Dec 16th 2008 3:30PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Ravens, Steelers, AFC North, Pressing Issues, NFL Fans, NFL Real Talk, NFL Referees
As I mentioned in the Zebra Report, the controversial ending to the Steelers/Ravens game from this past weekend has caused NFL officiating and their use of replay to come under fire, not to mention the overall knowledge of NFL referees and if they should be asking for help on rules interpretation when under the replay hood. We NFL ‘Housers figured we’d have a little discussion on the matter.

ProFootballTalk speculates that Walt Coleman didn’t understand the rule on the Holmes “touchdown” in Baltimore on Sunday.

Mike Florio also cites the Steelers-Chargers finish and the “intentional grounding” on Aaron Rodgers against the Vikings as other examples of officials possibly not understanding rules. Obviously, the Rodgers play wasn’t reviewable, but the other two were. When a referee goes under the hood, can he ask the booth what a specific rule is? I mean, I’ve seen the rulebook and I know it’s insane. I’ve taken the NCAA officiating exam and done horribly at it, so it’s hard for me to expect a human being to know every rule at all times.
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