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So what were the consequences of referee Scott Green’s bungling of the final play of the Chargers-Steelers game, which ended in an 11-10 win for Pittsburgh?
As gambling goes, it resulted in a $64 million swing, according to R.J. Bell of Pregame.com.
Bell estimates that $100 million was wagered on the game, with two thirds of that amount being placed on the Steelers to cover.
And that doesn’t taken into account the thousands of fantasy leagues in which players owning the Steelers’ defense lost an fumble recovery and touchdown.
Meanwhile, NFL V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira told Dan Patrick this morning that Green had indeed gotten the call wrong, and that one of the reasons for the blunder was the inability of the referee to return to the replay booth a second time on a given play. Green, working from an obviously faulty memory, killed the play because he thought that the second lateral, which struck the ground, was the illegal forward pass.
The only problem? It wasn’t. The prior lateral was an illegal forward pass, but since it was caught the play shouldn’t have been declared dead at that point.
Pereira said he thinks that the rule regarding a second trip to the replay booth should change. (Pereira also addressed the issue of background checks for game officials, but we want to wait to hear the full segment live via Dan Patrick’s free on-demand feature before characterizing precisely what Pereira did and didn’t say.)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Oh… the NFL is going to have to address the officiating issues this offseason, including replay.
I was in attendance at the Chiefs game and while they’re only 1-9, the ref’s (more correctly the field judge) completely missed the Larry Johnson touchdown.
All that has to break the plane of the goalline is a portion of the ball.
His entire torso crossed into the endzone, somehow the fieldjudge on either side of the goalline missed the call.
But because there was no camera angle clearly showing the ball, the horrible call was upheld…
It’s time to make referees full time. It’s time for constant training, physical conditioning, and repeated situational simulations.
Mike
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I hope they change the score to what it should be 17-10, and I hope they do it by Thursday, thats when I have to pay my book.
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Rating: 1.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:40 am
The $64 million swing seems a little odd. I would have thought the line would have moved to encourage more betting on the Chargers.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Who cares about Fantasy Leagues? The title alone should negate any serious talks about it. Fantasy is just fantasy.
As for lost gambling money - it is called gambling for a reason. A lot of well intentioned people do it every 4 years only that form of gambling is called voting.
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Rating: 2.45 / 5 with 14 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I guess the obvious question then is, why did he require 2 trips to the peep-show booth to review 1 play? The rest of us watched it once and knew the right call.
Seriously, if you can’t get the call right on the field and you can’t get the call right on review, you have to assume that they wouldn’t get the call right on a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th review, either.
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Rating: 4.8 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Florio, you shouldn’t be concerned about the gamblers and fantasy owners. You should be concerned about the integrity of the game. I know there is alot more media scrutiny now but, you didn’t see the amount of game changing calls even five years ago. And making officals full time isn’t going to do any good either. Hell, I have sex once a week and I’m not getting better at it I’m getting worse.
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Mbehavin2 says: “Who cares about Fantasy Leagues? The title alone should negate any serious talks about it. Fantasy is just fantasy.”
Fantasy Football has come a long way from dorks in the basement. It is now a multi-BILLION dollar industry that fuels fanfare. It’s even being picked up by Vegas. The National Football League, first and foremost is a business. And fantasy football helps drive that business significantly. As does gambling. From office pools, to Vegas lines, to shady bookies in run down pubs, gambling allow fans to actually give a rats ass about matchups such as Oakland VS Miami or Detroit vs, well anyone.
To think that either of these aspects don’t matter is just naive.
*editors note: If any portion of this text is mispelled, it’s simply because I don’t care enough to look up any particular word. Thank you for your understanding.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
fantasy leagues and gambling should take a backseat to the game itself. i appreciate that many people do gamble on this stuff, but the fact that the gambling “spread” aspect of this is what is garnering all the news is ridiculous.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
What happens to gamblers is irrelevant.
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Rating: 3.85 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Not to mention, the what, 13 calls against the Steelers to 1 against the Chargers. All you Seattle and Super Bowl whiners take note — you CAN overcome the calls even if you think they’re bad.
This game is dedicated to all the little girls who whined about Super Bowl XL.
