Observations from the cheap seats: Saints drop the Cowboys

Observations: The refs

This is that time where we do our referee gripe.

First, there seemed to be a lot of penalties against the Saints and maybe too much emphasis on holding.

Second, the officials called a personal foul penalty on Vonn Bell early in the game for going over the top of Prescott as he slid – very late, I might add. Bell had nowhere to go, but to his credit he barely contacted Prescott. Still, the refs flagged him.

Later in the game, Teddy B. slid on third down and was contacted and the flag was thrown but there was no call. Commentators said the play is over when he begins his slide and they claim there was no forcible contact with his head, which is untrue.

There isn’t enough consistency with calls.

One more referee note: during the Cowboys’ final drive when they have no time outs, they completed a pass and were hurrying up to the line to set for their next play. The officials often hustle the ball to the line but at normal human speed.

On this particular play, an official was doing his best impression of Usain Bolt getting the ball set for the play. It was quite a counter to the normal speed of officials. Guy was seriously moving…