[boneheaded1]

. . .but I find it odd that all the Monday night games have been decided in the final 5 minutes. Especially last night. Over 20 penalties and amost every single one either killed a drive or kept one going.

I can't believe that the refs were watching the game THAT close and totally miss TWO clipping penalties right next to the ball carrier on one of Garcon's touchdown runs. But they call that ridiculous tripping penalty on Barber.

I ain't sayin' the NFL is fixed but something was fishy about last night's game. Indy definitely got help to stay in the game.

And for the record, I did have money on the game (Bucs moneyline) so this is not some rant because I lost a bet.

So go ahead and say how stupid this is but there is no denying that the refs had a HUGE part in making this game as close (and as "exciting") as it was.

[k13]

Refs do help to make games closer in certain situations in a lot of sports.

Don't think it was fixed last night though. Two ugly teams playing ugly.

[boneheaded1]

No. I didn't say it was fixed. I just said that it appears as if refs are under directive to keep it close until the final 7 minutes or so, then just let it play out.

[RubberKettle]

Yeah NFL referees are having a greater impact on games. Replay helps cover their backs, but still a lot of penalty calls and missed calls.

I don't know if the fix is in or they are trying to 'keep it close', but the officiating certainly could be better.

Also, the Patriots MNF game from week one was decided by more than 5.

[ngates815]

Did the Colts actually put any drives together or were they pretty much just poor tackling on Tampa that allowed a few BIG plays?


Seemed like anytime I turned the game on, Tampa was putting together a decent drive.


I never had the game on when Indy scored, so I don't know. But I did see there TD's were both over 50 yards ( I think ) And I didn't watch any of the first quarter and a half, which I kinda followed online, but Tampa looked like garbage.

Shouldn't Tampa of won by quite a bit? Or am I wrong in this assumption.

[SportsMushroom]

Over 20 penalties and amost every single one either killed a drive or kept one going.

dude do you read what you type? a penalty by definition either kills a drive or keeps it going! what did you want the penalty to do? make the players break into song?


also, teams for monday night football are picked with the intention of having a close matchup, they dont want a game that is a blowout after the first quarter. So no it is no a surprise that MNF games are all close games, it would be a surprise if they werent

[boneheaded1]

Not all penalties kill drives, mushroom, but when they happen on third downs then certainly, they do. Did you even watch the game? I couldn't believe my eyes when they didn't call at least one of the clips on the Garcon scamper (let the worse team score). They were that obvious. And that Barber call (on a third down), ridiculous.

So you have a team that's going into the game as a -10 dog. The NFL considers that a close matchup? It was only close because the refs made calls to keep Indy in it and then made a few calls for Tampa so as not to totally screw them and make it obvious.

You just supported my argument by the way. You're right, "they don't want a game that is a blowout after the first quarter" and they do what they need to do to ensure it isn't a blow out.

[SportsMushroom]

Not all penalties kill drives, mushroom, but when they happen on third downs then certainly, they do. Did you even watch the game? I couldn't believe my eyes when they didn't call at least one of the clips on the Garcon scamper (let the worse team score). They were that obvious. And that Barber call (on a third down), ridiculous. So you have a team that's going into the game as a -10 dog. The NFL considers that a close matchup? It was only close because the refs made calls to keep Indy in it and then made a few calls for Tampa so as not to totally screw them and make it obvious. You just supported my argument by the way. You're right, "they don't want a game that is a blowout after the first quarter" and they do what they need to do to ensure it isn't a blow out.

NFL has nothing to do with the lines, its vegas that sets the line, NFL doesnt look at the lines to decide what games are going to be close or not


I dont know if the refs made a mistake or not, but you are not factoring in human error

if a game is going to be fixed its not going to be fixed on MNF while the whole world is watching

[boneheaded1]

No kidding regarding the lines, I didn't know that. This Monday night game was scheduled last year. And you have to know this year the league was going "Oh Crap! We've got a blow out on our hands." as soon as they saw that Peyton was out for the year. MNF has the potential for the biggest audience of all the weekly games. The last thing they want, as you so eloquently stated, was for a blow out.

I made the comment about the lines because you mentioned the league likes close games and oddsmakers are pretty sharp with the NFL.

And I NEVER said the game was fixed. I said it was set up to keep Indy in the running but not give them an overly unfair advantage. Keep them in it until late but don't give it to them.

There's a big difference between the two.

And I totally stand by that statement. The referees called the game tighter in Indy's favor than the Bucs favor. That doesn't mean the Bucs didn't get calls. They did. But it was obviously tighter in Indy's favor. Re-watch the game. For as sharp as they were calling for Indy, I find it VERY hard to believe they missed one or two blatant calls that would have benefited Tampa.

