Xfinity Sports: Refs come through with tough non-call

[Dan T.]

But there's one call that no one mentions, and that is the PLAY call, which was horrible in the first place.
A fade. Super Bowl on the line, and you call a FADE.
One chance, one receiver, no time to even look at another one,, ball must be perfect, receiver must be perfect...

A~Bang

Good point. Also, you have the second best running quarterback in the NFL on your side and with a fade call you take that option completely off the table.

[perturbed]

Who is that wide open at the 4 second mark ? Davis ?

[bobbi3stix]

on a side note, I'm glad to see that there is talk of addressing all the dead ball stuff (taunting, shoving, smack talk) because players at times have really gotten unprofessional more consistently.

[skinsforlife101]

The right decision was made on the Crabtree no call. I agree with Bang who calls a fade on 4th down with the superbowl on the line. But the 49ers may have something to argue about on the 108 yard Jones kickoff return there was a clear hold by not one but two ravens players at about the 35 yard line. First video in real speed






Second video I found on youtube in slow-mo

[Bubble Screen]

I was pretty upset about the no call on Crabtree. But I've kind of come around now. I can live with them not calling a penalty there, since they did pretty much let them play all day. I still don't think that crew should have been calling the Super Bowl though. I couldn't believe Boger was the head official that day. Guy is one of the worst officials around.

[DCsportsfan53]

I was pretty upset about the no call on Crabtree. But I've kind of come around now. I can live with them not calling a penalty there, since they did pretty much let them play all day. I still don't think that crew should have been calling the Super Bowl though. I couldn't believe Boger was the head official that day. Guy is one of the worst officials around.

Apparently he calls about 30% fewer penalties on average than other refs in the league which I like. Personally, I'm so tired of ticky tack flags being thrown in games, to me things like offensive holding, PI, illegal contact should only be called when egregious. Let the guys play. Honestly the only way a flag would've been acceptable to me on that 4th down play is if they had called PI on both players and re-played the down.

[LaxinFish29]

The biggest "non-call" of the game wasn't even this play. It was when Cary Williams shoved the ref and didn't get a penalty

Completely agree. We couldn't believe that he wasn't ejected much less penalized. Maybe Ray told the officials that God told Cary to do it?

[HeluCopter29]

Completely agree. We couldn't believe that he wasn't ejected much less penalized. Maybe Ray told the officials that God told Cary to do it?

That's where my money lies.

At the end of the day, the refs missed some calls. It happens in every game.

But had the 49ers been the ones to jump out to an early lead they wouldn't have been in that position to begin with. Never a good reason to blame the refs (although I agree, they blew this one). The refs, like it or not, are part of the game. And the easiest way to make them a non-essential part is not to put yourself in a position where one bad call can affect the outcome of the game. The 49ers have no one to blame but themselves for letting the ref screw them.

[DCSaints_fan]

Good point. Also, you have the second best running quarterback in the NFL on your side and with a fade call you take that option completely off the table.

The Ravens were blitzing so having Kaerpernick run around was a bad idea..

But I agree, a designed fade to Crabtree was a dumb call. If you are going to throw to Crabtree a slant would have been a much better option, with the blitz coming..

[Dan T.]

The Ravens were blitzing so having Kaerpernick run around was a bad idea..

But I agree, a designed fade to Crabtree was a dumb call. If you are going to throw to Crabtree a slant would have been a much better option, with the blitz coming..

If the Ravens blitz on that play and Kaerpernick sidesteps one guy, he strolls into the end zone.

[doncherry]

It was a great no call.

But, if Niner fans want to whine, I'll point to the field goal attempt where Akers jumped over the rolling Raven and fell, drawing a 5 yard penalty on a kick that he originally shanked. They got a free 3 points. *shrug*

You want to complain, complain about the fact that you went down by 22 points.

