I thought there were a few bad calls....some looked suspicious to me.

The broken replay thing is strange. The Bess Fumble was a 'make-up' call IMO, his knee was down and the ball in his hand. There was NO EVIDENCE that the ball moved prior to his knee making contact...the ground can not cause the fumble....BAD CALL.

The pick 6 replay CLEARLY showed a loose ball crossing the LOS. That was easy.

Then when JT caused the fumble the head ref desperately wanted to give the ball to the Saints...he was starting to signal that way...but it was too obvious.

Don't get me wrong. WE lost the game. But sometimes I wonder if Vegas pays them to nudge things at key times.

While it all can't be blamed on the refs, they definitely did influence the game with subjective rulings and they all seemed to sway towards the Saints. This is something that can't happen on any level of refing.. we've complained about it for years in basketball and it was finally brought to light about how the refs were influencing games... and there were clearly instances in this game that the refs just flat got it wrong.. almost purposefully

so again, while not all their fault, they play a huge role in momentum, consistency, and confidence in what the dolphins were doing. To take things away from the dolphins that they deserved makes winning monumentally more difficult.

Most if not all players will openly admit that games are usually won or lost on a handful of plays. Those of you who try to rationalize out of that are just simply lying to yourselves or are trying to seem smarter than others with your bs explanation. If there's a general consensus on a subject that the vast majority agrees on, then usually the tendencies of that subject are true.

The refs totally blew their jobs on this game and heavily contributed to the phins loss.

Apologies for the separate thread - in catching up on reading other threads, it looks like this topic was discussed.

Well, as I said in that separate thread, there was a BIG BOO BOO when the refs had to admit the replay machine was down on a call that they CLEARLY BLEW in OUR FAVOR AT THE START OF THE GAME.

If we had won, no matter by HOW MUCH, then there would have been a constant whine about how that EARLY CALL affected the game (I believe we went on to score a touchdown on that drive but correct me if I'm wrong).

Then I counted 11 calls that certainly could have gone either way but ALL of them went AGAINST US.

We HAD TO LOSE to keep that first bad call from being a topic of conversation around the NFL and putting the NFL on the spot.

Now some people want to think of us contributing to our own demise and we definitely did. But that does not say that we did not get screwed in the process.

The blown call on the Bess catch did not hurt anyone. We ended up punting on that drive anyway. If they get the call right on the field before halftime, then the play is ruled down at the 1/2 yard line and the clock runs out on the Saints, because they had no time outs left. The INT return was not a TD and anyone using multiple angles and some common sense would see that.

The refs blew several calls, that resulted in 14 points for the other team. So, in this case, the refs had a big role in the outcome of this game. And that is coming from someone who almost never complains about the refs. I know they make mistakes, but yesterday was one of the worst jobs by the refs that I have ever witnessed!

those of us that have competed at a high level know how important momentum and confidence are in winning. At a professional level, there are very few things that seperate the winners and losers. When knowing that the refs are blatently calling things against you, then it plays a significant role on your mental state and doesn't allow you to play your game properly. FIghting the refs with the other team almost always equals coming out on the short end.

Just unecessary and the bias was clearly blatant. Even though the phins had to execute, no one can deny that the refs played a huge role and factored in their loss. Say they made the correct calls? Say that the int wasn't a TD like it should have been? Say that the Bess fumble wasn't a fumble like it should have been? Then what? Can you honestly say the Phins lose that game? Do they lose momentum? I think not.

TSSTAMPER wrote:

but I didn't put that together with the refs 'making up' for the bad instant replay thing. Sucks to that...it wasn't the refs' fault that the replay thing was down. They called it the best that they could in live action.

RESPONSE: I don't think anyone said that the refs were to blame for the replay machine going down. The point was that they spent the rest of the game doing "make up" calls for that one.

My theory about them having to do that because of this being a touchdown drive was wrong.

However, I was at great unease when it happened.

I screamed to my wife that they should just consult the network replays when that happens.

My fear was that sooner or later that "We can't review it and we won't ask the network to show us their tape" would come back to SCREW the Dolphins as 40 years have taught me it does.

However, I never thought it would result in a WHOLE GAME WORTH OF MAKEUP CALLS.

Yep - when I said 'It wasn't the refs' fault', I meant they shouldn't have called the rest of the game as if it were their fault. Instead, it looked like they were calling the rest of the game slanted in the Saints' favor.

I think we're agreeing on this one.

There is actually a photo in Sports Illustrated this week, page 10, that clearly shows Sharper losing possession before the 1 yard line.

That call wasn't the reason we lost, but I do think it is what turned the whole game around in the Saints favor and we never recovered.

Doesn't make up for not running, blitzing, dropping the ball, and our usual non existent pass coverage.

Refs wasn't the reason why we lost.

Poor coaching and Poor defense.

Can't blame the refs, Miami blew a 24-3 lead on its own

Those Refs were confused at that game, we all scratched our heads.. They would signal 4th down when it was first down.. When I got home from the Game I got to see all the plays you are talking about... For some reason the Dolphins don't like to play replays at the stadium on the calls being reviewed...

The refs weren't the ONLY reason we lost. However, we lost by 12. The blown calls at the the end of the half and the start of the second half account for 14. The math is simple.

Even still we could've won with a sustained drive in the 4th quarter so maybe you're right, coaching, poor defense, and dropped passes lost the game.

Bottom line...Never would've had to resort to throwing the ball if the 14 points hadn't come into play!!!