The refs cost the Lions the game last night. This doesn’t happen as often as people want to believe, but the refs absolutely had a negative influence on this game.

Check their bank accounts . No...really check their bank accounts.

I am an NFL junkie, but this year have been skewing towards college ball. Brady was right; the games are becoming unwatchable. Some of these refs are in over their heads and replay appears to be nothing more than a kangaroo court. Total joke. I’d rather get rid of replay altogether than this.

If literally anyone with a television screen can see a wrong call, why not have just as many clowns in the booth looking at the same screen, call down to the ground and say "Hey you guys got it wrong"? Takes literally 1 minute with just one person. Why is this so difficult?

I like that the greatness of Aaron Rodgers is an excuse for the refs bad calls.

"they're bigger, they're stronger, they're faster" so we have old men trying to ref them......

The refs need to be able to pick up a flag when they make a mistake. They obviously could have done it twice last night. They clearly wanted the packers to win

It was the Packers - Seahawks game that brought the strike to an end a few years back.

Every flag should be able to be challenged.

Is the NFL game speed drastically different than college football because I watch every Saturday and college doesn't have this issue but the NFL has had the same problem since ref went on strike almost 4-5 years ago

💯 percent agree BUT you can't rip Baker for calling out the refs. Media patted Brady on the back for bitching about legitimate holding calls but destroys coaches and other players for the same thing

You can call that hands to the face on almost every play and its impossible for the defense to do anything about it as it's automatic 1st down. What a fricking mess.

Im with you 100% here Rich And For the love of whatever ... What's so terribly wrong or difficult in having full time officiating?!

SOLUTION: When the refs throw a flag, why can't the officiating crew "upstairs" respond in real time? After all, the game stops when the flag is thrown. There are usually a few minutes between the end of the flagged play and the start of the next play. At that point, they can decide whether to pick it up (if it is clear), let it stand or if "further review is necessary." While this won't stop the "selective penalty" decisions (i.e., intermittent flags thrown for things -- like holding -- that happen throughout the game), it would address some of the most obvious blunders (such as the two Trey Flowers flags). MOST IMPORTANTLY, the NFL needs to remind the refs to NOT THROW A FLAG if the ref is not 100% certain (in real time) that a penalty actually occurred. In other words, use the proper courtroom approach. If there is ANY doubt, don't convict. If there is ANY doubt, don't throw a flag.

In 1st quarter of Patriots vs Giants, there was an ABSOLUTE 100% FUMBLE BY PATRIOTS PLAYER THAT WAS NOT OVERTURNED!!

Why does this happen to the Lions so frequently? I can recall at least 10 ridiculously bad calls going against them dating back to the Calvin Johnson "complete the process" call. Weird.

Lol. Bank accounts check. Love it.

Reviewing interference was a PR move from the beginning, that's all. It won't actually have any meaningful effect and they won't renew it after this season.

How convenient for the packers to get the calls when they do... how convenient.

The problem is instant replay. Ask yourself these questions: 1) Did on the field officiating get worse after they added replay? 2) Has it gotten worse each time they added or expanded replay? 3) Have the rules gotten more esoteric and difficult to understand since replay? 4) Do we still miss calls - even after the play has been reviewed? Spoiler alert! The answer to all of those questions is "Yes." The only argument FOR replay is "We have the technology, we should use it to get the calls right." That's a nice thought, but it's not based in anything statistical or evidence based. The truth is that we'll always have missed calls, and no amount of replay will fix that. Replay has eroded the confidence of the on-field officials, and it's made a mockery of the rules (see the rule about how to complete the "process of the catch"). Replay gives the players, coaches, and fans a false sense of security that they won't be screwed over by a bad call - but they still get screwed over by bad calls. Replay is not the answer, and in fact is part of the problem. Human error has always been an important part of our sporting world. Mistakes by players and referees get discussed around the water cooler (and now on social media) the next day. Mistakes are in fact one of the reasons why we love our sports so much. Without human error, the games would be played "on paper" and there would be no upsets. All replay is bad. All of it. Every sport. I'm not against technology being used to improve the officiating of the games in real time - but the same way a QB can't go back and have a second chance to make that tough throw, the refs shouldn't get a second chance to make a tough call. Fans have become babies complaining about bad calls, and the league has listened to them. It's a mistake.

