Oct 9th 2008 12:43PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, Steelers, NFL Fans, NFL RefereesYesterday, Steelers linebacker James Harrison learned a $20,000 lesson, courtesy of the NFL Collections Department: please don’t criticize officials publicly, no matter how blatantly obvious it is that they blew a call. Oh, and also don’t suggest they wager on the games — this isn’t the NBA.

So while the league office frowns on such behavior, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has Harrison’s metaphorical back. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has been on the other side of many such hits, did not think Harrison should have been penalized.

“It is hard to stop a guy who is that strong, powerful and fast. It’s hard to comment on it because you have to be careful of what you say. My personal opinion: I didn’t think it was a late hit and I usually stand up for quarterbacks. I think if you ask David Garrard, I don’t think he would tell you it was a late hit. But they called it, and that is what it is.” Although I don’t disagree that “it’s hard to stop a guy who is that strong, powerful and fast,” like I mentioned at the time, none of that matters because, well, IT WASN’T A LATE HIT. Harrison didn’t lead with his helmet, or drive Garrard to the ground.

Whatever, he message received; when the ’s Ed Bouchette asked Harrison about the fine, the Pro Bowl linebacker refused to comment. This makes Commissar Goodell very happy.

As for Mike Pereira, the head of officials, he might have to either cancel his weekly “see, this is what happened” on , or bring on staff to handle the additional workload.

Oct 9th 2008 12:43PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, Steelers, NFL Fans, NFL RefereesYesterday, Steelers linebacker James Harrison learned a $20,000 lesson, courtesy of the NFL Collections Department: please don’t criticize officials publicly, no matter how blatantly obvious it is that they blew a call. Oh, and also don’t suggest they wager on the games — this isn’t the NBA.

So while the league office frowns on such behavior, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has Harrison’s metaphorical back. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has been on the other side of many such hits, did not think Harrison should have been penalized.

“It is hard to stop a guy who is that strong, powerful and fast. It’s hard to comment on it because you have to be careful of what you say. My personal opinion: I didn’t think it was a late hit and I usually stand up for quarterbacks. I think if you ask David Garrard, I don’t think he would tell you it was a late hit. But they called it, and that is what it is.” Although I don’t disagree that “it’s hard to stop a guy who is that strong, powerful and fast,” like I mentioned at the time, none of that matters because, well, IT WASN’T A LATE HIT. Harrison didn’t lead with his helmet, or drive Garrard to the ground.

Whatever, he message received; when the ’s Ed Bouchette asked Harrison about the fine, the Pro Bowl linebacker refused to comment. This makes Commissar Goodell very happy.

As for Mike Pereira, the head of officials, he might have to either cancel his weekly “see, this is what happened” on , or bring on staff to handle the additional workload.

Oct 7th 2008 2:40PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Eagles, Falcons, Jaguars, Packers, Ravens, Redskins, Saints, Steelers, Titans, Vikings, NFL Referees
Once again, the NFL’s only famous official came under significant scrutiny this week … and the game was on a national stage, being the Monday night contest between the Vikings and the Saints. There were two calls in particular that we’ll check out.

Incident 1: Reggie Bush’s facemask mangled, and no one saw it.
MDS already covered this here on FanHouse, but I wanted to point a few things out. First of all, please do not blame Hochuli. If you blame him, you don’t know anything about officiating. Ed Hochuli is the referee, and the ball was moving away from him. If he was in proper position — and I’m assuming he was — he would have been watching the lineman on the backside and protecting the quarterback from unnecessary roughness. Even if he did glance over at the ball, which admittedly we have a tendency to do, he would have seen Bush’s head turn from behind.

You still can’t assume that’s a facemask from his point of view. Allow me to present a scenario:Continue Reading

Oct 7th 2008 4:25PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, NFL Police Blotter, NFL FansI have a lot of family from Jacksonville, Florida (and consequently lots of Jaguar fans) and therefore am usually pretty defensive when people start dogging on the city and its residents.

But lately, I have to admit that the Jaguars fans are not doing a whole heck of a lot to make me feel good about defending them. First there was the whole “smash the guard in the head with a folding chair” thing. And now, a random fight caused what sounds like a huge thing made of glass fall on three women at the game.
Downey said that, because of privacy laws, he doesn’t have the names of the injured or whether they’re still hospitalized.

One woman’s injuries were apparently more serious than the other two.

Downey said he didn’t think the men who got into the fight and caused the incident were apprehended.

Downey said the glass panels will be checked to see if they can be made more secure with brackets.

The panels are glass, so they don’t interfere with the sightlines of the fans in that section.
Downey is the head of SMG, a private company that manages the Stadium, and I have to ask, sir, “what is your crew doing?” Because right now, there are a lot of Jaguar fans getting really drunk — I would assume — and doing really stupid things.

The Chargers were battling this earlier in the season, and while I thought it was a little ridiculous at the time, I’m gonna be honest and say that Jacksonville and the Jaguars as an organization needs to do something relatively drastic to make people stop getting hammered and injuring other patrons.

Oct 5th 2008 9:24PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, Steelers, AFC NorthIt sounds crazy to say that Ben Roethlisberger’s interception that was returned by Rashean Mathis for a touchdown could help Pittsburgh, but in a whacky way, it may have.

Because the Jags scored on a defensive play, Pittsburgh put together a pair of time-consuming drives before the Jaguars offense ever took the field. On a night where the Steelers are playing without two starting defensive linemen and a key backup, that edge in time of possession could be crucial in the second half.

Exactly halfway through the second quarter, Jacksonville had run only 13 offensive plays compared to the Steelers 31. By taking only 13 snaps, it was no problem for Aaron Smith, Chris Hoke and Travis Kirschke to be out there for every play (with the exception of the dime package). Flip the number of plays around and the Steelers would be trying to stop Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew with a gassed Chris Hoke and Scott Paxson playing his first pro game.

