I’ve done a little research into the games that this Jeff Rice guy has done Packers games, which for some will include most of the same crew and head ref that we just faced. I found some interesting things.
2013 vs Bears - this was a loss for the Packers, as Seneca Wallace was starting the game (Rodgers was hurt). What was interesting is the Packers were not assessed one single penalty for the entire game. Zip, zero, nada. It was a perfect game for them.
2018 vs Falcons - The Packers won this game 34-20 but it wasn’t even that close. The Pack went up 34-7 and it was never actually a game. What’s interesting is that the Falcons were assessed 13 penalties for 101 yards with the Packers getting only 6 penalties for 37 yards. What even more interesting is WHEN each team got their penalties. With the Falcons you can see a similar pattern to what happened to us. When the Packers needed a call, or series of calls, they got it. I’m only seeing 1 penalty given to the Packers in the entire 1st half. It was on a punt return where they called holding, which backed them up to the 7 yard line. The very 1st play of the drive they throw a 15 yard penalty on the Falcons, so the Packers weren’t backed up anymore. Get this - none of the other 5 penalty flags were thrown against the Packers until they had a 34-7 lead.
@wesleysh21, thanks for doing this. Wow! This is the type of shit that should be in a national publication. This should be on all of the NFLN and ESPN stuff. This sort of thing coming out should, at the very least, bar these people from ever officiating a Packer game again.
I’ve heard these guys are mostly people who have great jobs already, and don’t even need the money. They should bring in full-time officiating crews that don’t get to officiate games for the teams they are a fan of. Nobody becomes an NFL official, without first being a fan of football. Fans of football are fans of certain teams. Impossible not to be.
They should screen for this. Hell, I"m not even saying I could be trusted to officiate a lions game.
Who is in charge of investigating officials and making sure they are not involved in gambling on the games they officiate? How do we know this oversight is actually happening?
The funny part of all this is that they actually called quite a few penalties on the Packers early in the game. My son even texted me and said I can’t believe the Packers are getting called for this…The refs are calling a fair game
My response was simple one
“They will make it up to them when the Packers really need it”
But even I had no idea as to to what extent it was going to happen
The Packers only had 3 penalties thrown on them all game for 34 yards. The Jets had 7 for 82. The Jets jumped on Green Bay 21-3 but ended up losing 31-24. Of the 3 penalties that were called on Green Bay, one of them was immediately erased by calling a 27 yard pass interference call on the Jets. the other 2 came back to back, and those were immediately erased with a holding call against the Jets. So effectively, the Packers had no real penalties for the game that they had to deal with.
The Packers had 7 penalties for 43 yards while the Saints had 10 penalties for 72 yards. The Packers won 28-27.
One Packers drive was extended on 3rd down with a timely facemask call on the Saints (incomplete pass on 3rd and 3). The Saints also kicked the go ahead field goal in the closing minutes, but they got called for holding. How often do you see holding on field goals? The Saints backed up and ended up missing the retry. At any rate, the holding call almost seemed like a setup from earlier in the game. They called holding on both the Saints and Packers on extra point attempts. As you know, backing up 10 yards back then didn’t matter because the kicks were so close. But they pulled out the holding call again on the Saints when it mattered. Interesting.
The Packers had 4 penalties for 30 yards and the Giants had 6 for 55 yards. The Packers won 38-35 with a game winning Crosby field goal.
The Packers avoided a 3rd and 11 situation with a timely facemask call that went against the Giants. The facemask also erased a false start penalty by the Packers that happened a few plays earlier. They avoided another 3rd and 8 situation with a defensive pass interference on the Giants. Another drive was extended when Aaron Rodgers was sacked on 3rd and 10…the Giants got called for illegal contact. How convenient! This was a critical call in the game. Instead of the Packers punting from their 25 yard line, the extended drive ended up closer to midfield before they had to punt. The Giants were backed up and had a 3 and out. The Packers were on a short field and scored a touchdown to put them up 35 to 27.
The Packers had 3 penalties for 15 yards and the Jets had 7 penalties for 55 yards. The Packers won 9-0.
The Packers had an incompletion on 3rd and 8…but coincidentally the Jets got called for pass interference. Drive extended. The Jets had a 1st down taken off the board for offensive holding. The Jets had one drive extended on a 3rd and 5 incompletion that the Packers were called for defensive holding. Later in the drive the Jets were called for offensive holding again, then Mark Sanchize threw an interception.
This was an ass whooping of monumental proportions, with the Packers winning 48-10. Teh Packers got 5 penalties for 50 yards while the Seahawks got 8 for 86.
Early in the game the Seahawks (Cory Redding) sacked Aaron Rodgers on 2nd and 15, which should have brought up 3rd and 24. Can you guess what happened? Illegal contact, 5 yard penalty and automatic 1st down. This erased one of the Packers penalties (delay of game on Rodgers). With the Seahawks driving and going in for a score…holding on the Seahawks. The drive stalled and they settled for a field goal. Up 21-3 the Packers had a touchdown taken off the board for an offensive pass interference, so they kicked the field goal to go up 24-3.
Another butt whooping with the Packers winning 36-17. The Packers had 6 penalties for 51 yards and the Rams 6 for 40.
On the Packers first drive of the game there was an incompletion on 3rd and 8 with the Packers having to punt. BUT WAIT! Defensive holding on the Rams, 5 yard penalty and automatic 1st down. Other than that it looks like the Packers just gashed them, and the Rams were starting Kyle Boller at QB.
@wesleysh21, Thats for doing this, brother. That’s a lot of effort you put into that shit, and it’s appreciated.
I wonder if there is somewhere to send this stuff that would be able to shine a bigger light on it? It would be great if someone that had the video capabilities could break it down in a video. Compare his officiating in games that don’t involve the Packers with games that do, etc. This dude is bad news.
I was to tired to look and having migraine issues but this Jeff Rice is a Packer lover …
Here is a stat for you …
When Jeff Rice is the umpire on the crew , he is second to the lead dog.
The games Jeff Rice has officiated when the GreenBay Packers are home has been 16 games between 1999 and 2019
The GreenBay Packers are a lofty 12-4 in the win column and avg less than 5 penalties per game in these 16 contests
They are 5 -5 on the road…and avg less than 6 penalties per game on the road
With Jeff Rice as the Umpire in Lions road games, the Lions have a record of 1-11
In these 12 road games the Lions have been penalized 96 times for 744 yds , for an Average of 8 Penalties a game for 62 yds
The opponents 62 penalties for 507 yds an avg of 5 penalties a game for 42 yds.
Lions at home was just about even in penalties and yds per game for a 5-4 record.
Edited this as I read the stats wrong I thought they were perfect under Rice at home
Appreciate you guys digging up this stuff and organizing it.
The more numbers come out, the more guilty this dude looks.
Wondering how people can sleep at night, doing shit like this? If there is such a thing as Hell and/or Karma, this dude is creating a really tough spot for himself.
Thru my research the small number of Packers penalties start to tell the story. But when you dig into the actual games, it tells an even bigger story. Did the Packers really have 5 penalties (for instance) if 1 of them was immediately erased by a penalty he called on the other team, and then the other 4 weren’t thrown until the Packers had a solid lead late in the game? While the other team had 7 or 8 penalties, but many of them came at crucial times that extended drives or kept the Packers from seeing 3rd and long situations?
To me its pretty clear what happens when he’s officiating a Packers game.