles, is a rare matchup. Since 1970, there have been only four other games pitting teams with one or fewer losses this late in the season. And according to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the latest matchup ever between two teams averaging at least 33 points per game.

The following is the full crew for Monday night's game, as listed on the official flip card published by the NFL, with the officials' permanent referee in parentheses:


Referee: Clete Blakeman

Umpire: Ramon George (Blakeman)

Down judge: Dana McKenzie (Blakeman)

Line judge: Rusty Baynes (John Hussey)

Field judge: Dale Shaw (Jerome Boger)

Side judge: Brad Freeman (Clay Martin)

Back judge: Tony Steratore (Boger)

Replay: Jim Lapetina (Brad Allen)



http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...ff-rams-chiefs

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by MGRS13

I asked earlier in this thread what the call was against Hill. After he scored. I asked because if it was for the dueces sign, that should not be a penalty. In the Madden video game he does that. But after goff scored on his running td he Dunked the ball over the goal post. A clear penalty at this point in the NFL it was ignored. Neither of these penalties or the lack thereof changed the game but it does show at least the officiating crew was not enforcing the rule book correctly. We still lost because Goff drove his team down to score in the final minutes and mahomes failed to do so. But the refs weren't great.

Dunking over the Goalpost the TG Rule- is usually Always enforced now. An easy call- but it was Goff and you know the firefighters and all. The crowd had been through a lot so they needed to be uplifted.

Hill's peace sign was Offensive. Kneeling during the anthem wasn't, but the Peace sign is. The Rams needed to take some of the excitement back after the Huge play- so the Refs obliged. Pretty obvious.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Fish

Pittsburgh is the second most penalized team right now behind the Chiefs. Rams are right in the middle. It's clearly not as obvious as you surmise.

The conspiracy loons always point out the fact that we get called for a lot more penalties than our opponents, never considering the fact the we might actually commit more. By their logic if the penalties aren't even, then that's hard evidence of bias against us. Never considered is the simplest explanation, that we just happen to commit a lot of penalties.

We're way above the league average in almost every category of penalty, and many of these are pre-snap penalties, or other penalties like hands to the face that are not subjective.

The refs are not making our guys false start. They aren't making people jump offside. They don't force people's hands up into facemasks or get people to grab handfuls of receivers' jerseys.

If there's some massive bias here, show it. Show us all these penalties that are BS against us or getting ignored for our opponents. Rarely do you see that, mostly you just hear that it's impossible that a very disciplined team like the Patriots could have a game where they commit few penalties. No evidence, just the claim that they couldn't have done it. But since this is a massive conspiracy in every game, there should be a ton of specific examples of clearly false flags being thrown.

Of course, some things are missed in every game, whether the Chiefs are playing in that game or not. Some things like holding and PI are somewhat subjective. But we largely do not have an argument against the flags we are getting. Every time they show the replay it seems like the DB has an arm around a guy as he's coming out of his break or he's got a handful of jersey or he's in contact before the ball arrives and isn't playing the ball.

We've got a mediocre offensive line that's holding and getting a lot of false starts because they are undisciplined and not very good. We have a secondary that's getting a lot of holding and DPI because they are undisciplined and not very good. This really isn't hard to figure out.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Hill definitely taunted BTW... it was how he did it this time. Lame call and they ignored two or three "taunts" by LA though

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

DUMB****S really don't think games are slanted a certain way JFC probably the same people that thought wrasslin was real too. MUH HO-GAN!!

It's really really hard to admit that something you invest hundreds of hours into and for a lot of people is a big part of their lives and their happiness...it's hard to turn around and admit that it's all a facade. That everything you believed is bullshit and all of that.

For most it's just easier to either defend it, or ignore it and go on like it's always been. Coming to terms with some of these things is such a core thing for so many fans that they can't admit it because it makes them feel like they aren't authentic either.

That's why we have this issue, no one wants to admit something they care so much about is a bullshit facade for a business that makes money.

So here we stand...also it really is the societal way if you believe anything that is outside the box like say that the NFL isn't exactly on the up and up there will always be the majority to shame you back into the box.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Dunking over the Goalpost the TG Rule- is usually Always enforced now. An easy call- but it was Goff and you know the firefighters and all. The crowd had been through a lot so they needed to be uplifted.

Hill's peace sign was Offensive. Kneeling during the anthem wasn't, but the Peace sign is. The Rams needed to take some of the excitement back after the Huge play- so the Refs obliged. Pretty obvious.

He didn't dunk it, it was a layup. That's not the "TG rule".

And taunting another player during a play like Hill did is always going to be called.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Cochise once again simply ignores all the calls the refs "didn't see" on LA...just like what happened in NE. Sure, KC committed fouls, but only one team was CALLED for them. Go pound one out to Audio Slave or something to release this pent up frustration about our legit complaints.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Lprechaun

Consistancy I think is all we want in the calls. If the deuces was a penalty so was Peter's laying on Mahomes.
If someone has false starts call them. Holding call them. Blatant miscalls to me are worse than ticky tack fouls

Consistency is why we have this conversation all the time...like I said earlier the Children have different rules on the playing field every game.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Mecca

It's really really hard to admit that something you invest hundreds of hours into and for a lot of people is a big part of their lives and their happiness...it's hard to turn around and admit that it's all a facade. That everything you believed is bullshit and all of that.

For most it's just easier to either defend it, or ignore it and go on like it's always been. Coming to terms with some of these things is such a core thing for so many fans that they can't admit it because it makes them feel like they aren't authentic either.

That's why we have this issue, no one wants to admit something they care so much about is a bullshit facade for a business that makes money.

So here we stand...also it really is the societal way if you believe anything that is outside the box like say that the NFL isn't exactly on the up and up there will always be the majority to shame you back into the box.

What about the people who are "woke" to it still getting upset and spending time watching it?

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

He didn't dunk it, it was a layup. That's not the "TG rule".

And taunting another player during a play like Hill did is always going to be called.

Unless it's a CB laying on top of a QB in the endzone or removing his helmet on the field then it's not.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

Cochise once again simply ignores all the calls the refs "didn't see" on LA...just like what happened in NE. Sure, KC committed fouls, but only one team was CALLED for them. Go pound one out to Audio Slave or something to release this pent up frustration about our legit complaints.

Show us all these penalties they're getting away with, and show us all the corresponding flags that are getting thrown against us for doing similar things.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

They "didn't see it", Mecca

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by O.city

What about the people who are "woke" to it still getting upset and spending time watching it?

Well the WWE has fans and they know it's fake....it's just a different set of what people bitch about.

I'll fully make this comment I sit here and I hope that Mahomes is good enough that KC gets calls someday...it's horrible that that is where I am as a fan. I'll say this again too, he's the only reason I still watch games, I was ready to move on that year.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Show us all these penalties they're getting away with, and show us all the corresponding flags that are getting thrown against us for doing similar things.

Did you even watch the games?

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

Did you even watch the games?

That's what I thought.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

I've given DOZENS of examples in various threads.