+1. That was a horrible call. Listening to Phil Simms agree with the call was equally maddening. What happened to that guy? He's basically an idiot, I agree with almost nothing that he says....I have yet to hear him disagree with even the most egregious of calls. Does Goodell have every analyst on a gag order that says that they can't be critical of officiating?

/end thread hijack...

[HeluCopter29]

Apparently he calls about 30% fewer penalties on average than other refs in the league which I like. Personally, I'm so tired of ticky tack flags being thrown in games, to me things like offensive holding, PI, illegal contact should only be called when egregious. Let the guys play. Honestly the only way a flag would've been acceptable to me on that 4th down play is if they had called PI on both players and re-played the down.

I completely agree with this. I get most of the personal foul stuff because a lot of that is designed around really dangerous plays (IE hits to the head, etc.) but no need to call it on a lot of other types of plays nearly as often. PI especially is way over called.

That said, it seemed like a pretty obvious hold to me based off definition and what I've seen get called in the past. So for consistencies sake, call it IMO. Sure, it may not fit my "ideal" NFL but a consistently called NFL is better then one that's inconsistent.

That said, if you've put yourself in a position where one call can determine whether you win or lose then you've already done way to many things wrong.

[NLC1054]

Niners fans should be mad about that series of playcalls.

On first down, the pistol formation they used was just bad.

Remember the formation that Robert used to score the TD to Aldrick versus Dallas? It's that one; basically a jumbo set with the tight end and the fullback beside the QB in the pistol and the running back in the backfield. It worked off play action in Dallas because it sucked up Danny McCray who was the single high safety, but everyone else was down in the box.

It's a TERRIBLE formation to run down that close to the goal line. I mean look at this.



They basically invited all the Ravens down into the box and run only one wide receiver. (We ran this with two wide receivers) But the formation isn't a huge problem if you're smart about it; if you play action out of this formation, then there's a good chance you have Vernon Davis down the seam if you can suck up Ray Lewis or Ed Reed on the playfake. But instead, they run this ball into a huge wall of Ravens.

Then they did that sprint-right rollout play, which effectively took away half the field. And the thing is, initially, Crabtree did have some separation to catch the ball, get up field, maybe he breaks a tackle, but Kap comes back to his late because he's looking for a route in the back of the end-zone.

Then on third down, they line Crabtree up in the back field and run him back underneath the formation, which yet again takes away half the field, and he's not even close to the goal line this time.

That's what makes the fade of fourth down so stupid. You just ran two straight plays designed to get Crabtree the ball. You ran both of those plays to the exact same side of the field. You need to throw the ball into the end zone, preferably the middle of the field. Instead, you call a fade. A fade to Crabtree, with the best jump ball receiver in NFL history (rather his effort was lacking or not) on the field. Hell, screw Randy Moss; put Vernon Davis outside and have him matched up on a safety or a linebacker on a fade route, even THAT'S a win. But no, it's a fade route. Crabtree ran a bad route, Kap threw it expecting him to be somewhere else, and that's ball game. As his been pointed out, they didn't run a fade all season.

Hindsight being 20/20, I don't get how you don't throw ONE of those balls at Davis in the middle of the field. Or why you don't spread the field and let Kaepernick make a play. You have four downs and the Super Bowl is on the line. I'd rather the young quarterback throw a pick in that situation trying to be aggressive than trying to be as safe as they are. You just can't play it safe in that situation, at all.

[Zazzaro703]

IIRC didn't one of 49ner players make a big 3rd down catch on Ray Lewis earlier in the game (I think it was Davis) and throw the ball at him? Im positive a player threw the ball at a defensive player and the defensive guys even went after the ref freaking out about it and it was a no call. Only the Redskins.

[HighOnHendrix]

I automatically discount anything Pereira says, so this article only serves to reinforce my feeling that it was an easy call that was missed.

I don't believe in contrails, the shooter on the grassy knoll, or bigfoot. However, I do believe we all got jobbed by the NFL so Ray could see his confetti again.