Oh the memories.
I had forgotten what it felt like to be a Vikings fan for a minute.
It was all there in that 1st quarter. They had a game plan. It was working. Dalvin Cook was carving up the number 1 rushing defense in the NFL. They were keeping Brady off the field. Dominating the time of possession. They scored the games first touchdown. Offensive line looked up for the challenge. Everyone on the sideline’s feeling pretty good about themselves and…
POOF.
It all dies in a big puff of smoke.
Missed extra point. Two missed field goals. Three absolutely dreadful penalties, all responsible for keeping drives going…
And just like that…down 17-6 at halftime. With Tampa Bay getting the first possession of the 2nd half.
Tack on another missed field goal in the 4th quarter that would’ve cut the deficit to 6.
Ballgame.
So just to recap, the Vikings traveled to Tampa Bay to play a big game against Tom Brady and Company where a win would’ve catapulted them up in the playoff standings. They set the tone early, were looking like they were playing well enough to be there at the end with a chance to win…then were basically out of it by the beginning of the third quarter.
Why?
Kicking and officiating.
Two things that have ZERO to do with the actually playing of football.
Let’s go there for a second.
Why the hell does the NFL need kickers? It literally has nothing to do with the game.
Every NFL Sunday a bunch of 250-300 pound guys get their bodies banged around for 3 hours, then leave the result of the game to a 180 lb soccer player, kicking a prolate spheroid through a space 18.5 feet apart, from 18-70 yards away.
That makes sense.
That’s like the last 20 seconds of a tied NBA game coming down to the last guy on each team’s bench swimming laps in the pool against each other to see who’s the fastest.
No thanks. I’m done with kickers. They literally have nothing to do with the game.
Speaking of which, why do we need officials in the NFL?
Im serious. Why?
Just stick 3 or 4 guys down there who’s only job is to spot the ball, signal touchdowns, and call offsides and delay of game penalties.
Everything else can be done from the booth. Everything is reviewed these days anyway.
Makes sense. Why not?
Make everything legal except personal fouls. If a personal foul occurs, the guys in the booth will radio down to the guys spotting the ball to enforce it. If a player commits two in one game he’s ejected.
Holding? Part of the game. Blocks in the back? Keep your head on a swivel.
Pass Interference? Don’t get me started, the goal of a defense in football is to interfere with everything the offense is doing.
Pass Interference? No shit, that’s my job. I interfere with you catching the ball. You don’t like it, push me back, run faster, use a different route, tell your QB to throw the ball earlier. If I’m here in time my job is to not let you catch it. That’s called pass interference.
Get rid of the pass interference penalty all-together.
It’s not like anyone can tell you exactly what it is anyway. It’s all subjective.
Former NFL referee Walt Coleman once said “I can’t describe in detail what constitutes pass interference but I know it when I see it.”
How comforting.
Fuck off.
Get rid of it.
A blown pass interference call could be a 70 yard penalty and called in the end zone it puts the ball at the one, first and goal. A scenario that almost always leads to points.
Let’s get the kickers and the Referees outta here so we can play some football.
Tired of it.
I gotta watch my underdog Vikings making a valiant effort fall by the wayside because a kicker misses 4 kicks and some dingleberry referee decides to throw the first pass interference flag on a Hail Mary since 2009. All set up by the back to back erroneous calls on the previous possession of pass interference in the end zone (on a ball that was intercepted) and an illegal helmet to helmet hit (on a tackle that literally happens 400 times every NFL Sunday.)
And then I gotta listen to idiots tell me “Well he missed three field goals and an extra point, which is ten points. They lost by twelve so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”
I hate you.
Why do I have to explain how life works to you?
Do you not understand that after he makes an extra point to make it 7-0 after the first touchdown that the act of making that kick instead of missing it brings with it a whole new series of life/game events?
Literally none of the game is the same after that. Minnesota could have won 49-0 or Tampa Bay could’ve won 38-7. There’s literally no way to predict how the game would have turned out.
Same as when he missed the next field goal attempt that would’ve made it 9-0.
Same as it would be had the refs decided not to throw those three bogus flags. Everything changes after that.
You can’t be a fan of a team who loses by 1 point and say ‘we’ll if our kicker would have made that one field goal he missed in the middle of the 2nd quarter we would’ve won by 2.’
That’s not how life works. Why is that so hard to get? I don’t understand how that’s not basic human comprehension and people need that explained to them.
Did you know when you’re playing roulette there’s a 47.4% chance it’ll hit black and a 47.4% chance it’ll hit red?
That’s EVERY SINGLE TIME.
The odds never change. If you show up to a roulette wheel and the ball has landed on black ten times in a row, there’s a 47.4% chance it’ll land on black the next time.
It’s that simple. It’s not due to hit red, unless you think a 47.4% chance is due.
Anyway, enough of this.
Take the flag outta the referee’s hand and tear down all the goal posts.
(And somehow do it retroactive to the 1998 NFC Championship game.)
I’ll volunteer my time to help with both.
