Thread: You make the call

Just saw this on Reddit - the NFL set up a part of their website where you can review three close plays from the week and see if you are as good as the real officials in deciding the call. Probably not fair if you know the actual play (the third play this week, for example, is the Charles fumble at the end of our game last week) but fun to play around with:

http://operations.nfl.com/the-offici...make-the-call/

Is the league paying IBM royalties for this, or does that not count since IT paid to air those spots (still my all-time favorite) in the first place?

I get what they're saying about how hard it is to make the right call every time with just one full speed look, but that's not how officials determined the final ruling on ANY of those calls: The TD and fumble were automatic reviews because all scores and turnovers are automatically reviewed, and the catch in the field was reviewed because of the challenge. So in each case, the "test" actually lets us see LESS than the officials did: Not those who made the INITIAL call, but the one who made the FINAL one (and since one was reversed, that's what matters here.)

When I first saw Charles' fumble last week, I wasn't sure; from above and our right it's impossible to tell when the ball comes out, let alone whether he was down yet. I wasn't absolutely certain till seeing the third replay, from field level and KCs right (almost the exact opposite angle in the video.) I stared at the GB call a loooong time before finally making the same call the refs initially did; I just couldn't tell in real time from that distance whether the receiver had possession and control before any part of his body hit the sideline: It's too close. If I'd gotten those same 4 looks with a slo-mo zoom, I might agree with the reversal. The Pitt play looks pretty cut and dried, but it's hard to actually see the receivers feet when he makes the catch (it's just really hard to believe they could've been out unless he wears a size 397.)

Thanks though, I'll probably be coming back to this, despite feeling it's a typically subtle and self-serving NFL gimmick designed as a "fan benefit," in this case to make their "it's not as easy as it looks" point.

O

Originally Posted by VonDoom

Just saw this on Reddit - the NFL set up a part of their website where you can review three close plays from the week and see if you are as good as the real officials in deciding the call. Probably not fair if you know the actual play (the third play this week, for example, is the Charles fumble at the end of our game last week) but fun to play around with:

http://operations.nfl.com/the-offici...make-the-call/

That's pretty cool Von, please post every week!