Human Error? How do you miss a clip that is RIGHT NEXT to the ball carrier? You don't miss it, you just don't call it.

But hey, it's a matter of opinion. You don't think it is something they would ever do. And I'm just callin it like I see it. As long as games are close, advertising revenues rise. Advertising revenue increase means bigger TV contracts, etc. And the networks are happy to pay it because the games go to the end, so the audience doesn't dwindle as the broadcast goes on.

Dude, this is BILLIONS of dollars. Don't even think for a second that they won't do the "little" things to keep that cash cow at high production.

Do I think the integrity of the game is tarnished. Not really. The better team still won. And that's all that matters. No one cares about the point spreads except people like us.

But that is why I didn't touch the spread. I just bet the moneyline. I knew the better team would most likely win but the league would never let it be more than a 10 point game if they had any say about it (which they do, more than you think). But I'm not betting Indy +10 because once they get to the final 5-7 minutes of gametime, the league no longer cares about it being close and Painter was perfectly capable of throwing two pick 6's trying to tie/win the game.

You got your truth, I got mine. Call mine a crazy conspiracy theory if you wish. But watch out for these Monday games.

[Glitch]

refs have too much power in sports. in football this can not really be avoided much. in baseball they are completely unnecessary if they would accept technology and instant replay.

[kickenchicken]

i aint sayin the wwe is fixed but...lol

[neverstoppers23]

LOL, I love how people actually think the NFL is fixed, I just shit talk when I am mad when I bet on games. I didn't think people actually believe that. Just take the loss like a man, but that is way too much to ask because every other day someone creates a new thread bitching that the SBR Casino is rigged.

[brahmabull117]

Not all penalties kill drives, mushroom, but when they happen on third downs then certainly, they do. Did you even watch the game? I couldn't believe my eyes when they didn't call at least one of the clips on the Garcon scamper (let the worse team score). They were that obvious. And that Barber call (on a third down), ridiculous. So you have a team that's going into the game as a -10 dog. The NFL considers that a close matchup? It was only close because the refs made calls to keep Indy in it and then made a few calls for Tampa so as not to totally screw them and make it obvious. You just supported my argument by the way. You're right, "they don't want a game that is a blowout after the first quarter" and they do what they need to do to ensure it isn't a blow out.

I totally agree


refs seemingly did everything in their power yesterday to keep it a close game. 4 or 5 Phantom ridiculous calls that all 3 announcers agreed were bogus calls on tampa and then they don't miss 2 blatant clipping/block in the back plays on the garcon touchdown??? Come on give me a break

[MarkDee]

I've noticed more game breaking bad call's this year then previous years. I've also noticed alot more stupid pick for back door covers or straight up win's

[uhuhahah]

almost every single game is fixed, including CF.

[SportsMushroom]

I couldnt get through your whole post OP, I just read the first few lines

no the nfl wasnt going 'oh oh we have a blowout on our hands'

colts are still a championship caliber team, minus manning, tampa is not a team that you would expect to blow out anybody

colts nearly beat steelers last week and they could have beaten tampa, they are recovering from the shock of losing manning and will start putting some wins together

[grizzlies1]

I couldn't agree more. It was as clear as day that the ref's didn't want a blow out last night. And the Steelers/Colts game last Sunday was even worse. Not by the refs but by the Steelers! There were a few tell tale signs for me..

1. Big Ben laughing when he threw an interception just before half time. And during the interception Mike Wallace JUMPING OVER the defender with the ball so he didn't touch him and allowed him to get up and return it for a big gain.

2. The Troy strip six towards the end where just before he entered the end zone to score he glanced across and and had a "oh shit" almost guilty look on his face like a child called with his hand in the cookie jar.

[brooks85]

game that stood out to me the most was cinci/buffalo.

Im a bengals fan and i was laughing at the calls they got, the obvious one where the clear catch was ruled incomplete was ridiculous. But thankfully the bungals took the help and won.

[boneheaded1]

Never stoppers. You might want to try something called "reading" I said I didn't lose money on the game. I won money on the game but that doesn't change the fact that the calls were just too one sided.

And again, it ain't fixed. It's just "leveled" the Refs didn't hand anybody the game they just carried Indy for the first three quarters.

But then again, I'm done arguing about it. Dudes who don't even have the attention span to read a post, certainly can't figure out what I'm talking about anyways.

Not you Shroom. You debated well but those that watched the game will certainly agree with my statements.

[pavyracer]

All these games were fixed last week:

Dallas/Detroit
Houston/Pittsburgh
Seattle/Atlanta
Cincinnati/Buffalo
St.Louis/Washington
Philadelphia/San Francisco
Arizona/NY
Tampa/Indianapolis

Why?

