As bad as some of the officiating calls have been this year I think it's still a lot better than a few years ago. Back then refs would consistantly haul out old un-used rules and apply them liberally to situations that didn't call for them. How many times in the 90s did I see an offensive unit remain on the field after 3rd down for a 10 yard 'taunting' penalty against the defense. First of all that rule is rediculous and second of all I'm sure that the spirit of the rule was to only be used to control the players when tempers were getting out of control to the point of fighting. However those refs somehow found reason to haul that one out two or three times a game back then. The threat of replay challange showing them up has made them better at calling catches, fumbles, and other challangeable offenses however they are still terrible for anything that a coach can't call them on.
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