Broncos unhappy with officiating

[dragondawg]

By FRANK SCHWAB and DAVID RAMSEY
THE GAZETTE

CHICAGO - Denver Broncos cornerback Dre Bly wasn’t happy with an illegal contact penalty that went against him in the fourth quarter Sunday that allowed the Bears to continue their game-tying drive.

Bly put his hand on Bears receiver Muhsin Muhammad’s shoulder as he ran downfield on a fourth down. The pass was incomplete, but the penalty gave Chicago an automatic first down.

“It’s bogus,” he said. “He said it was illegal contact down the field. I felt like Muhsin ran into me. But them guys, there were calls they missed the whole game.”

Bly said on a fourth-quarter catch by Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler, he thought Bears safety Adam Archuleta grabbed Scheffler and asked the official why there was no holding penalty.

“He said ‘He didn’t grab it long enough,’” Bly said. “What does that got to do with it? He grabbed his jersey. Throw the flag. Referees see plays differently. It’s a judgment call. But hey, it shouldn’t have come down to that.”

Broncos defensive tackle Alvin McKinley was also upset with a defensive holding call in overtime. After that gave the Bears a first down, they downed the ball in the center of the field and then kicked a field goal.

“I don’t understand how a referee could watch Elvis Dumervil get held practically the whole game and then call holding on me?” McKinley said.


Running game
Travis Henry and Selvin Young were inactive because of knee injuries. Then Andre Hall, who was making his first start, sprained his ankle on Denver’s first offensive play.

“It’s a credit to him to play as hard as he did throughout the game,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “He could hardly walk on the sideline.”

Hall rushed for 98 yards on 26 carries. He passed the 100-yard mark but lost 8 on a carry in the fourth quarter. Hall came out of the game in the fourth because he couldn’t play any longer.

“It’s OK,” Hall said. “Little ice, it’ll be all right.”


Blocked punt
With 7:25 left in regulation, Denver held a 34-20 lead and appeared on its way to victory.

Then Charles Tillman blocked Todd Sauerbrun’s punt, giving Chicago the ball at the Broncos’ 18-yard line and setting up a four-play touchdown drive that vaulted the Bears back into contention.

“I didn’t even see the guy,” Sauerbrun said of the block. “I was punting the ball out of bounds, and the guy came right in my face. There was nothing I could have done.”

The Broncos were kicking the ball out of bounds because the Bears’ Devin Hester had returned two kicks for touchdowns.


Bailey and Benson
Bears running back Cedric Benson suffered an ankle injury early in the second quarter after a 21-yard run. Denver’s Champ Bailey stayed with Benson while he waited for the cart that carried him off the field.

“I was just encouraging him, telling him to keep his head up,” Bailey said. “You hate to see a guy go down like that.”


Sapp and Lubick
Broncos fullback Cecil Sapp, who gained 1,601 yards under Sonny Lubick in 2002, doesn’t want to see the Colorado State coach retire.

“He turned that program around into what it is today,” Sapp said. “CSU did have two bad years, but I don’t think he should lay down yet. I think he has some good coaching still in him.”

http://www.gazette.com/sports/broncos_30183___article.html/bears_down.html

[Doggcow]

The Reffing was ****, like a PAC-10 game. a joke.

[BowlenBall]

Andre Hall is a gamer -- I noticed early on that he was limping and wincing between every play. To play the game he did (170+ yards combined) on a sprained ankle -- hats off to you, my man, and consider yourself my second favorite Bronco (after Elvis, natch).

[Blueflame]

Doesn't the NFL still fine players or coaches who publicly criticize the officials? They used to...

[vailitaliano319]

i agree completely, what a fing joke, but in the end, was it the refs who punted, and kicked to devin hester?

[Kaylore]

The Reffing was ****, like a PAC-10 game. a joke.

Yes it was and good description. The Pac-10 refs are crooked as they come. Dumervil was getting tackled the whole game and they didn't call holding once.

[vailitaliano319]

Doesn't the NFL still fine players or coaches who publicly criticize the officials? They used to...


i think thats more NBA, dont think we will see any fines, but I guess time will tell!

[missingnumber7]

Thats the 2nd Defensive holding call we've had that hurt us. There was one against the Packers that was against engleberger i believe. I just don't get how you can be that horrible on the job.
I don't know what shanny said to Nemmers before he went under the hood the 2nd time, but I think he ****ed us. Officials don't blow their whistle 75% of the game and when they do they are wrong. I know first hand officiating isn't that hard, but the mistakes that were made yesterday were horrible. Nemmers crew is consistenly the worst in the league.

