Titans coach Jeff Fisher, a member of the league’s competition committee, says that two widely discussed hits on quarterbacks in the NFL this were were wrongly officiated by the referees.
Fisher said in a discussion with Rich Eisen on NFL Network’s Total Access that in Sunday’s game against the Steelers there was a hit on his own quarterback, Vince Young, that should have been called roughing the passer but didn’t draw a flag. Meanwhile, Fisher said, Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs was wrongly penalized for roughing the passer for a hit on Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer that wasn’t against the rules.
Regarding the hit on Young, who was sacked, picked up and driven into the ground on Sunday, Fisher said the referee screwed up by not throwing his flag.
“That should have been called,” Fisher said. “That is roughing the passer. That is textbook. You cannot lift and drive a quarterback into the ground. Now, why that was not called? I cannot answer that. I don’t know. But that should have been called.”
The league office apparently agrees with Fisher, because Steelers linebacker James Harrison was fined $5,000 for the play.
But Fisher says that while the referee in the Steelers-Titans game didn’t do enough to protect Young, the referee in the Ravens-Bengals game went too far in trying to protect Palmer.
“This is a clean hit on the quarterback,” Fisher said as video of Suggs’ hit on Palmer was shown.
Former V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira has already gone on record as saying he disagreed with the flag on Suggs as well.
Fisher did, however, defend the NFL’s referees in general, and he pointed to another roughing the passer penalty — called on Fred Robbins of the Rams on Sunday against the Raiders — as an example of one that the referee got right.
“The job of the referee is not an easy job — the job of all seven of
those officials is not easy,” Fisher said. “There’s going to be mistakes
that are made.”
If the whistle had been blown or by had gone to the ground, than yeah that should have been a flag. However, neither happened until Harrison made it happen. Another bs fine by the terrible current commish. The suggs call was the epitome of bs as well. Btw when did Jeff fisher become a whiny little bitch, I used to have respect for him.
Surprised the Young hit only resulted in one $5000 fine. Doesn’t seem like it is enough to encourage players not to body slam a QB with two friends helping.
why no flag on Young hit? look who you were playing.
In all fairness.. Suggs is the dirtiest player in football
“The job of the referee is not an easy job — the job of all seven of those officials is not easy,” Fisher said. “There’s going to be mistakes that are made.”
______
Give us that obvious pass interference on T.O. in the end zone and call the obvious holding on Odom and you can have your roughing the passer. You win some you lose some. Ray Lewis should just man up and realize if they would have played better football than us than his team wouldn’t have been put in this situation to begin with.
No mention of roughing the kicker in the Jets vs Ravens game which was totally bogus.
This coming from someone who’s member name is “Igottz5onit”. Why don’t you stop worrying about having respect for Jeff Fisher and start worrying about having respect for your parents and not exploit the fact that you smoke weed. Yea, your cool buddy. Its people like you that give Marijuana smokers a bad rep. Looser.
VY is a wussy.
Everyone knows it.
He can’t play at the NFL level consistantly.
Or even on occasion.
As a Bengals fan I have already been on the side of too many wrong calls. Too many years the Ravens and Steelers got the calls so I don’t feel Cinci got anything they didn’t deserve. I still remember the Steelers planting Ken Anderson on his head, not much happened to the Steelers there or how about the opening game of the 2005 playoffs when Kimo hit Carson in the knee after the throw? The only reason PFT is complaining is that they need to find ways for the Ravens to win so they can win the Superbowl. Ravens will not even win the AFC North. Cinci is still the champs of the AFC North and until the Ravens, Steelers or Browns beat them they still will be. 9 AFC North wins in a row and counting.
I said a week ago after the Calvin Johnson TD, or lack thereof, that I no longer knew what a TD was. Now I can say the same thing about roughing the passer. I have no idea what’s legal. Suggs’ hit was a textbook sack….Flag. The Steelers corkscrew was a textbook roughing the passer….nothing. What is going on? Looks to me like we have refs from Cinncinati and Pittsburgh working the games!!
Have a look at this play, where McClain was flagged and compare it to the play where Harrison wasn’t flagged.
Note: This play DIDN’T involve a QB and he was flagged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvl6l_kDyIs&feature=related
Fisher, of course, is absolutely correct on both counts.
fish knows his stuff
Does anyone else wonder why it is always the Steelers that get the no-calls on roughing and obvious personal fouls while everybody else (no, actually the Patriots fall into the same category) gets called? But it couldn’t possibly be because of owner’s political pull, right!
…after he worked so hard to bring vince out of his shell – now these nasty defensive players have to do their job (which obviously shouldn’t be their job) and mess up all that work…p!@#$%^lease…land sakes, what’s this league coming to!!!
Fisher is a 1st class ass-wipe!
