The New Orleans Saints have sent four different plays to the PML league office for review regarding several potential violations by members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the PML Officiating Crew in the Saints and Buccaneers week 4 and week 17 matchups in which Tampa Bay won both. Could they be making excuses or could there be potential tampering of some kind behind the curtains of the Premier Madden League? Here we have the alleged four snaps in which the Saints are suggesting their may have been foul play. We’ll examine each one and then present the point and counterpoint so you the reader can decide for yourself if the Saints have been cheated or not.
Incident #1: Chris Olave’s Broken Ribs
Examination: Towards the end of the first quarter of the Saints @ Buccaneers week 17 game, Derek Carr completed a pass to Chris Olave who while running after the catch suffered a big hit by Tampa Bay’s defensive back, Carlton Davis III, which resulted in broken ribs. The play occurred near the sideline and sees Davis react as Olave is down in pain. The Saints see this evidence of a targeting system put in place by Tampa Bay to purposely injure New Orleans’ players, specifically Olave.
The Saints are Right: New Orleans says that this hit is a clear depiction of a bounty-gate like system for the Buccaneers as Davis is a player typically unwilling to go for big hits, especially when the sideline is well within reach to push out the receiver. The Saints also say they see Davis’s reaction as a celebration while Olave is down in pain, perhaps that he’s earned a reward or accomplished the goal he had been given. Olave is the player that would be targeted as the best and most effective wide receiver for the Saints by far.
The Saints are Wrong: The opposite side of this is that this is a routine play that led to an unfortunate injury. Davis is a player on a fired up defense in a divisional matchup who had every legal right to make a hit like that. Davis’s reaction also looked like it might have been of instant regret seeing Olave in pain or if it was celebration it was the celebration of a player who just made a big hit on an open field tackle, not possibly having knowledge of the extent of Olave’s injury on the play. It would be quite a reach to connect this routine play to an underlying nefarious scheme of putting a bounty on opponents star players.
Incident #2: Chris Olave’s Dislocated Shoulder
Examination: On a 2nd down run in the middle of the second quarter in the Saints and Buccaneers week 4 matchup Chris Olave is blocking when Carlton Davis III uses an aggressive swim move dislocating Chris Olave’s shoulder knocking him out for the game. The run was towards Olave’s side however the running back had past Olave and Davis could have disengaged and been apart of the play when he instead powered and fought through taking himself out of position to make a tackle.
The Saints are Right: Carlton Davis III again is being overly aggressive with Chris Olave resulting in an unnecessary contact injury. If this was a naturally occuring play, Davis would have made an effort to get off the block for the tackle instead of trying to win by yanking his arm. This is a clear case of a player going out of his way to injure a division rival’s impact player and being a repeat offender proves something could be going on behind the scenes in Tampa Bay.
The Saints are Wrong: Credit to Chris Olave, he laid a good run block and Carlton Davis was locked out and doing what any defender would try to do in getting off the block by any means necessary. He couldn’t see where the runner was because he was engaged in the block and his job is to get off before finding him not to be gentle with the man across from him blocking. This is just another injury that happens in football.
Incident #3: Overturned Michael Thomas Touchdown
Examination: Late in the fourth quarter of the recent week 17 Saints and Buccaneers game, Derek Carr and the New Orlean’s offense threw a touchdown pass to Michael Thomas to make their lead two possessions after intercepting Baker Mayfield for the first time all game. Thomas caught the ball on a corner route but was quickly pushed out of bounds by Tampa Bay’s Jamel Dean. Initially it was called a touchdown and in real time it very much appeared that was the correct call. However, all touchdowns are reviewed and the officials overturned the call to an incomplete pass despite pleading from the New Orleans bench that he got two or maybe even three feet down before being pushed out. As it was a reviewed play, it wasn’t able to be further questioned and challenged by New Orleans and the incomplete was solidified. The shocked offense returned for a four yard run, an incomplete pass and a field goal which kept it a six point game letting Tampa Bay have a game-winning drive that they converted on.
The Saints are Right: This is the most blatant bad call we’ve seen in PML this season and it makes it that much worse that they reviewed and overturned it to the incorrect call. What was said in that huddle between the officiating crew may never be known but it’s hard to imagine a professional bunch of referees could mess up this badly in such an important game. The league needs to record discussions between refs for situations like this to monitor and punish incompetent or dirty officials like they fine our players.
The Saints are Wrong: Refs can be terrible but they must have had an angle that showed something different and justified the incomplete pass call as this was thoroughly reviewed like all scoring plays. Whether the feet didn’t touch or the ball was bobbled, officiating crews are well built to not impact games and make the right calls.
Incident #4: Tyrann Mathieu Pass Interference
Examination: On the ensuing Tampa Bay game winning drive in the Saints and Buccaneers week 17 matchup, Baker Mayfield threw a pass across the deep middle on third and one with just 31 seconds left in the game while having no timeouts when Saints defensive back Tyrann Mathieu stepped up and swatted the ball down while making contact with Tampa Bay wide receiver, Trey Palmer. If the pass break up wasn’t penalized it would have led to a 4th and one with 28 seconds left in the game and 34 yards to go. Instead, the officials instantly threw a flag and granted the Buccaneers a 23 yard defensive pass interference against Mathieu leading to a 1st and ten from the 11 yard line with the same 28 seconds left. This flag boosted the Buccaneers’ win probability from 14% to 61% and has been highly debated if Mathieu got there early or if it was a clean swat.
The Saints are Right: The defender has a right to the ball and Tyrann Mathieu swats the ball before contacting Trey Palmer making it a clean play with an unwarranted game-shifting flag. The referees changed the game by an extreme amount punishing a good defensive play while allowing Tampa Bay’s offense a much easier chance to convert for a touchdown on the game-winning drive. The officiating crew must be investigated for a blatant incorrect call that was compounded with their blunder on the Saints’ previous drive.
The Saints are Wrong: These refs are trained to see contact and know when it is a flag or just two players going for the ball. Without an angle from the back side, where the flag came in, we have to assume Mathieu did get their early on Palmer’s back and his swat was after he had already interfered with the receiver. It may be close, but it is more likely a good call on tight coverage than a conspiracy with refs rigging the game against the Saints.
Conclusion
If any franchise knows what a bounty system would look like, it’s the Saints so their criticisms and concerns are valid and may be investigated if the league agrees it’s possible the Buccaneers are rewarding injuring opponents. However, the plays used as example are not as vicious as New Orleans suggests and most likely these unfortunate injuries to Chris Olave are just a product of a high-intensity and violent game between division rivals. However, the two calls by the officiating crew late in the recent Saints and Buccaneers games were more than suspicious as they heavily impacted the game and even were reviewed and upheld despite evidence of the correct call being there to use. The officiating crew doesn’t have a history of such blatant incompetence so an internal investigation of PML referees is not a bad idea considering this affected playoff seeding and could spread around the league if not addressed. Overall, the Saints have brought up meaningful conversations but Tampa Bay seems innocent while the officiating could actually have a problem of incompetence or fraud. The result of these claims now rests with the PML league office and how they react to such allegations will shape organizations and games for years to come as a precedent of investigating to assure the league is working as intended or perhaps a look of complaining being entertained if nothing illegal is found. Conversely, if PML denies to look into these incidents, it may look as if they are ignoring genuine concerns or defending the league’s integrity without thorough evidence.
