I’d say I’m sorry for this rant, but I’m not…
The Miami Dolphins paid dearly for Ndamukong Suh’s inability to maintain his poise on a terrible non-call. Referee Carl Cheffers did not blow the whistle when Suh clearly held Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor in his grasp on third-and-4 from the Miami 34 late in the third quarter. Suh vehemently yelled at the official, “call that dead or I’m going to slam the fuck out of him next time.” Cheffers did not turn off the mike and the exchange was broadcast live.
“I’m going to slam the fuck out of him next time.”
The problem is, Suh would have been called for unsportsmanlike conduct had he continued the play and slammed Taylor to the ground. Carl Cheffers had an obligation to make the “in the grasp” call or force Suh to take matters into his own hands. The NFL has fined Suh repeatedly for slamming QBs to the ground, while Suh has been trained his entire football career to play through the whistle. The one time Suh attempted to conform to the kinder, gentler NFL, the official failed to make the proper call costing Miami a sack and a forced punt.
Suh, could no longer contain the frustration of being held on every single play and not getting the calls. Holding was actually called on that play, but the damage was done. Suh made the critical mistake of challenging Cheffers on what should have been intentional grounding at the least. Holding penalties in the NFL may be the biggest farce in professional sports. Offensive linemen hold on every down in one form or another, in fact they are trained to hold, but the calls are completely arbitrary.
Man Campbell elected to take the holding penalty hoping his defense could force a punt instead of giving Buffalo a field goal. Again Ndamukong Suh broke through the offensive line and was stretching for Tyrod Taylor. The offensive lineman’s hands were exposed, a fistful of Suh’s jersey clutched in his grasp, Suh’s shoulder-pad torn from his sleeve, but Cheffers never pulled out the flag. While Suh was being twisted around and pulled to the ground, Taylor completed a long touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins pushing the Bills lead to 26-14.
Clearly Cheffers was angry Suh had challenged him and allowed his personal emotions to dictate the outcome of a football game. Officials becoming emotionally involved lose their ability to be objective observers, their decisions or indecisions weigh heavily on the final score. What Suh did the play before should never have a bearing on the impartiality of the officiating. Cheffers was wrong, and his anger with Suh changed the complexion of an NFL football game.
With one score Miami could have led, but one emotional non-call by the official gave Buffalo a two score advantage in a closely contested game. Of course, Buffalo players, coaches and fans will deride any thought of the officials playing a part in their dirty little victory. The Dolphins can never mumble a word, but Miami fans…
We can write whatever we want and like Ndamukong, not give a fuck about what the NFL or Buffalo fans think.
Cheffers dictated the outcome of the game…
I’ve spent the morning reading through several Miami Dolphin sites and local newspaper sites, the writers knew they could not put in print what they saw with their own eyes. They wrote things like, “questionable officiating,” or “mysterious non-call.” Writers cannot directly call out the golden goose that keeps them employed and they know it. Yet fan comments following the articles all said about the same thing, “Why bother watching these games?”
I didn’t see the final quarter.
I turned it off…
I’ve been a Miami Dolphin fan since I have a memory but I’d had enough. It wasn’t the non-call of course, if you’re a Miami fan you’ve grown used to getting the worst officiating and worst announcing crews…
When the QB misses the opening snap causing a safety, we know what kind of day it's going to be… Man Campbell will now hear all about how he’s not ready to be a head coach, but it’s not Campbell. The chances were there for the Dolphins, the QB could not make the proper reads on the 3rd down when the team desperately needed it. The QB could not find the open receiver or run to a wide open field when team desperately needed a score from the one yard-line at the half.
The QB was okay, look at the stats, 309 yards, no picks…
When teams get to the state of the Miami Dolphins, the turnaround can only come from greatness. It can’t come from “OK” it can’t even come from good. Good may be able to overcome a botched snap or poor officiating but “OK” does not have a chance.
The Miami schedule has six of the opening 9 games on the road and one of the three supposed “home games” was in London! The team was forced to travel on a short week Thursday, fifteen hundred miles to play the best team in the league. Let’s continue to add this up… The worst officiating crews, the worst announcers, the worst schedule and Miami fans are called whiners whenever anyone attempts to put these inequities into words.
Well to paraphrase Ndamukong Suh, “I’m going to slam the fuck out of the NFL” and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. The league routinely puts the best crews on what they perceive as the best games. That means if your team is the Miami Dolphins or the Tampa Bay Bucs or any other lowly ranked team, you’re going to get the worst officials and be forced to sit through the worst commentators. You’re going to get the worst schedule and you’re going to be called a whiner for pointing it out…
Great, we’re whiners, but has the league taken notice of the dwindling Miami fan base? Call the fans whiners, laugh it up, but I wonder how many teams they can fit in LA? Vegas wants a team, London already has a home team, just the jerseys change color every other week…
I turned it off…
I turned off because the worst officiating crew, the worst announcers and the worst schedule have defeated me. I no longer want to watch or listen. My kids won’t sit in the same room with me, my wife goes shopping and quite frankly, I could be spending this time much more wisely.
I am willing to bet Miami will be given another Super Bowl soon… This is the price the owner had to pay to host the game in Miami. He basically sold out his team, subjected the fans and his players to the most infuriating concoction of NFL screw-brew, the worst officiating crews, the worst announcers, the worst schedule.
Is the Super Bowl in any way about the Miami Dolphin fans? How many local fans could possibly attend the most expensive game on earth? This has nothing to do with the Miami Dolphins and everything to do with the owner, and his stadium. His team certainly has no shot at the game…
I don’t think he cares.
Neither do it.
I turned it off…