Robbins didn’t do much to earn his flag, but still, after the QB gets the ball away, pushing him, slapping him, or grabbing his junk just isn’t allowed. He had plenty of time to think about it, and did it anyway.
YEAH, YEAH YEAH, WE SEEN IT ON NFL TOTAL ACCESS.
WHAT IS THIS???
RECHANNELLED NEWS.
OH WAIT…
IT IS
What ever happened to playing until you hear the whistle? Sounds like an official problem not a James Harrison problem.
Spiking VY on his head should have been flagged. There is no excuse for that.
I am still in shock a flag wasnt thrown on Harrison, One thing is for sure, the refs won’t protect Young like they do Manning, Brady and Palmer…….He’s on his own……
I suppose that the best part of all this is that it’s getting some scrutiny. While player safety is the stated reason, I suspect TV ratings have more to do with it. The supposed defenseless player argument is a canard. There are more injuries along the line of scrimmage with players falling over each other than the big hit tackle in front of the cameras.
I didn’t see the Steelers/Titans game in it’s entirety. But I did see Young on the sidelines after he was benched. He looked fine.
GO STEELERS!
The gang tackle of VY was in response for the three Titans ganging up Hines Ward in the first quarter. The Titans got embarassed with an opening kick off returned for a TD and were chippy through most of the first half.
Paybacks are a bitch Jeffy; your team talks alot and got pummeled on Sunday.
Al_Davis_needs_a_dirtnap says:
September 22, 2010 8:02 PM
why no flag on Young hit? look who you were playing.
…….
You haven’t watched very many Steelers games, apparantly.
And Jeff Fisher needs to quit acting like a whiney little bitch. He lost because his team turned the ball over 7…..I repeat…7 times, did you hear that Jeff? 7 times. The Steelers Defense totally destroyed them.
If this was Brad Childress, you’d all be crying afoul with 100+ comments.
Double. Standard.
in b4 some clever quip from some asshole who still thinks “Viqueens” is funny.
# Al_Davis_needs_a_dirtnap says: September 22, 2010 8:02 PM
“why no flag on Young hit? look who you were playing.”
Nah, that isn’t it – after 7 turnovers the officials figured VY deserved it. Served him right.
Anybody see the helmet-to-helmet hit on Flacco the first drive for the Ravens during the Ravens/Jets Monday night game? Ferocious. His head snapped back like he was rear-ended by a Mack truck while sitting at a red light. No flag. I guess they can’t get them all.
In this particular case I’m not sure what the whistle has to do with it – Fisher is referring to how he was tackled – not when.
I miss the days when everyone understood that some calls went your way and others didn’t.
let them piss and moan all they want the NFL since Goodell took over is turning into a pansy wansy game. Look throw a flag
The Titans got their ass handed to them by the Steel Curtain Incarnate.
If the Titans were good enough to beat the Steelers they would of found a way. No excuses in the NFL, only results.
I guess Fisher should review all the films of Harrison arms wrapped around his neck and no call including one in his game. Begining to sound a lot like he may want to watch films of his QB and his development more than the officials. Ever game every coach and every fan could throw out what they feel is a bad call. COME ON MAN!!!!
Hey Fisher and other Steeler haters,
Harrison gets held every play and the Steelers don’t cry about it. Yes, the Steelers get preferential treatment- they are down to playing their fourth string QB on a extremely disparate suspension of Ben. Once Ben is acquitted, Goodell should make every team the Steelers play in the next four games use their third string QB just to make things equal.
just tell fisher to stfu and coach. If he wants to make fun of the refs, just watch any raider game, they get hosed on a regular basis.
@ bigox
the NFL rulebook clearly states that a qb is not allowed to be hit at the knees or if the qb is in clear danger and wrapped up it is the duty of the official to blow his whistle. Since neither of these apply (the whistle was blown mid-slam) the refs were right in not throwing a flag.
“The refs blew it”
/The universal loser mating call.
How in the hell do the Rooneys get away with this stuff? They run the worst organization of dirt-bags in the NFL and still manage to get away with it, time after time after time. Not even the Giants or Patriots can get away with this stuff. Is Rooney the head of the NFL’s Compensation Committee? Obviously he has leverage over Goodell that nobody else has. How else can you explain these kind of “get-out-of-jail” passes and Big Ben’s “special dispensation”?
I agree with Fisher.
Do any of these officials ever get fined by the league for bad calls? Is it possible to do so?
Everything should be reviewable and/or challengeable.
If the refs don’t agree or have to confer, then they should be going to the booth. There’s no excuse to not have almost every camera angle covered with high quality equipment and professionals on point at relaying the best views down in these days and ages.
If a team disagrees then they should have the option to challenge anything. It then is up to them use their limited challenges wisely at key points in the game. Also, successful challenges should not take away.