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Rating: 3.8 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
umm… lines on games are adjusted to even out the betting on each side such that the house never loses money. Therefore, the swing was $50M. The house does not gamble on one side or the other. A swing to one side suggests that the house is in the business of gambling it’s own money. It is not. The house is in the business of taking a cut of all the money that changes hands between a set of losers and a set of winners.
let me put it in Seinfeld parlance for you. The house is “even Steven” and definitely never plays the role of Kramer betting on whether planes will land on time.
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Rating: 1.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
actually its not correct to say that 2/3 of the bets were on the steelers to cover. only 1/3 of the bets actually were (in estimation):
there was roughly 32 mil on the steelers, so when they went from covering, to not, that gives you the 64 mil swing…which means that the bookies actually lost more money and the bettors won more because instead of 32 mil being paid out, there was now 68 mil being paid out.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
FrankBurns:
FYI - 1 of the 13 against PIT was bad. 6 against SEA were bad in the Super Bowl.
So, you are right, teams can overcome 1 bad call and win. 6, now that’s a different story. I would say teams overcome 1 bad call (or no call) every week to win. Rarely do they overcome 6. PIT barely overcame 2-3 to beat IND that same year.
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Rating: 1.35 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
note to previous post:
either RJ Bell got his dollar numbers wrong, or he’s a tard and can’t translate what percentage 66% out of 100 mil is
hey RJ, here’s a hint: 66
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Blame the fact he couldn’t look at the replay twice for blowing the call? If you can’t remember what you just STARED AT INTENSELY for the last minute, you shouldn’t be refereeing football games. The problem is not the replay rules, the problem is the guys in the striped shirts not having a clue.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
To Mbehavin2:
Im guessing your dissing Fantasy Football because you fail to win your league every year? because its a big deal to me…o yah im 10-1
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Rating: 1.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Having attended the game yesterday in Pittsburgh, I of course have an opinion on this matter. I also want to state that I am engineer who is paid to think rationally and logically. There are several calls in any NFL/NHL/NBA etc. game that are going to be considered “shady”. Usually, there are lets say 5 a game. Perhaps 3 that favor one team and 2 that favor another. People usually forget about them a day later. This game likely will be remembered for a longer period of time for obvious reasons.
I would be curious if the NFL places this game on the NFL Network Replay as it will be a game that would raise many concerns from the league’s perspective. There was a costly, mysterious Pass Interference penalty on Ike Taylor that led SD to their only TD. That alone, no problem. There were obvious, I mean, OBVIOUS holding penalties against blockers on James Harrison, one on a critical screen pass that netted approximately 30 yards. Again, alone, no problem b/c how often are holding penalties missed? There were two holding penalties on the final drive, one on Hines Ward that at first glance looked like he may have held but replay shows that the linesman was just in a bad position to make the call. Again on the final drive, the head referee made a questionable holding call on McHugh that likely could be called holding but the timing of the call in relationship to when Parker crossed the goalline was extremely curious. Parker appears to cross the goalline and then the flag comes out?
Add a couple of special teams blocking in the back and holding calls that are arguable and the overall sum of penalties called in the contest on one side versus the other and it creates quite a situation that the NFL or a group of respectable journalists should look into.
What people will remember is the last play of the game but there were other plays during the contest that should raise an eyebrow. I think there is a 10% chance the refs were on the take and a 90% chance that they reffed the worst game of their careers. Regardless, research should be done to correct whatever went wrong.
Finally, should a change in rules be made to remove this type of scenario that occurred on the final play? In other words, if a team is obviously trying to lateral the ball and from their perspective, the ball goes forward. Should the defending team be penalized by not being able to recover what they deem to be a fumble. Again, logic states that on a kickoff, there is no such thing as a “forward pass”, therefore, there is no opportunity for a player to intentionally pass the ball forward. Why should the kicking team not be able to recover a ball that is “fumbled” forward? If this were the case, any fumble that goes forward, could this be considered a “forward pass”. I am definitely delving down a path that no one ever imagined but there is a flaw that is correctable.
Last point. If this happened in the Super Bowl. What would happen?
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Not nearly enough to cover Dan Rooney’s buyback…
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Someone actually put money on the inconsistent Chargers?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
How about Pereira and his crews making their tax returns public every year? That wouldn’t guarantee that they were clean, but it would be a starting point.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
This is how the LINE works and please note that the bookmakers “hope” to be even or on the winning side.
