Fourth Quarter Defensive Collapse Aside, Joey Porter Blames Ed Hochuli For Dolphins’ Loss

NFL officials have taken such a beating in the past few weeks, and rightfully so, that Commissioner Roger Goodell needed to give them a collective conference call pep talk this weekend to boost their confidence before Sunday’s slate of games. The most embattled ref of them all, Ed Hochuli, has been the poster child for poor officiating since blowing a fumble call in Week 2 and costing the San Diego Chargers a victory. Hochuli and his massive guns have made mistakes this year, no doubt, and are deserving of some criticism. But Miami Dolphins’ LB Joey Porter set a new tone for the rest of the season following his team’s 29-28 loss to the Houston Texans yesterday. Since Hochuli’s crew officiated his game, then they are automatically to blame for the loss.

Porter believes his hit on Houston quarterback Matt Schaub with 1:02 left in the game didn’t cause an incomplete pass, but rather a fumble that the Dolphins recovered. He also, less emphatically, referred to a scoop by cornerback Andre Goodman of an underthrown pass that originally was ruled an interception, then called an incompletion after a review by Hochuli ordered by the replay booth.

”I came up with a sack,” Porter said. ‘They have second and 18. They get the first down. I come back again, a sack. I swear, I just know he fumbled the ball. I went and got it. Then, they take that away. We get an interception, they take that away. I’m like, `Man, it’s crazy that the same referee staff from all of this other stuff that’s been happening was out there.”’

We can’t speak for the sack, but the report does note that the Goodman call appears to be the correct one. Porter, we think, ought to be more concerned that his defense let the Texans offense go 76 yards in 1:45 to close the game, and then allowed Schaub to run into the end zone entirely unmolested, with just seconds left, for the winning score. If Hochuli blew the fumble call, that certainly hurt the Dolphins. But it did not cost them the game. Their defense’s inability to stop a winless team from executing a two-minute drill is what did that.
Bad calls are made every week in the NFL. It’s the cost of doing business, and teams will probably accept that when it comes to most officiating crews. But not Hochuli’s. Since his crew has already been blamed for at least one loss, why not blame him for every loss? It let’s your team off the hook when they perform badly! And you’ll be able to hold your head up high in the locker room despite blowing a fourth quarter lead to one of the worst teams in football.
Miami Dolphins’ Porter blasts refs [Miami Herald]
Image [Czabe.com]