[DB_champ24]

ya it was garbage, but hey what can you do about it? Its part of the game

[Bronx33]

Poor officiating was the least of our problems today..

[The MVPlaya]

I am surprised no one mentioned the Stokely challenge it was a catch!

[Blueflame]

Thats the 2nd Defensive holding call we've had that hurt us. There was one against the Packers that was against engleberger i believe. I just don't get how you can be that horrible on the job.
I don't know what shanny said to Nemmers before he went under the hood the 2nd time, but I think he ****ed us. Officials don't blow their whistle 75% of the game and when they do they are wrong. I know first hand officiating isn't that hard, but the mistakes that were made yesterday were horrible. Nemmers crew is consistenly the worst in the league.

So Nemmers is trying to take over the dubious title that has in the past been held by Phil Luckett's and Jeff Triplette's crews... (worst in the league)

It'll take some effort to outdo screwing up a coin toss or mistaking Vinny Testaverde's white helmet for a brown football... LOL

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

This was another bullsh*t call:


3rd Quarter

2-5-DEN 15 (10:39) 6-J.Cutler pass incomplete short middle to 14-B.Stokley. Denver challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #1.)

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay?game_id=29359&displayPage=tab_play_by_play&season=2007&week=REG12



The ball never touched the ground and Stokley never lost control.

[fido]

the officiating was terrible, even the replay people got one wrong. hope the team brings this up.

even the play by play guys brought up the stokely catch. just bad call and even worse on the challenge.

[Dr. Broncenstein]

Dumervil was continually held

Scheffler was repeatedly mugged

Stokely caught the ball with a replay to prove it

Bly gets a ticky-tack call on 4th down

Abdullah would have scored a touchdown


We still should have won this game. Certainly, Chicago doesn't win without every single call going their way... but just don't kick the godamn ball to Devin Hester.

[crazyhorse]

Ah yes.....the excuse thread.

[Broncomutt]

Yes it was and good description. The Pac-10 refs are crooked as they come. Dumervil was getting tackled the whole game and they didn't call holding once.

They called holding on Doom twice that I saw. In fact they were on back to back plays that pushed the Bears out of FG range.....temporarily.

[Raiders Rock]

No touchie after 5 yrds..... it was a correct call

[vancejohnson82]

Mutt,

DOOM was held coming around the edge EVERY SINGLE PASSING PLAY...they called it twice and he was held again ON THE VERY NEXT PLAY

i guess if you get called for holding twice you might as well go ahead and do it the rest of hte game because there will be no more called against you

Playcalling down the stretch was atrocious

we continue to shield Cutler from having to make BIG throws in crucial situations

meanwhile the Bears come out and run a play action on first down in overtime and have the faith in REX F'IN GROSSSMAN to make a big throw

[Northman]

Broncos dont need to blame the refs for anything. Learn how to cover kicks and hold onto a 14 point 4th quarter lead before you start pointing fingers elsewhere.

[Raiders Rock]

Broncos dont need to blame the refs for anything. Learn how to cover kicks and hold onto a 14 point 4th quarter lead before you start pointing fingers elsewhere.

EXACTLY

I almost gave up on the Bears... I layed down on the couch as you guys were absolutely laying the wood to them and then all hell broke loose

I know you all are pissed about that loss but it was a very good game, very exciting

[Rohirrim]

The Broncos got down to the three yard line TWICE, had first and goal to go both times, and came away with three points on both possessions. That's 6 points instead of 14. Game, set, match.

[Raiders Rock]

The Broncos got down to the three yard line TWICE, had first and goal to go both times, and came away with three points on both possessions. That's 6 points instead of 14. Game, set, match.

somebody in the chat said that getting the 3 instead of 7 on a particular drive would come back to haunt them early in the game and it did

[Crushaholic]

As much as I hate it, it was the correct call against Bly. He can't push off beyond 5 yards to establish position.

[RaiderH8r]

Abdullah should have had 6 on the Grossman fumble. Numbnuts blows the play dead and Shanny has to challenge just to get the ball and no points. The refs spotted the Bears 7 right there. Anyone who argues they didn't is an idiot.

So this loss was 3 parts special teams and a 1 heaping cup of referee incompetence.

[Beej]

What about the "rugby scrum" that should have been whistled as a stop in forward progress?

[Muddled]

To be fair, I wouldn't have dreamt of that being a fumble either watching it live, he just dropped it. But the Stokley catch and all the non holding calls on Doom are hard not to be bitter about.