So when the Steelers defense still looks fresh in the second half, thank the Steelers offense for holding the ball for the first eight minutes of the game.

Oct 2nd 2008 6:00PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South, NFL Police Blotter, NFL FansThe Jacksonville Jaguars don’t seem like the type of team that would be uber police-y with their fans. After all, they didn’t get upset when one fan made, um, certain gestures with thundersticks all up on national television.

But I suppose I could be wrong, as proved by the Jaguars recent decision to start revoking season tickets for fans that misbehaved.
The Jaguars announced on Wednesday the team has rescinded the tickets of Antonio Martinez, James Cotton and Shaun Perkins. All three men were arrested after police said they attacked a security guard.

According to police, the fight started after one of the men was told he wouldn’t be sold any more beer.
According to the police report, Martinez tried to hit the security guard and missed, and then “the guard pushed the suspect away in self-defense but was then grabbed by Mr. Martinez and taken to the ground.”
On the other hand, this is the sort of fan behavior — starting fights because the team won’t let you get drunker — that should be abolished, so I totally back the Jags reaction.

Oh, and also, Perkins, who may or may not have a problem with drinking, decided to go all Legion of Doom on the security guard and bash him over the head with a wooden folding chair while he was laying on the ground. It’s pretty safe to say that anytime you hit a security type person over the head with a chair, trouble is going to follow you. Stay classy, J-ville.

Sep 30th 2008 2:20PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Cowboys, Falcons, Jaguars, Panthers, Redskins, Texans, AFC South, NFC East, NFC South, NFL Fans, NFL Referees

The most difficult calls for an official are judgment calls. Unfortunately in football that covers pretty much everything. Rarely is there a call as easy as an upper deck home run or a ball going into a hoop. This is simply the nature of officiating football. One call which carries a ton of discretion is roughing the passer, and it has been controversial for years. As Bruce Ciskie said this past week on an email chain, “(I’ve seen) defensive players rushing with their arms up to try to block a pass, grazing the QB’s helmet with a hand on the way by, and drawing a flag for it. I mean, it’s one thing to tell these guys they can’t hit the QB, but to tell them they can’t try to knock a ball down because they might touch the QB’s helmet is just ridiculous.”I agree. Let’s take a look at some plays from this past week.Continue Reading

Sep 29th 2008 8:30PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, NFL Injuries, NFL Media WatchRichard Collier will never play football again, and that is sadly not the worst news that comes out of a recent press conference about the lineman’s state of health, because he will also never walk again. This news comes after reports finally emerged that Collier suffered 14 different bullet wounds and eventually had his leg amputated.
A hospital room crowded with Jacksonville Jaguars and media turned somber when the agent for Richard Collier broke the tragic news.

“It is with my deepest regret that Collier’s career with the NFL is over,” said Jeff Jankovich.

[…]”His family wanted to keep the situation under wraps so that Richard would be the first to know,” said Jankovich.
The latter statement from Jankovich certainly explains why there was very little information about Collier that leaked to the press since the Jaguar entered the hospital on September 2.

It is a tragic, tragic situation, especially following on the heels of a season that saw Sean Taylor pass in another gun-violence related incident. Not that either really compare — Collier was supposedly targeted and is still alive while Taylor passed and was not the actual focus of the crime — but it’s times like these that really emphasis the lack of importance that sports really have on our lives.

Sep 25th 2008 6:17PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South, NFL FansMaybe Matt Jones should get arrested for cocaine possession more often. After cops found him in the back of a truck with the this summer, the Jaguars former first-round pick has suddenly become something more than an overrated wideout on a team once full of them.

In fact, offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter seems legitimately jazzed about having Jones on the roster: “Matt has a much greater sense of urgency; much greater attention to detail in the classroom. Matt is acting like he cares and he’s applying himself. … We have to continue to find better ways to use Matt,” Koetter said.

Jones leads the Jaguars with 16 receptions for 173 yards. He also leads the Jaguars in the big-play reception category with a 33-yarder, one of only two receptions by a Jaguars wide receiver that has gone for 20 or more yards. Jones also has the other one. Wow. This spring Pro Football Weekly assured us that Jones “can all but kiss Jacksonville goodbye.” Now, with Jerry Porter reviving the “huge upside, no production” empty promises he made famous in Oakland, and Troy Williamson battling injuries, Jones is in Jacksonville.Continue Reading

Sep 24th 2008 3:00PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Bears, Broncos, Buccaneers, Chargers, Colts, Jaguars, AFC South, AFC West, NFC North, NFC South, NFL Fans, NFL Referees

I guess I should first introduce myself, considering I’m under the moniker of “FanHouse’s resident referee.” I have been a football official for the past ten years … or since I was 20. I’ve been a certified professional high school official for the past eight years, and have had the pleasure of working several high-profile games, including ones with nationally ranked teams.

I’m also not stupid. I realize the NFL officials are much better and more experienced than I am … and this puts me in the minority, apparently, when it comes to fans of the NFL. Over the early weeks of the NFL season, I’ve seen nothing but whining about the officiating and talk of how embarrassing it has become. This is usually done by someone that knows nothing about the rules, and/or has obvious bias. Most arguments are flawed, lacking a grasp of the real rules, and the spirit of said rules.

This is why I have decided to initiate this column. We’ll run it as often as controversial calls occur. While I am less qualified than the NFL officials, I’m not hampered by bias or a “CYA” mentality like the NFL league office. I will call it as a I see it.

There are four incidents in particular we’ll review today. Check them out after the jump.Continue Reading