[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by thehef

Would love to hear the sideline zebra's explanation. I doubt we will, though, and therefore I can only chalk this up to some sort of misunderstanding, because the other alternatives - ref(s) out to get McLauren/WFT - are implausible, IMO... What's more irksome to me is the missed PI on the next play. That can ONLY be explained by poor refereeing, regardless if they missed it, or chose not to call it.

Back to the play in question... After looking at it again, McL is clearly not on the line of scrimmage, but also not so far off the line to be obviously in the backfield. I am not one who feels the game (any sport) should be called any differently in crunch time vs mid-game, however, given that this type call or non-call is often a gray area, and often inconsequential, then absent any other information (like that ref had already given McL a few warnings or something like that), I think that the penalty flag at that time of the game was the wrong call.

Here's a good commentary on the events from last night. It outlines why that call is so problematic. Even if you are in the camp that believes there is no fixing or manipulation involved, one has to acknowledge the referees' actions in this does the NFL no good. The only thing more important than not appearing to cheat is not cheating itself. At the very least, it looked like the refs set McLaurin up. And the NFL has to address that. Either allow the ref to help the WR when asked or don't allow it at all.