Canceled my sunday ticket renewal because of this. Game is unwatchable.

I'm not a Lions fan. However, those calls -- without question -- cost the Lions that game. If the Lions miss the playoffs because of a single loss that came about by bad calls, then how does the NFL respond? "We're so sorry, let's move on?" That is their typical answer. It isn't enough for fans that spent money on tickets, apparel or, gasp, betting.

I’ve counted at least 5 different sport analyst go on Tv and tell the public what lebron should of said .

Why not make the rule book simpler to read and understand to make the game easier to call

Better check there bank accounts

The games are rapidly becoming unwatchable. The only solution I can see is to vastly diminish the amount of ultra high resolution, frame-by-frame replays that are allowed. Essentially unwind the camera coverage of the game to something more akin to the 80s than today. Couldn't watch this specific game, but was able to watch last week's Packers/Cowboys game, and I swear the last 2 minutes were clogged with more flags than an entire quarter of a typical game 20 years ago.

Every now and then as I'm watching a game I notice that whenever one team gets a nice gain, they suspiciously get a holding penalty to negate it. And on defense, the refs can call defensive pass interference whenever they want and there's nothing stopping them. Notice how many penalties there are on 3rd down to give an automatic 1st down or negate a 1st down. I don't think they're going to overturn it because they want the games to go a certain way or at least maintain a certain closeness.

Officials are doing this on purpose to become full time employees with benefits

Rich Eisen for commissioner.😁

Here's the part I think that bothers NFL fans the most......... Take any average NFL fan that didn't watch that game last night and when they woke up this morning and heard wow one team get completely hosed numerous times in that game guess who it was? Being that this should be close to a 50-50 answer, I can promise you 90%+ NFL fans would have guessed that the Packers were the ones that who got the calls their way and the Lions were the ones who were hosed. Now how and why could this be the case? likely due to A) being at home and B) what many perceive to be the NFL's push to support Rodgers and one of the so called popular teams in the league not to mention C) the Lions seem to be on the bad end of things way more times than not. Sad that we all know this BEFORE hand!! That's a big issue to lots of folks as it's almost so obvious that it's slap in the face to those who follow and support this league.

The jets got 3 PI flags on the final drive called against them and none of them would be overturned because they weren’t egregious bad calls with enough evidence to overturn. They were bad calls and at least one of them was definitely not a flag but they won’t overturn it.

Zebras and new york officials royally screwed a great game up and then put the icing on the cheesecake with that very suspect call that the NFL said shouldn't have been called!!!

Quit watching. That'll fix it

Firstly, its sad to see it took THIS LONG for you fools to cover this but PAT has been screaming about this for TIME. These major networks def have their big shots close their mouth but all it takes is one dude to start it and it started with Pat Mcafee and to see you bring it up now just shows how scared you were to talk about this head-on and waited to see another person in the media discuss it and possibly take the fall. Yall think yall are slick but some people in the world see the cowardness yall have obtained over the years. just sayin

But it was two penalties on a crucial drive at the end of the game.

Refs are consistent. They consistently suck.

Im so sick of every single large Corporation in America. Their greed ruins everything they touch. From Google, to Apple, to Disney, the NBA and the NFL. I dont like this current world and want off it.

With all of the mistakes, you may as well go back to the 80s and have no replay at all, the call on the field is the call. Sounds crazy but think about it, they're getting a ton of stuff wrong even with 2019 technology and replay and challenges at practically max level. Also, is it possible that refs are relying on the replay too much, and are getting a bit slack with the real time reffing which is essentially their number one job? It makes sense psychologically, it's human nature almost. With no replay available would they maybe bear down a bit and get more stuff right on the field?

