Do you think the NFL is "rigged?"
 

Pretty simple question: Do you think the NFL is "rigged?"

Specifically, do you believe the NFL has a preferred outcome for games AND orders its officiating crews to make calls for/against teams for the purpose of achieving that preferred outcome?

No.

There are bullshit calls, and certain QBs get breaks, but I don't believe it's orchestrated.

May as well be WWE.

i think this is right

certain teams with certain QBs definitely get breaks, but its not rigged.

Yep. I think that refs can be intimidated by high-profile players and may bias their calls slightly because of it, but I don't think there's a league-sanctioned initiative to throw games.

No. But favorable players get favorable calls. Peyton Manning vs Bernard Pollard, who do you think will get the call. Brady vs Suh... pretty much any QB and the majority of wr's over db's.

Only when Denver or New England plays somebody.

The main reason I reject this is because it is the most potentially fatal thing the NFL could do to it's brand, not because they are above it. It only takes one whistle-blower, one ref "coming clean" and it would be absolutely disastrous. There would be an almost 100% chance of this happening. The NFL knows this.

What I think does happen is that referees, in all sports, tend to favor star players. In baseball you hear it with calling balls and strikes and who "gets the calls". It's been that way since forever. In NFL, those stars tend to be the MVP-caliber quarterbacks.

I think there are protected players

The league's emphasis on bubble-wrapping the QB has really changed the way the game is played, because you can barely hit them at all anymore. Same with receivers, you can't hit them or cover them the same way you used to be able to.

Almost every rule change in recent years has skewed things away from the ground game and toward the passing game. You also have officials looking closely for these things they are told by the league office that we're calling now, and missing things like holding calls.

Its getting more and more flawed and less like the NFL...

I don't think there is anything like the star system in the NBA where the "name" players can get away with anything and get all the calls.

There does seem to be a trend where the calls at critical points in the game disproportionately favor a few of the star QBs. Look at the Pats/Browns game yesterday.

Fwiw, Denver is one of the most penalized team in the league. So there's that...
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It sure seems like they work to get certain matchups that would be favorable for ratings. Who knows.