Because they were decided on the final play of the game.

[tatommack]

You could holding on who ever is blocking Demarcus ware everytime is a joke and they never call it

[ChalkyDog]

The most shocking thing in this entire thread is that you took the TB moneyline.

[Hulk32ster]

whenever i lose a bet the game is fixed

[jsmithj88]

u basically said it wasnt fixed and then explained how the game was fixed so that the colts wouldnt get blown out and then again reassuring every1 ur not calling it a fix ...............

[boneheaded1]

jsmith - fixed is when the outcome is predetermined. The game is manipulated to a certain side to provide victory. Ask anyone what a fixed game is and the overwhelming majority will say the same thing. I never said that occurred, just that the game was manipulated to keep it competitive, then let if play out in the final 7 minutes or so. The game was handed to no one.

jsmith you're playing a game of symantics in order to make my points seem contradictory. Nice try. You are making fixed to mean any type of manipulation whereas the common understanding of fixed is when the game is manipulated for one side to win.

But under your definition, yes, the game was fixed to provide a competitive game so people kept watching. But I prefer to say, the game was manipulated but not fixed.

[lakerboy]

Did the Colts actually put any drives together or were they pretty much just poor tackling on Tampa that allowed a few BIG plays?


Seemed like anytime I turned the game on, Tampa was putting together a decent drive.


I never had the game on when Indy scored, so I don't know. But I did see there TD's were both over 50 yards ( I think ) And I didn't watch any of the first quarter and a half, which I kinda followed online, but Tampa looked like garbage.

Shouldn't Tampa of won by quite a bit? Or am I wrong in this assumption.

No you are right. Only colts bettors will tell you otherwise.

[McBa1n]

Tampa actually 'gave away' 13 points (not to mention 2 gift TDs to the Colts). There were 2-3 HIGHLY questionable calls in the ball game NOT in Tampa's favor. To be fair, the Colts have enough players in the right spots and the Bucs are (and lets be honest) STUPID enough of football players to make critical errors for the game to be close.

Ron Winter's crew is usually very solid. They did do a reasonable job in the ball game, but the real story was just how f'n dumb and mentally weak the Bucs are (except Freeman). Bucs had many opportunities to score in that game and did a whole lot of nothing until they HAD to. Give the Colts credit, they kept Tampa in check JUST enough to keep the game competitive. I was shocked, it was a pretty entertaining ball game. Colts aren't as bad as the public thinks. Sure, they aren't going to win many ball games, but that's 2 weeks in a row they were in it until the final minutes of the game.

Damn the NFL is fun like that. The only thing to take away from that game is Tampa is really f'n immature and mostly stupid. They have no business being double digit favorites... And also, I'd sure hate fading Freeman if Tampa is laying only a couple of points.

[Legions36]

Only losers make threads about sport games being fixed. Your to worried about 1 dam game to make or break u, wake up already and learn how to bet in increments than to care about 1 game that the refs were calling what, i mean there are the same amount of times when your on the other side where the refs are on that side. Honestly if your worried about 1 game your not doing things right.

[boneheaded1]

Legions. Again another post from someone who didn't even read the original post. The post had nothin to do with me losing anything. Appreciate the speech on betting limits and systems as alot of people on here need that speech (I'm not one of them though).

McBa1n, I agree with alot of your post. However, some of the give away was on ghost calls even Gruden and Jaws were in disbelief of. And one of the gift TD's was a gift from the refs not calling either of the two clips on players just about to tackle Garcon (again that had even Gruden and Jaws in disbelief).

But hey, if you think the NFL would never do that, keep drinking the Kool-aid. While they keep getting those $5 billion TV contracts.

[TheMoneyShot]

I watched the entire game... and I feel the same way. Tampa was driving.... and then odd Holding calls. You can tell the books wanted that game to go under -10 spread. Probably making up for all the Favorites in baseball covering???

[boneheaded1]

Money, the books don't have that type of juice (although yes, they wanted it close too). It was just the NFL wanting the game to stay competitive until the fourth quarter. Keep the audience engaged. Too many blowouts drops the value of their next TV contract.

[4TH AND STUPID]

game that stood out to me the most was cinci/buffalo.

Im a bengals fan and i was laughing at the calls they got, the obvious one where the clear catch was ruled incomplete was ridiculous. But thankfully the bungals took the help and won.

that game was fixed as hell.

i watched the whole thing and was too absolutely shocked by how blatant the fix was. every single possible call went cinncys way.

buffalo and stevie johnson got screwed beyond belief. that was bad. and hilarious too!