They screwed the giants with one of these vs the patriots

Its not that tough to officiate, make everything reviewable via a sky judge, the game is a joke at the moment & Roger Goodell get paid how much & this level of referee is happening. Destroying the game & it is directly effecting outcomes. This is another reason why the NFL are so to uptake on sports gambling. get your shot together NFL

Hey Rich, where in the rule book does it say the Detroit Lions have to play perfect football in order to be upset about egregious calls? This is the NFL, the games are mostly going to be close. You can't write it off as bad officiating if the bad calls go against the same set of teams all the time. More to the point, when they happen at crucial moments that decide the game. This isn't the first time Aaron Rogers has been granted extra shots at the Lions (Hello fake facemask penalty to give them a Hail Mary). How about in the playoffs against the Cowboys? That blatant pass interference is going to give the Lions a real shot at winning the game? Better pick it up, can't have the Cowboys out this early. How about reinterpreting the catch rules to take away a Calvin Johnson winning TD away? How about penalizing the Lions 10 seconds to end the game for a review the refs initiated?

The Lion's have been getting hosed by the ref's for years. See Dallas. See this moronic game. See ya watchin' college ever more. And if every call is going to be reviewed, the games will take 5 hours.

Bullshit.........the Lions had basically 3 calls that were equal to turnovers go against them in the last 10 minutes and worst part is this was ZERO FAULT OF THE LIONS as they did nothing wrong. No team/QB could overcome 3 turnover possessions last 10 mins of game in Lambeau. The first hands to face would have made it 4th and 21 which essentially ends a drive and gets them the ball back up 9 points with 10 minutes left instead a TD Green Bay for basically getting whole new set of downs. This would be same as fumbling a punt and GB recovering for TD. Next drive the PI non-call was a perfectly thrown ball hitting guy is chest means automatic 3 or possibly 7 points up 9 again which is 2 possession lead with 5 minutes left. Lastly the last hands to face again on 3rd down makes for not only a harder FG attempt but also takes away chance job for the QB with 2nd most comeback wins last 5 years in NFL (Stafford).

I hate that argument of score more so the refs dont affect the games. This isnt college football, unless the team is god awful (dolphins) you usually only win NFL games by less than 7 points. Thats why they are fun to watch! When you hand a team free possessions you loose, when the refs give them away its almost impossible.

RUINING THE GAME

What I did is I stopped buying sunday ticket football is a joke they are turning football into WWF wrestling.

Please only have dion or someone with a non monotone voice host the show if you’re gone please

Hey rich you're all wrong about the refs according to blandino and pierra

The PI challenge flag was created for the type of play that cost the Saints a Super Bowl appearance, not for run of the mill PI calls or no-calls. The coaches will realize when to throw the flags as time goes on.

Worst officiating league

Where was all this anger when it happened to the packers two weeks ago. Wow.

1 of those dislikes is mine.

Most of these sports shows that I've watched today keep making excuses for the refs saying that the lions had to overcome the bad calls . They are afraid to tell it like it is. Thanks for being honest here. And yes the new PI review is a complete joke and an insult to the fans.

Just like Dee Ford’s offsides penalty last year, another pass rusher (who knew refs were watching him) put his team in a bad position when he wasn’t getting to the QB on that play anyway. Yes it was a bad call but if Flowers really used his head & trusted his secondary then Lions win.

First of all, the first one was a hands to the face.... they showed it... there are pics of it.... then they skipped it on all the additional replays.... The NFL wants you talking about this.... controversy=$$$...... 2. Nobody could tell it wasn't a normal helmet to helmet hit at full speed. The guy is going to miss two games( including the one he was playing)..... give me a break 3. Missed pass interference!!!? Seen 20 or more of those this year and I've only watched 10 games..... and he touc4hed his chest for second 4. Ok...bad call on 2nd hands to the face, but everyone thought it was hands at full speed..... There have been shitty calls for at least the last40 years Ask yourself how much better the Packers would have played with Jeronimo in the game or why the second string running back was out two games when the guy who flagrantly helmet to helmet hit him only got a 15 yard penalty. Convenient for the Eagles in that game and not the Packers who took that L.....your really boo hoping the wrong things now aren't you!!!!

I bet every PI Bill Belicheat challenges will get called correctly

The browns game was just as horrible as the packers/ lions game