[Coochie liquor]

Originally Posted by Giant Octopodes

Of course every organization in the league is sending film to the league office week after week trying to get them to call things in their favor. Every organization in the league is also spending thousands of man hours on the draft. Yet the Raiders are still gonna Raiders. Just because all teams do something, doesn't mean all teams do that thing equally well.

And of course the league decides based on whatever they see fit what to call, and when to call it. I remember a clip of Edelman arguing with a ref where he was warned his contact with a DB was drawing close to the line, he argued about how they had been specifically told that using a chopping motion to break the DB's contact is permissible, the ref pointed out he hadn't been called, and was just letting him know.

Now, can we debate all year long about whether teams with strong influence in the competitive committee have undue influence on shaping the rules (either as written or as adjudicated) towards ways which benefit their teams? Or whether all players are equally well warned about when they draw close to the line? Or whether all refs are following guidance in the same way, or even consistently across a game? Sure, and I think most would agree bad officiating occurs and imbalances in both decision making and enforcement occur, though folks might argue over to what extent those imbalances exist or the extent of their impact.

The line which is specifically being argued in this thread, is that the NFL specifically steers the outcome of individual games by telling the refs to call the game in an unfair way. And it doesn't matter whether you call it 'rigged' or whatever else. And that is total and complete BS. The courts have even ruled, multiple times, that the NFL has an obligation to its spectators to have rules which apply to both teams, and a legitimate football game. They've just also ruled that folks cheat, and folks make mistakes, but as long as the NFL has a process to deal with those things and follows its own guidelines they're fine.

Anyway, call it what you want, but let's not pretend everyone here is arguing simply that the NFL cherry picks what key things they are focusing on over a season (with regular comm to the teams and refs regarding it) as well as during individual games (with also comm sent out to both teams and the refs), which affects the outcome of games. That's not at all what they're arguing, they're specifically arguing the outcomes are steered for supposed financial gain and to build desired narratives.

NFL record 39 DPI is what it took to get Brady to 11 wins. Thirty ****ing nine. That’s more than any of Mahomes, Rodgers, Brees, Rivers, or almost any other qb in the league had in the last 3 years COMBINED! Fraudulent 2020 record. Can’t wait to see how they bail that non GOAT out this upcoming season. Thirty ****ing nine, and many at the right time to ensure those Bucs drives were kept alive. It’s embarrassing that a supposed GOAT had to have that much help to get to 11 wins. Excited to see how many years the Pats have a lull before they make the playoffs again. Been half a decade and counting for Dungver.