<![CDATA[So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016?]]>The Cleveland Browns saw the biggest decrease between seasons, with 347 less penalty yards in 2016 compared to 2015.

https://sportfacts.org/nfl-penalties-by-team-comparing-the-2016-and-2015-seasons/#more-71251

Number of flags also dropped from something like 136 to 112(?)... hard to tell exact figure on graph. Another site has very different figures: 120 (O 57/D 40/ST 23) down to 95 (46/30/19), and 1086 to 736 yards. Count reduction was pretty uniform across the board for us.

http://www.nflpenalties.com/phase.php?year=2016

Also linked SportFacts article shows that not a single Brown made SportsFacts' All-Penalty team.

Seems like some discipline was instilled. More than enough discipline to overcome the youth of our team.

And for the conspiracy lovers in the audience we were the 4th least penalized team in 2016... down from 11th most in 2015.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/topic/45705/so-the-refs-didn-t-screw-us-in-2016RSS for NodeFri, 02 Oct 2026 09:03:21 GMTThu, 02 Feb 2017 19:07:00 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Fri, 03 Feb 2017 14:25:10 GMT]]>

@choco said:

Eventually everyone will realize that football is entertainment rather than a sport.

It can't be both?

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679428https://brownsboard.com/post/679428Fri, 03 Feb 2017 14:25:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:48:40 GMT]]>The refs are human, and they simply felt sorry for us, usually by the start of the 3rd.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679331https://brownsboard.com/post/679331Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:48:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:08:07 GMT]]>We did, however, get the best refs the least amount of times this season...

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679320https://brownsboard.com/post/679320Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:08:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:31:14 GMT]]>

@canton-dawg said:

The biggest screw job that comes to mind was the phantom Duke Johnson fumble.

I still can't get over Sarah Thomas spotting the ball while Duke is holding it over his head like a trophy.

yep ! But attributing it to ineptness, as some do, I think might be in error, on

glaring bad calls like this one.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679306https://brownsboard.com/post/679306Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:31:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:36:07 GMT]]>

@canton-dawg said:

The biggest screw job that comes to mind was the phantom Duke Johnson fumble.

I still can't get over Sarah Thomas spotting the ball while Duke is holding it over his head like a trophy.

Thus my comment...How else can you explain the sheer incompetence?]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679298https://brownsboard.com/post/679298Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:36:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:27:58 GMT]]>The biggest screw job that comes to mind was the phantom Duke Johnson fumble.

I still can't get over Sarah Thomas spotting the ball while Duke is holding it over his head like a trophy.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679297https://brownsboard.com/post/679297Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:27:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:07:34 GMT]]>Eventually everyone will realize that football is entertainment rather than a sport.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679291https://brownsboard.com/post/679291Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:07:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:59:34 GMT]]>

@calfoxwc said:

doesn't necessarily mean that... depends on who they played, certain teams get favored calls.

And you can research that as NFLPenalties has individual game data as well... have fun...

But on a macro level as the beneficiary of flags on opponents we received:

  • 104 the 11th fewest; and
  • 930 yards the 14th fewest.

Interesting question is how these stats relate to a story that came out yesterday about how our 2016 games were regularly assigned to the league's lowest rated officiating crews.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679248https://brownsboard.com/post/679248Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:59:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:56:53 GMT]]>I'd say the problem is more a league wide thing than a Browns specific problem. The refs seemingly get worse and worse every year and nothing is being done to improve. Of course, there's always going to be human error on these things but the following would be easy fixes

-Make refs full-time

-Hire more refs for better angles (especially for things like PI and holding)

-Expand replay but make it quicker (seriously, it's obvious 95% of the time if it should be overturned, just make the call)

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679245https://brownsboard.com/post/679245Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:56:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:50:20 GMT]]>As I recall we go away unscathed on more occasions this past year than in the previous years.

Of course, I'll never understand how a receiver is supposed to catch a ball with one arm an the other behind his back in the hand of the DB. I understand that DB's have got it rough, rules wise...but they can't be allowed to take an arm away from a receiver.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679241https://brownsboard.com/post/679241Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:50:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So "the Refs" didn't Screw Us in 2016? on Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:12:00 GMT]]>doesn't necessarily mean that... depends on who they played, certain

teams get favored calls.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/679214https://brownsboard.com/post/679214Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:12:00 GMT