We spend our entire Sundays & Mondays watching football and following weeks waiting for the next Sunday. There’s no excuse for incompetent officiating tarnishing what love with what they make off us.
Why was a flag thrown for this play?
http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=Lvl 6l_kDyIs&feature=rel ated
WOW thats weird, ANOTHER rigged Steelers game! What have I been saying for years? That the AFC North is completely rigged! And EVERY SINGLE YEAR the NFL reaffirms it- just everyone is a moron and can’t connect the dots. Hmm.. seems a little strange that 1). The Ravens have had the most controversially officiated game FOR EACH OF THE LAST THREE (and so far, FOUR) years, and every single year they’ve been on the short end! 2007- Ravens-Pats- lots of people thought it was rigged to get the Patriots to keep the Pats undefeated record; 2008- Ravens-Steelers- really you could pick one because all three were ABSURDLY RIGGED (Esiason at halftime of the third game- “in a season of bad calls, that was the worst call of the year” – any guess who the call went against?) but I’ll go with game 2 in BMore, when Holmes caught the game winning “TD”, 2009- Ravens- Patriots (or you could go with Ravens-Bengals I…..or Ravens-Steelers II)- Tom Brady literally asking the ref for penalties and being given them (why not, they rig every other important Ravens game?) 2010- Ravens-Bengals- Bengals are down by 1 late in the 4th quarter and can’t move the ball on the Ravens d? No problem! Here’s two completely ridiculous penalties to hand you the win! None of this seems a LITTLE weird to any of you morons, huh?
James Harrison should have a free pass to body-slam opponents, especially quarterbacks, until the refs starting calling holding on all the left tackles that continue to hold him. You go James, you go.
Goodel has ordered the officials not to penalize his Steelers. At least one ref has come clean saying he blew numerous Super Bowl calls vs the Seahawks. How long will it take for some Steeler fan sitting down on the computer with his wrangler jeans, no teeth, reebok tennis shoes from the 1980′s , and reading on the third grade level to say “you are just hatin on us because we have six” No you have five. You were given one and now the official has come clean to admit it.
9 AFC NORTH wins and counting???? Nice little stat. Now let’s try 2 Super Bowl wins in a span of 5 years.
The Steelers, you know who they are the 6X Super Bowl Champions.
And how many Super Bowl victories 4 cinci ? zero! 2 appearances both losses to the 49er’s over 20 years ago.
bigd7387 I hope you continue your winning streak of 9 afc north wins….
I saw both hits, and I think the hit by Harrison, while illegal in nature, was the fault of the ref. The play wasn’t blown dead until Young was thrown to the ground. As soon as he was wrapped up the ref should have blown it dead. I don’t know if Harrison and the other Steeler involved (who somehow dodged a fine) would have stopped, but the ref should have made clear that it was time to stop.
Its hilarious all the people who whine about the Steelers constantly. WAHHH, the Steelers never get flagged and get all the calls!!!! Yet they constantly have calls go against them and they never flag for holding against James Harrison, even though it happens constantly.
Most of you are fans of garbage teams that have never accomplished anything and probably never will.
As for the fine, it was warranted. Shouldve been a flag, I admit. Oh well….wouldnt have effected the outcomes so who cares?
Anyway…continue hating. Its actually fun to watch you losers cry constantly.
the NFL is taking away my real game of football. The officials just suck all around, not just my team, but all teams.
Wow the jealousy of the steelers is really showing it’s head tonight. Ccoolahan’s is the saddest though, yes it is a conspiracy that keeps Baltimore from winning a super bowl, not their offense’s inability to score… Get a life.
Play until the whistle blows, that is how all football players are supposed to play. Imagine if Harrison had let up, the referee continued swallowing his whistle and somehow VY slipped out and gained 10 yards. Then the shoe would be on the other foot.
If the whistle isn’t blown and the player being tackled is still trying to gain yards then do whatever is necessary to make that whistle blow (i.e. slam the guy to the turf). I liked the non-call, however I do not like the fact that the whistle was swallowed with 3 guys holding VY. The non-call was purely the refs fault for not blowing the QB down and stopping the play. Therefore, it WAS NOT unnecessary roughness by rule.
Company CEO, wonderful post. Now it’s time to take your meds. Those damn voices must be talking to you again.
Notice he said NOTHING about Finnegan throwing punches all day long…..
fuk allof you… Harrison gets Held on almost every play .. watch a game once in awhile. Young should of just went down instead of trying to elude the sack…..
I seen Dixon get lit up a few times this yr and NO FLAGS! I dont hear anyone cryin for a flag then.
lol we forced over 6turnovers that day n yall worried about one 1 sack.lmao stupid asses.
