If it\u2019s a given that NFL officials will be criticized now and then, such bad-mouthing becomes that much more significant when some of the league\u2019s most prominent voices \u2014 Cam Newton, Richard Sherman, Josh Norman \u2014 rise in unison to complain about the men in stripes.<\/p>\n
Panthers quarterback Newton, the reigning near-unanimous MVP, was fed up after having his right knee twisted on a low shot from Cardinals defensive tackle Calais Campbell in the third quarter of Carolina\u2019s 30-20 victory over Arizona in a rematch of last season\u2019s NFC championship game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt times, I don\u2019t even feel safe. And enough is enough. I plan on talking to Commissioner (Roger) Goodell about this,\u201d Newton said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I have to do. … I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a person that can go through what I go through and still keep their head.\u201d<\/p>\n
His words Sunday came a couple of months after he absorbed four helmet-to-helmet hits that resulted in a grand total of zero penalty yards in a season-opening loss to the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n
This time, Newton noted the hits to the head while also making an impassioned plea for more protection in the pocket from officials, who he\u2019d rather have make more calls than frequently explain they were sorry for not throwing a flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t keep accepting, \u2018Oh, we missed that one\u2019 or \u2018I apologize for doing that\u2019 or \u2018I didn\u2019t see it,\u2019\u201d Newton said.<\/p>\n
Seahawks cornerback Sherman and his coach, Pete Carroll, complained about what they said were illegal pick plays used by Saints receivers as New Orleans came back to beat Seattle25-20 .<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to play defense like that. It\u2019s tough to play in this league with the way games are being officiated. The rules are already skewed to the offense, but you have to fight through it and find a way to win,\u201d said Sherman, never shy about sharing his thoughts. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious to the outside world how the game was officiated. … I mean, the calls \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 were pretty egregious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another speaks-his-mind, elite cornerback, Washington\u2019s Norman, was upset after drawing five flags \u2014 four for illegal use of hands \u2014 while trying to cover Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green during the teams\u2019 27-all tie in London.<\/p>\n
Norman called out field judge Brad Freeman by uniform number and said: \u201cI\u2019m just going to be honest with you; I\u2019m going to be straightforward: He was terrible. I feel like he should be reprimanded.\u201d<\/p>\n
No stranger to fines from the NFL, Norman \u2014 and Newton and Sherman \u2014 might be getting reprimanded this week.<\/p>\n
In case you missed it, here are the other notable topics after the NFL season\u2019s eighth Sunday:<\/p>\n
0-16?: Only one team, the 2008 Detroit Lions, has gone 0-16, but now the Cleveland Browns are halfway there and looking capable of going a full season without winning after a 31-28 loss at home to possibly the easiest opponent left on the schedule, the QB-challenged New York Jets.<\/p>\n
\nKISSING YOUR SISTER: <\/strong>Maybe the NFL needs to reconsider its overtime rules yet again, because no one likes a tie, and for the first time since 1997, there have been two in one season \u2014 in consecutive weeks, no less. \u201cI don\u2019t think there should be a tie. Is it a win? Is it a loss?\u201d Redskins defensive lineman Chris Baker said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n BRADY\u2019S BACK:<\/strong> So maybe a little longer offseason for Tom Brady helped him and the Patriots. Since returning from his four-game \u201cDeflategate\u201d suspension, Brady has thrown for 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions and led his team to a 4-0 record. His latest masterpiece was a 4-TD performance while beating the Buffalo Bills 41-25.<\/p>\n\n RAIDERS VS. BRONCOS: <\/strong>Let\u2019s look ahead to next Sunday night, when there will be quite a top-of-the-AFC matchup between the Super Bowl champion Broncos and the up-and-coming Oakland Raiders, a pair of 6-2 teams who are chasing the New England Patriots (7-1) for conference supremacy. And while the Raiders set an NFL record by being called for 23 penalties for 200 yards in their 30-24 overtime victory at Tampa Bay this week, the most noteworthy numbers were those put up by Oakland QB Derek Carr: 513 yards, four TDs, zero INTs. Should be fun watching Carr, Amari Cooper and Co. work against Denver\u2019s dominant defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If it\u2019s a given that NFL officials will be criticized now and then, such bad-mouthing becomes that much more significant when some of the league\u2019s most prominent voices \u2014 Cam Newton, Richard Sherman, Josh Norman \u2014 rise in unison to complain about the men in stripes. Panthers quarterback Newton, the reigning near-unanimous MVP, was fed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5894"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}