"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

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Yea pretty odd, especially using the Murray play as an example as it is really the perfect example of a bad call.

It’s because it’s Murray.

Reid, Murray, Nelson. He bitches about those 3 people CONSTANTLY.

He saw that was Murray and completely lost any objectivity.

For crying out loud, he thinks it was for helmet to helmet. He clearly didn’t even pay attention to what happened.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Thats a really silly comment. They are legit SB contenders, you don't get there with no control over your team.

We are winning bc of Mahomes.

How many QB’s convert 2nd and 30 in Denver after those penalties? Or make the ridiculous throws he does? Mahomes even converted a 2nd and 14 like it was nothing last night following a holding call.

We are the worst team in football in penalties. Chris Jones punches a Jaguar, Anthony Hitchens punches a Brown, we have another personal foul last night.

I guess the NFL is out to get us even though we commit at least 8 penalties every single week.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by The Pest

RunKC changes his mind more than anyone on here.

Sig has been the same ever since the Titans game bud

[ARROW2]

Originally Posted by RunKC

We are winning bc of Mahomes.

How many QB’s convert 2nd and 30 in Denver after those penalties? Or make the ridiculous throws he does? Mahomes even converted a 2nd and 14 like it was nothing last night following a holding call.

We are the worst team in football in penalties. Chris Jones punches a Jaguar, Anthony Hitchens punches a Brown, we have another personal foul last night.

I guess the NFL is out to get us even though we commit at least 8 penalties every single week.

For a trademark Tyreek peace sign? . Ford got kicked out of a game for talking, something the Jags were doing ALL GAME.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by RunKC

We are winning bc of Mahomes.

How many QB’s convert 2nd and 30 in Denver after those penalties? Or make the ridiculous throws he does? Mahomes even converted a 2nd and 14 like it was nothing last night following a holding call.

We are the worst team in football in penalties. Chris Jones punches a Jaguar, Anthony Hitchens punches a Brown, we have another personal foul last night.

I guess the NFL is out to get us even though we commit at least 8 penalties every single week.

Reid gets no credit for success but all the blame for the bad things. Got it.

[bobbything]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Did it right in front of the ref and no call. This crew was the worst.

There were so many bad/no calls it simply became comical.

• The P.I. on Scandrick to start the game

• The personal foul on Murray

• No call on at least 3 false starts on L.A.

• No call on the most blatant hold of the game on Ford (results in a TD for L.A.)

• Unsportsmanlike conduct on Hill's TD after he flashes the peace sign (something he had done 30 times prior)

• A block in the back call on Lucas that, I mean fuck, I don't know if he even touched the guy.

• Personal fouls on Suh and Peters (1 and 2, respectively) that were not called

• The tipped pass that wasn't called

I'm missing some, I'm sure, but this many errors by a so-called "All Star" crew is a total abortion. Just a joke.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Sig has been the same ever since the Titans game bud

You change your mind on EVERYTHING.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Reid gets no credit for success but all the blame for the bad things. Got it.

Nah I give Andy a tremendous amount of credit for Mahomes and his development as well as our success, but he is who he is. His teams don’t do well in big games most of the time because of this stuff.

I’m not going to go full blackop like staylor and bitch about the league being out to get us every single week when we are committing 8 penalties a game.

I just hope we clean it up bc I fear it will cost us when it matters.

[ARROW2]

Some idiot is going on and on about we shoulda kept Peters....he wouldn't have dropped the pick....blah...blah...blah....I had to turn that shit off. I don't want to hear that bullshit this morning or any morning.

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Nah I give Andy a tremendous amount of credit for Mahomes and his development as well as our success, but he is who he is. His teams don’t do well in big games most of the time because of this stuff.

I’m not going to go full blackop like staylor and bitch about the league being out to get us every single week when we are committing 8 penalties a game.

I just hope we clean it up bc I fear it will cost us when it matters.

Good god dude, go take a lap and hit the showers. Your what-about'ism here is woof.

[burt]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Maybe the Chiefs shouldn’t give the refs a reason on top of getting calls against them?

Nnandi demolishing a Center before the ball was snapped, Murray’s dumbass going helmet-to-helmet, more personal fouls, poor playcalling at the end, not controlling your QB and giving him better options with 1:49 left in the game.

You can suck Andy’s cock as long and hard as you want, but history is history. He doesn’t have a ring because when he plays the best, he monumentally ****s it up.

Yes, we committed too many penalties. But there were also bullshit penalties called on us and obvious penalties they committed that were, "Missed"..obvious. The poor reffing absolutely mattered. AND OBVIOUS! With that said...We made mistakes that mattered...especially since we had to beat LA and the refs. I'm not in line to suck Andy's cock..but this is not on him.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by bobbything

There were so many bad/no calls it simply became comical.

• The P.I. on Scandrick to start the game

• The personal foul on Murray

• No call on at least 3 false starts on L.A.

• No call on the most blatant hold of the game on Ford (results in a TD for L.A.)

• Unsportsmanlike conduct on Hill's TD after he flashes the peace sign (something he had done 30 times prior)

• A block in the back call on Lucas that, I mean ****, I don't know if he even touched the guy.

• Personal fouls on Suh and Peters (1 and 2, respectively) that were not called

• The tipped pass that wasn't called

I'm missing some, I'm sure, but this many errors by a so-called "All Star" crew is a total abortion. Just a joke.

Don't forget Peters pulling his helmet off on the field after the INT and not getting called.

[bobbything]

Originally Posted by The Pest

Don't forget Peters pulling his helmet off on the field after the INT and not getting called.

Yeah, I was lumping that into the personal foul category...but I don't think unsportsmanlike conduct is a personal foul (??)

I don't know. Whatever. I'm irritated just thinking about it.

[Mahomer]

Originally Posted by The Pest

Don't forget Peters pulling his helmet off on the field after the INT and not getting called.

Yeah this was big as this would have given Hill way more space to operate and would have started us off at like the 30 with 1 timeout and only needing to get into field goal range.

What a fkn joke those officials are.

Love how the Monday night crew refused to not only say anything about the false start when Goff ran it in for a TD but also they showed 4 different views for the replays, each one to disguise the lineman's false start. I mean they showed camera angles I've never seen before just so we dont see the angle that clearly shows a false start. On the last replay they even start the play well after the ball is hut and Goff is about to begin running. What a sick joke.

[The Franchise]

And no one is sitting here and saying that the Chiefs didn't commit any of their own penalties last night. They did. Some of the PI and defensive holding were legit. We're ****ing complaining about the blatant disregard of any of the Rams penalties that weren't called. That and some ticky tack bullshit penalties like the block in the back or the penalty on Murray.