I can see Fisher’s argument, but when three players weighing a combined 750 lbs. hit a 220 lb. QB at the same time bad things are going to happen.
Bottom line, Vince jumped right up after the hit so it obviously wasn’t as bad as it looked.
Maybe Fisher should be more concerned with how his o-line let three defenders arrive at his QB virtually un-touched.
Is there ANYTHING that Jeff Fisher does not whine about?!
Stop hating on Fisher, he made these comments as a result of being part of the competition committee which has a rotating spot on NFL total access. He wasn’t bitching. He was just stating the facts.
If roughing the passer plays were reviewable the two teams that would benefit the most would be the Ravens and Jets. Physical, blitz oriented defenses that play clean but may look too harsh at game speed. But, since the Jets and Ravens owners don’t have the pull of the bigwigs, it won’t happen.
And, man, imagine if Manning or Brady had been piledriven like Vince Young was. That shot would be on rotating loop around espn for the next 4 months. There’d have been a suspension and the Steelers would have been circumspect for the rest of the season. I’m also a white dude who leans right but I really wonder if Vince Young wasn’t 6’5, black and known to be physical if there is any chance a flag doesn’t get thrown there. Ridiculous double standard.
Now Fisher is going to fix all of these bad calls by suing Lane Kiffin!
Coach Fisher is a first class guy. He should be drafted as a Referee because he could put an end to this type of football favoritism.
why did the refs blow those calls? simple answer, Titans – 6, Ravens -3. Most of the money was on both. So the refs changed the momentum with a few calls. They helped the bookies win, and they get their $, for influencing the outcome.
There are contraversial calls in EVERY game..EVERY week. You only hear about the ones in Steeler games because…well..that’s the only game on that anyone should care about.
THE STEELERS ARE AMERICA’S TEAM.
All you haters can go to canada.
For any one of you who truly believes the NFL is rigged, I have one question: Why do you still watch? Doesn’t it mean that when your team wins, it was rigged in their favor? Or do you somehow cling to the delusion that when your team loses it was rigged, but when they win they were able to overcome it?
James Harrison gets held literally every play. It’s the only way you can stop him. He is easily the best defensive player in the game…..this is not debatable if you truly watch the film.
Steeler fans are used to not getting the call and that QB sack was the greatest sack I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t care if it would have gotten a flag….It would have sent a message. Don’t stomp on a symbol of our football team!
Fear the Steelers! The QBs do.
The Ravens didn’t complain when they got a BS roughing the kicker call in week 1 which resulted in a touchdown which is the only reason they beat the Jets.
Maybe it was karma on the Suggs call which I agree was BS but it happens, sometimes you get the calls sometimes you don’t.
You’re missing the main problem here. Active coaches/GMs/owners shouldn’t be the ones grading referees. That creates an incentive for the refs to favor those particular teams.
“James Harrison is held on every play” says every Steelers fan ever. Repeat it enough and even knowledgeable fans start believing it. Maybe if James spent more energy driving to the QB than looking for the hold, refs would start throwing the flag when it actually does happen.
“James Harrison is held on every play” says every Steelers fan ever.
————–
Considering the amount of steroids and hGH coursing through his veins, it’s no wonder the quarterbacks instruct their linemen to hold.
The posts here are just idiotic, people are just so focised on what they want to say and not what the issue is. Whistle was not an issue in either case, nobody is saying that that call causedon team or the other the game, Ray Lewis is nowhere even mentioned here.
Just stupid reading through these absolutely uninformed comments.
Suggs cleanly tackled Palmer, no hit on the legs or the head, his arms wrapped around the waist. Plamer still has the ball in his hand when Suggs already has his hands on him. He does not pick him up and not drive him into the ground, just goes down with him.
Harrison picks VY up and off of his legs and then drives him into the ground with VYs head hitting the ground.
Whether the rules have softened the game yadda yadda yadda or not … one is clearly a clean tackle ( whether Suggs is a dirty player or not WHAT DOES TAHT HAVE ANYTHING TO WITH ANYTHING????) … and one is a clear roughing the passer based on current rules. Has nothing to do with who is leading what or winning or losing or whining. All these comments are just completely asinine.
The question is how do you prepare, coach and play the game when you do not know how it will be officiated. Has nothing to do against who the call is made or not made. There is just too much of a difference between a drive ending sack and and an automatice first down and 15 yards ….
Somesome,
how is harrison’s hit a clear case if roughing the passer when it clearly did not violate any of the criteria that is writen in the rule? It was not a hit to the knees, no hands to the head, and no whistle blown. Just because a qb gets slammed (while holding the ball) does not make it a case of roughing. The suggs hit was definitely a no-call as well.
Vince needed his overrated punk ass put in place and shwo that he is not playign SMU every week!