# Season Long NFC North Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 1, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-long-nfc-north-discussion-thread/508514 "2009-09-01T17:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1094
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-long-nfc-north-discussion-thread/508514/1094 "2010-01-11T16:21:56Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I’ve constructed no such strawman. I didn’t say anyone was blaming the loss on the call, but it is kind of denial to say that it was both a facemask that should have negated the winning defensive TD _and_ that it didn’t change the game. I don’t really get this whole ethic that you can’t attribute wins and losses to bad calls. That’s like Sarah Palin claiming man can’t hurt the environment. Refs can and do change games all the time. Saying so is just looking at the facts. I don’t think it’s a testament to sportsmanship or manhood as long as you aren’t making stuff up or attributing a 20 point loss to one call. I know you’re still butthurt about this from a couple weeks ago, but I think I know what the difference is. It is unmanly to complain about bad calls adversely affecting _your_ team. When it’s another team that you don’t care about, it’s perfectly fine. Instead of “they’re screwing over my guys!”, it’s more about screweing up the integrity of the league. I hate the rule about not being allowed to touch a QB above the neck or below the thigh. As a fan of defensive football I think they hurt the game in a real and meaningful way. However, they were extremely consistent on calling those rules all season, and to then not call that heavily-enforced rule on the game-deciding play of an overtime playoff game is simply uncool. I also hate the non-contact after five yards emphasis on the same grounds. For example, what the officials did to Revis on Saturday was a joke. The difference there was that the Jets were clearly good enough to overcome bad calls while the Packers were not. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-long-nfc-north-discussion-thread/508514)._