NFL hot-dogging it & blowing it

This crazy, unbelievable & inexplicable play happened during Sunday Night Football last night, Denver vs Kansas City. I don’t watch a lot of NFL anymore, but when I do, and I see something this crazy, I feel compelled to publish my thoughts here.

Kansas City WR Tyreek Hill is a speed demon, and has his man easily beat with the throw there, but he jumps too early as a showboat maneuver, allowing the defender a swipe to dislodge the slightly underthrown ball, which is better than an overthrown ball. The point is that it’s a professional throw from QB Patrick Mahomes, and should have been an easy six points.

Tyreek Hill actually makes the juggling catch but is unaware of it, because he knew he blew the easy catch, while hitting the ground hard which jars the senses. That’s why Tyreek Hill didn’t call for a challenge, he’s on a knee trying to recover all his senses. If you want to say this is another ego-centric brain-dead jock, who got popped for hot-dogging it, I won’t argue.

In total, the wide receiver, the referee, and head coach all blew this play. Andy Reid inexplicably rushed his punt team out, and the ball was snapped just as the replay came up. I thought Tyreek Hill caught it while watching live on TV, because I never saw the ball pop out. At least burn a time out (especially in the first half) to give your coaching staff upstairs time to review the play.

You need at least two looks at replay to confirm it’s a catch. If Reid thought the Broncos might challenge it as an interception, instead of an incompletion, it’s still a touch-back the same as punting into the endzone on 4th down. I know Andy Reid is a great football coach, but sometimes even the best make mistakes under speed & pressure, and it happened here.

It’s the referee who makes the biggest mistake, by making the wrong call. He’s in good position, but the bodies collide, twist, and fall away from him, so the official doesn’t really see what happens. He instantly has to make a call by ‘best guess’ so he signals incomplete pass. His real mistake is in what he DIDN’T do next.

What he should have done next was signal to a colleague that he needed replay confirmation on that call. If that had been done, it would have been overturned as a touchdown. That’s where the entire officiating crew blew it, with most of the blame going to the guy on the call & the head official. Wide receiver hot-dogging, then bad officiating, followed by poor decision-making by a Hall-of-Fame head coach, are all part of one of the craziest football sequences you will ever see.

NBC aired the game with Al Michaels & Cris Collinsworth on the call. Al is old & Cris never says anything that stays with you. They just sound good, while not telling you anything you need to know. They were behind on this entire sequence as it unfolded. Mike Tirico & Tony Dungy are NBC’s best NFL broadcast team, and IMO are even better than Jim Nance & Tony Romo on CBS. Fox’s broadcasts are a distant third in the NFL watchablility race.

And finally, as a musical artist, I don’t care much for the NBC Sunday Night Football theme song, sung by Carrie Underwood. It’s too vicarious, clichéd & processed for my taste. The biggest thing to ever come from American Idol has a great voice, so she doesn’t need all that sound processing, but Carrie Underwood isn’t a songwriter, so she does need a good song.

This theme song is too much of a rip-off of Hank Williams, Jr’s “All my rowdy friends are here on Monday night” from ABC’s Monday Night Football of yesteryear. It also mimics Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I hate myself for loving you.” Pure formula.

Here’s my anti-Grammy winning NFL theme song for 2020

      1. Patch Me Up Doc - Ric Size

 

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