Or the idiotic kicking it to Hester when up by 14 and their offense going nowhere, then when he's burned us twice and made it a game again, we go into full panic mode and spot them the ball at the 50 and don't trust Sauer to hammer it into the endzone on that punt on their half and the kickoff on the 55, really total panic mode, also in the atrociously conservative playcalling on our last few drives, we'd been moving the ball the whole half damn it. Unbelievable loss and it's really stayed with me all day, man I'm bitter

[lex]

Broncos dont need to blame the refs for anything. Learn how to cover kicks and hold onto a 14 point 4th quarter lead before you start pointing fingers elsewhere.

Enough! Yeah, or maybe if Cutler would have completed every single pass, or Hall would have never had a run of less than five yards, or if the defense would have sacked Grossman every time.

Whatever happens in competition doesnt exonerate the referees from not doing their jobs.

[jmz313]

Scored 34, had a 14 pt lead with 6 minutes remaining:

Failed to protect the punter at all during a obvious punt rush situation, soft worn down D, a great catch = Very dissapointing OT loss.

Sucks but nothings changing now. It's on the Broncos not the zebras.

[no-pseudo-fan]

Our young team choked! On that blocked punt, the guy covering the gunner(the guy who blocked the punt) went to join the rest of the team to block the punt. Our gunner should've came down to block because T Sauerbaun was going to kick it out of bounds anyway. This team is not experienced enough to make that change, or the coaching staff blew that little tidbit in ST meetings.

[rovolution]

How about 6 seconds left in the game, Cutler stops the clock with a spike, and a late flag, i mean a laaaaaaate flag, comes in and says illegal motion. WTF was that? I didnt see any receivers or TE motioning across the formation.

BS call.


Archuleta was PIing the entire game

[Atwater His Ass]

How about 6 seconds left in the game, Cutler stops the clock with a spike, and a late flag, i mean a laaaaaaate flag, comes in and says illegal motion. WTF was that? I didnt see any receivers or TE motioning across the formation.

BS call.


Archuleta was PIing the entire game

That was a good call btw. I don't recall who it was, but it was a WR who wasn't set when the snap went off.

[rovolution]

That was a good call btw. I don't recall who it was, but it was a WR who wasn't set when the snap went off.

oh ok. My bad. i must have been really frustrated at that point and just jumped to conclusions.

But Archuleta got away with many a PI call.

[jmz313]

It was martinez. it was a good call. jay just rushed the spike and didn;t give him time to get set.

[yerner]

I normally don't blame the refs, but watching Miller face grab Dumerville all day was unbelievable. I've never seen it that noticeable.

[Punisher]

ya it was garbage, but hey what can you do about it? Its part of the game

Yea a big part in it sucks

[Houshyamama]

We gave this game to the Bears with our special teams play and redzone inefficiency. That said, the reffing was some of the worst I have seen in a long time. Time after time the refs proved their incompetence. The two biggest f'ck ups in my opinion were the Abdullah fumble recovery and Elvis Dum being held on almost every single freaking down.

[troya900]

So many screwed up opportunities this game it was unbelievable. What about giving up the FG after the TO. They worked so hard to get it what like a 3rd and 37 on the 45 yard line then they just lay down on 3rd down and give up and easy catch and run for 20 yards. Giving up that many yards and subsequently a FG right there was huge.

[orange 4 life]

i agree completely, what a fing joke, but in the end, was it the refs who punted, and kicked to devin hester?

no, but LATER in the "end", it WAS the refs that allowed their final drive to continue after bly made a wonderful play on that 4th and 10.

we tried to give the game away, and when that wasnt enough the refs took it from us.

[orange 4 life]

....and because of the extenuating circumstances, this one is on par with the j-ville loss in '96.

i honestly dont recall being this angry since '87 following the disaster against the skins.

[NYBronco]

The officiating didn't lose this game. The special teams need an overhaul and Sauerbum needs a dose of roids or released.

[Atwater His Ass]

....and because of the extenuating circumstances, this one is on par with the j-ville loss in '96.

i honestly dont recall being this angry since '87 following the disaster against the skins.

I can't possibly see how you can compare a regular season road loss from a 5-5 Bronco team to the first round home playoff loss to a sub-par wildcard j-ville team from a Bronco team that very likely could have won the Super Bowl that year.

[azbroncfan]

Poor officiating was the least of our problems today..

This couldn't of been said better.

[BroncoInferno]

Yes it was and good description. The Pac-10 refs are crooked as they come. Dumervil was getting tackled the whole game and they didn't call holding once.

They've been letting tackles get away with hands to the face on him all season. I know he is short, but that should be to his advantage and the rules dictate that the tackles have to adjust. He gets it up in his grill at least half a dozen times a game.