There are no conspiracies against the Bengals. They lost for a lot of other reasons besides calls that were made, and not made.
Here's the other headline: The NFL doesn't care who wins or who loses one of its football games. The only thing the NFL is interested in is making money: lots of money. And if a few calls get blown along the way, well, that's capitalism for you.
For the record, Tyler Boyd's knee WAS down. I have no idea what the officials on the field saw or what the guy in the replay booth was looking at. Here's the bottom line on what happened: the guys on the field blew the call and the guy in the replay booth couldn't find a definitive angle to overturn it. Which is amazing, because anyone with a TV set saw at least two angles where Boyd's knee was down and the ball was still secure. Incompetence? Yes. Conspiracy, no.
Last night my Twitter feed "blew up" (you ARE following me, aren't you? @kenbroo). Outraged fans were screaming about missed holding calls. Do you realize how many holding calls game officials miss every season? At least one on EVERY pass play. At least. Another hot topic was non-calls on blows to the head. All you had to watch was Carolina's opening game against Denver to know that was something that hasn't changed much since last season
I can take or leave replay in sports. I think you get as much as you lose with it. It slows down the flow of the game and makes the on-field officials tentative. The NFL doesn't get it right. WCPO.com's John Erardi was with me Sunday night on Meijer Sports Of All Sorts (Sundays at 11:35 p.m.) and had a great point. Why is it that when a Major League Baseball play goes to review, 18 guys in New York City get to see it and rule on it ,and in the NFL, it's only the referee and the on-site replay official? Riddle me that one, Batman. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has had his issues with replay and red flags. At his Monday news conference, he shed a little light into his world on Sunday afternoons.
"Lets clear one thing up: the coaches don't get a view like you guys (the media) think they get. That's such a fallacy of television," he said. "It doesn't come immediate. We've got to go to the next play. That's such a fallacy that TV announcers say time and time again. They (the coaches in the box) don't have that ability to toggle back and forth. So the person in charge of that has got to make a quick judgment."
Lewis said challenging the non-touchdown call on C.J. Uzomah was discussed. But because of limited time (just 35 seconds before the next play) and the lack of a good angle, he passed on the challenge. On Boyd's fumble-non-fumble, Lewis said Monday the replay board inside Heinz Field did a little home cooking. They didn't run the play. So he couldn't see it. It wouldn't have mattered. "The ruling on the field stands", so said the referee, Pete Morelli.
And by the way, with regards to Morelli, did the NFL suits in New York mind he and crew concentrate so much on cracking down on cheap shots that it forgot how to do the basics? But I digress.
Game officials RARELY cost a team a win. It happens, but rarely. And it didn't happen Sunday. What caused the Bengals to lose was this: bad field position, settling for field goals instead of points and the inability to run the ball. The last of those three reasons is the most concerning.
For the second week in a row, the Bengals had no running attack. It averaged less than three yards a carry. And worse, it only ran the ball 18 times. Against the Jets, the Bengals ran the ball 19 times. They rushed for 57 yards in New Jersey, 46 in Pittsburgh.
"We can't have one person breakdowns," Lewis said Monday. "When we have three or four or five or six plays every that the quarterback has chosen to throw the football on, they've been very productive. But, when we do choose to run it, we can't have one person breakdowns. And instead of it being a three yard gain, a ten yard gain, it's a three yard gain."
The Broncos are up next, at Paul Brown Stadium this Sunday. They don't play the run well.
And now, Demarcus Ware is out....
Random thoughts on this random Monday....
The Saints look old....and not very good.....and apparently they think the Giants' best receiver is a cheater....
The Vikings caught a break last night. Adrian Peterson avoided tearing the 'mother of all ligaments tears'.....
Sounds like the Browns are shopping for a quarterback after Josh McCown went down with a shoulder injury Sunday. You think the Browns are regretting not drafting Carson Wentz? Of course, if they did, he'd probably be out with a shoulder injury right now....
The Chargers are 1-1, and apparentlyheading to Los Angeles....
Sooner or later, we'll find out what the problem is with Gunner Kiel. Because something is really wrong. The current #1 quarterback, Hayden Moore, got hurt right before halftime against Houston last week. He started the second half. But it was clear he wasn't as mobile as he was before the big hit he took, nor was he getting the leg strength in his throws. With the game out of hand, UC head coach Tommy Tuberville sent redshirt freshman Ross Trail into the game. He promptly threw a "pick six" and was yanked. That's when Kiel went in, with about 3:00 to play. And all Tuberville let Kiel do was hand off. Remember, Kiel threw for 523 yards and four touchdowns against Houston last season. Why wouldn't you turn to him after Moore went down? Bizarre times in Clifton, very bizarre.
40 years ago Tuesday, the album that spawned this song hit the streets.
September 20, 1976 the day that Dirty Deeds Done Cheap was released. And this of course, was the title track. Bon Scott on vocals, who along with the brothers Young Malcolm and Angus, wrote this song. And it became the third best selling album in AC/DC history, going platinum (one million in sales) six times. Of course, a lot has changed with AC/DC. Malcolm Young is suffering from dementia and has stopped touring with the band. And Bon Scott died in 1980. But when it came to heavy metal, very few were in the league with the boys from Sydney
