Refs. Bad calls a plenty but definitely favored the pack
Yup. Not so much in Week 1. For you or against you is a random matter from week to week.
The NFL has some very serious problems.
Not so long ago it was a common occurrance on replay to say there wasn't a good camera angle by which to judge. They've added so many cameras to facilitate replay reviews that's become rare. Even away from the ball, like the phantom "hands to the face" calls against Flowers you get a couple of angles.
The cameras are hi-def, your TV is hi-def, the stadium jumbotrons are something approximating hi-def. Everybody sees everything on replay on nearly every play.
The refs are not worse than they've been in the past. You see more and better.
The second problem is even on slo-mo replay we get different interpretations and mis-interpretations of the rules from one game to the next from former official commetators to the booth to New York. PI and no-PI calls are in high relief this year. Levy, the 3-time Super Bowl offical commentating in this game, interpreted a non-PI call on a Packer as worthy of overturning which didn't get close to the level of infraction on the MVS deep ball in Week 1 that was reviewed in New York. On a non-catch call against Detroit, Levy was talking about 3 steps and with a football move. That isn't the rule anymore if it ever was. The rule is two feet down with possession then an additional act common to the game, "e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so." If Levy was of a mind to not confuse viewers, he should have been focusing on where possession occurred, if it did, and then whether he took one more step.
What's to be done?
First, you cannot put the technological genie back in the bottle. Take the officials off the field except for few to spot and place the ball. Add even more cameras. Make all the calls real time in New York and buzz the ref when they flag something. That means they have to add a bunch more officials in New York for each game monitoring the cameras. The cost is partially offset by the savings in having fewer field officials. In most circumstances, if New York is uncertain, they'll have time to review the replays as they do on all TDs and turnovers. Buzz the ref if a review is deemed necessary before the snap. The TD/turnover reviews now are typically transparant and do not interupt the game; only occasionally there is a delay for review. In hurry-up offense, they can stop a play for review if they feel the need to go to the slo-mo replay on the prior one. That's better than a field official throwing a flag that turns out to be a phantom call.
Second, get all the officials on the same page. There was a lot of confusion when the league introduced the revised roughing the passer rules, a Clay Matthews flag being an example. The league responded by producing three videos for public consumption showing what was now considered roughing, the Clay play being one of them. Is that all they gave the refs? If so, that's nowhere near enough.
The NFL needs to lock all these guys in a room out in the desert for a month of 12 hour days and show them play after play after play of what constitutes PI, holding, etc., etc. and what does not. These guys are out there rolling their own.
It doesn't matter anymore what you or an official sees in real time. The play is now judged by everybody in slo-mo replay. It stands to reason the calls be turned over to people who have those tools.
The other alternative is to get rid of the cameras and roll the clock back to before slo-mo was invented. All you'd get on TV is real time, and everybody has to go with that. That ain't gonna happen. The tech genie is here to stay and he keeps getting more refined.
The Lions had plenty of opportunities to put us away last night and they didn't/couldn't.
