Full disclosure: I was kinda getting bored with the same old CBS broadcasting crews.
Sure they bring some decent insight to the table, and sure they have some great graphics, but what don’t they have?
Okay, maybe you’re not a Cleatus fan. And that’s fair. Some people think a giant football playing robot who could stand toe-to-toe with any Transformer (and would never be foolish enough to befriend Shia LeBeouf), is just lame. And to those folks I simply say… you’re lame.
One thing this game did feature plenty of, and I highly doubt you’ll get much argument from a soul with 2 good eyes, is dirty laundry.
That’s right. A Ravens game in 2015 with more yellow flags than you can shake a stick at- who would’ve thunk it?!
Fortunately, the dynamic duo of Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston were accompanied by the officiating rockstar and ‘Rules Analyst’ Mike Pereira.
(Pst! FOX! Work on a better title than ‘Rules Analyst.’ Try maybe “Officiating Guru’ or ‘Guy who knows more than any of the zebras on the field.’)
Pereira is the man. He breaks down a call at the drop of a hat (literally, if an official has used their flag and drops their hat for a 2nd call- Pereira is right there) and he does it in such an eloquent, yet simplistic way, that even a Steelers fan could understand it (snaps).
Take for instance Joe Flacco’s pass to Jeremy Butler midway through the 1st quarter on Sunday. Joe hit Butler for a short gain, and Butler was then hit by James Lauranitis and fumbled the ball. Lauranitis then covered the ball while his backside was out of bounds. The initial ruling on the field was that Butler caught the ball and was pushed out of bounds after a six-yard gain. But in comes the mustachioed Jeff Fisher with that grump ‘get off my lawn’ old man monotone face of his, throwing a flag and, per Tony Corrente, challenged whether the ball was fumbled AND recovered by the Rams.
Clearly, it was recovered out of bounds, but Mike Pereira stepped in to offer his 2 cents (which I’d pay much more for).
“Here you have 2 things to look at- Is it a fumble? But go to the 2nd part, afterwards with St Louis. Did they get possession of the ball? It’s loose there, and by the time he secures possessions he’s on the ground out of bounds. So the 1st part is irrelevant. It’s’ going to be a fumble out of bounds and Baltimore retains the ball.”
And by George, the man was spot on!
Moments after Corrente’s regurgitation of what Pereira just told us fans glued to the TV, Daryl Johnston realized that Corrente has assessed that “St Louis will not be charged a timeout.” Which, to many, made no sense. If the Ravens kept the ball, and St Louis didn’t recover, how did the Rams NOT lose that timeout?
In steps Mikey P once again.
“St Louis was not charged a timeout because they won a portion of the challenge. Because they ruled the runner down, when in fact it was a fumble, they won that aspect of the play. Now they don’t get the ball because the recovery was out of bounds, but since it was reversed from a down by contact to a fumble that means they won the challenge, they won an aspect of the play… and therefore they are not charged a timeout.”
So what did we learn today? That plays involving multiple pieces to review- in this instance pushed out of bounds versus fumbled in bounds, as well as possession – can only result in one portion being overturned, and not cost a team a timeout for the other portion being upheld.
Did you know that?
You’re lying, you had no idea and Mike Pereira just dropped a Snapple fact in your lap.
Unfortunately… this is the last we’d here from Pereira for the remainder of this game.
Was he busy with other games that required his services? Is he only obligated to pop in once per game? Were the calls so easy to assess that they let him take the day off? Did he eat Taco Bell at 2 AM and his availability the next day became limited at best? Did he have too much Tito’s vodka?
Nobody knows (other than FOX) but unfortunately for us fans, he went the way of Breshad Perriman and disappeared, likely until next season (the Ravens, currently, don’t have any other FOX games scheduled this year).
Despite the Officiating Guru’s absence, I have to give props to Johnston and Kenny Albert (who just has one of those typical 1980’s announcer voices) for holding down the fort. The duo managed to keep tabs on most of the penalties called throughout the game, and nailed the calls on many of the plays.
Remember when Case Keenum was kinda, sorta almost beyond the line of scrimmage?
Here’s what Johnston had to say about it immediately following the play:
“Boy it really did look like Case Keenum was beyond the line of scrimmage… You’ve got to be fully beyond the line of scrimmage, but it looked to me like he was definitely close, I think he was well beyond…. He is behind it I’m wrong. You just need a portion of your body behind the line that line of scrimmage. I thought he was all the way beyond.”
So riddle me this John Harbaugh- if the broadcast team picks it up immediately why is it that you/your ‘eyes in the sky’/coordinators collectively agreed to challenge it? Sure it was close, but clearly a quick replay showed it was a wasted timeout!
Side note: I’m not sure if the upheld call got the crowd riled up into a booing frenzy, or if it was anger with John for a bad challenge but Baltimore, we really need to sit down and discuss this whole “BS” chanting thing. I get it. We’re angry, and what better way to express that than using 4-letter words at the top of our collective lungs? But it was SO LOUD I could clearly hear every syllable pronounced through my TV over, and over, and over, and over… let’s keep a little classier, eh? Leave that stuff for Pats fans…
But I digress.
We also had the penalty on Doom for a Personal Foul, as Corrente decided to tell Doom he lifted Keenum up and slammed him down. Which CLEARLY means Corrente didn’t see this…
WOW LOOK AT THAT LIFT (he says with complete sarcasm)!!
Of course Johnston was on board with the masses of Ravens fans ready to tackle Corrente on the field.
“That’s the big thing. It’s not a late hit, you’re there on time, but now you’re gonna… well… let’s see… boy they’re calling this close. Alright you’re gonna agree with some of these calls you’re gonna disagree with some of these calls right now just understand that Tony Corrente is calling this game extremely tight. I did not see Dumervil pick up the quarterback and drive him to the ground.”
Thank you DJ!!
And he wasn’t done shredding the officials there! Like the penalty on the Mosley/Gurley DPI that was called on 21.
“21 is Webb?! Hmmm….” (followed by what sounded halfway between a chuckle and a head shake in disgust/confusion)
How about when Jeff Fisher questioned a call by Corrente’s crew.
“I feel better that Jeff Fisher who is on the competition and rules committee is having trouble understanding some of the things here today Kenny.”
How about one more shot for good measure?
“How many times have we seen multiple flags today? And not all the officials chiming in one or possibly two, but it looks like we could have 3 calls for the third time today I think?”
Tony Corrente – your crew has just been owned by a broadcast booth. Wow.
So thank you Daryl Johnston/Marv Albert/Mike Pereira. You turned an otherwise extremely stressful and infuriating game into something worth watching. And what’s more? You managed to agree with Ravens fans about penalties – something we are absolutely not used to hearing.
We need more broadcast teams like this, and less whiny announcers who are obsessed with quarterbacks on their former team whose helmet color matches their hair. (hint: rhymes with Bliss Holins-worst)