Books make the original line for example Steelers by 3 over SD. Bettors believe Steelers will win by more start betting so there is more money on Steelers to beat spread. Bookmakers increase the line to 5 in hopes that bettors will start betting on SD. The assumption in the article is that at the end of the day $66 was bet on Steelers and $34 on SD. If SD covers, books pay out $34 and profit $66-34=32. If Steelers cover, Books pay out $66 and have a net loss of $34-66=-32.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Volkof52 says:
November 17th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
FrankBurns:
FYI - 1 of the 13 against PIT was bad. 6 against SEA were bad in the Super Bowl.
So, you are right, teams can overcome 1 bad call and win. 6, now that’s a different story. I would say teams overcome 1 bad call (or no call) every week to win. Rarely do they overcome 6. PIT barely overcame 2-3 to beat IND that same year.
_________________________________
Shouldn’t you be in a Ravens thread instead of hanging around here pretending like your defense didn’t get prison raped yesterday?
BTW, can you name the 6 plays you’re touting?
Was one of them the push off directly in front of the ref in the end zone? Wanting something to be true is not the same as it being true.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
roscoe - You do realize there are a lot of people who do not play fantasy football?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
roscoe - Part 2 - You are telling me that there is direct connection to the people who play Fantasy Football and they believe the “reality” tv shows are real? OMG it explains a lot.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 17th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
NFL fans are completely naïve if they think that Vegas cannot influence the outcome of a game. I’m sure fans of the NBA, college football, and college basketball felt the same way before a point shaving or fixing scandal was revealed. In addition, anyone who underestimates organized crime’s influence on the NFL and their owners, doesn’t not have a full grasp for the history of this league. I’m just asking that fans of the NFL look at things a bit more realistically.
I am a believer that a fixed game is a rarity. I am not someone who thinks that “all games” are fixed, or that there is some conspiracy theory in play regarding which teams the league wants in the playoffs, etc. Fixing any game would be very difficult to pull off – there is a ton of risk to take, information moves so fast now a days with the internet, the points spreads are monitored closely, and frankly the bookies make their money by the games being played squarely with action being bet on both sides. Crooked games would kill the golden goose and drive betters away.
But with that being said, I think there can be an isolated instance where a fix comes into play, but it all starts with the money…
The most important factor in this Steelers-Chargers game is the fact that the point spread opened at Pittsburgh -3.5 and was up to as much as -6 by the game time. That means much more money was bet on the Steelers than the Chargers, and bookies moved the lines accordingly to get some SD action. It is rare for an NFL game to have the spread move so much in a given week. NFL lines are usually razor sharp, and casinos and bookies hate to have uneven action on a game. So the first step is motive, and I think it was here in this case. Given the tough economic times in Vegas, who’s to say that maybe there was just too much exposure for the books to handle with the Steelers covering the spread yesterday.
Then even the casual observer can look at the game and see that things didn’t pass the sniff test. 13 penalties to 2 (although the 2nd one benefitted the Chargers betters), a bad pass interference call that set up SD’s touchdown, Pittsburgh outplays them in every phase of the game, yet can’t seem to pull away, and then the final play…what a joke. Remember we are in the last 2 minutes, so the challenge must come from the booth. Why the hell would they even want to look at this play? The game is over regardless with Pittsburgh winning…the only matter is by how much. Remember the ruling on the field was a touchdown, so there needed to be conclusive evidence to overturn the call. Did anyone see anything conclusive? I saw 2 laterals that looked pretty conclusive to be backwards…that’s it. Then even when the call was overturned the ref botched the explanation on the call to the stadium, saying something to the fact that there was an illegal forward pass, but the touchdown was still good, then he corrected himself and said game over. It all seemed a bit too much, and the NFL owes their fans a clear explanation of what happened. Layer on to that NFL Network’s own highlights show just glossing over it with one line that touchdown was overturned.
My point is simply, that we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this as just a blown call. There was enough money on the line to motivate illicit behavior. The NFL is the sport it is today because of betting. Without it, the NFL would not be nearly as popular as it is today. It’s not unreasonable to think they couldn’t do a favor for their friends in the desert.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)