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The saints had a string of miscues coupled with bad luck. That call didn't lose the game, but it sure didn't help.

I agree that Reggie should not have fumbled, but come on. That face mask was obvious from a mile away, just look at the picture.. It turned his helmet. Another blown call by Ed Hocculi and crew.. I used to be a fan of Hocculi but I really do not want his crew reffing any playoff games this year. First the Denver call, then the Juliius Peppers call, and now this missed one call. Not good Ed.

There are blown calls in every game, some work for you and some don't. The Saints need to get over it and move on.

Ed Hocculi needs to be let go by the NFL. He continues to blow game-changing calls. And now he's become gun-shy. Did you hear his lenthy explanations every time he called a penalty in the Saints-Vikings game? He sounds like he's afraid of being second-guessed. Time to go back to lawyering, Ed. Probably make more money, anyway.

Actually, the fumble would have never happened had the face-mask not be committed. If you watch the replay, you'll see that the face-mask slowed down Reggie enough that the Vike got his hand on the ball.

You're right Dave. However, it turns the momentum of the game from a 15 yards personal foul to a viking possession. The face mask was too darn obvious for a no penalty. To be honest, when i saw Mr. ED i said oh SHI.....................OT

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 05:57 PM ET  10.07 by scooter21

Ed Hocculi needs to be let go by the NFL. He continues to blow game-changing calls. And now he's become gun-shy. Did you hear his lenthy explanations every time he called a penalty in the Saints-Vikings game? He sounds like he's afraid of being second-guessed. Time to go back to lawyering, Ed. Probably make more money, anyway.

Ed has always given long explanations about his calls. Nothing new there. He's still a good ref. Just having a bad stretch.

Hoculi is NOT a good referee. He is a disgrace to all of organized sports - and if he had an ounce of honor would quit immediately. Let's keep in mind that this was NOT his only bad call. There was also the reception - where he was overturned on review, the fumble - clearly a fumble - where he tried the lame - "the ball was moving away but ..." trailing to nothing ... and of course the spearing that occured later with no call.
I hate to agree with Jerry Jones (of Dallas Cowboy infamy) but Hoculi is probably the worst referee in the NFL.
FIRE HIM NOW!

Mistakes happen. Calls get missed. Life goes on. To post it like they did comes off like sour grapes & looks like their making excuses.

Football players win or lose football games. Officials do not tackle, pass, fumble or intercept. Fans and coaches need to focus on the play of their team. Calls and no calls are part of the game and never ultimately decide the outcome of a game. I agree there are critical calls/no calls and the crew is graded down for every incorrect call. But to say that an official with the experience level and competence of Ed Hochuli should be fired is the height of ignorance of how the game is played and officiated.

So, what is the big deal. The refs didn't see it , or they certainly would have called it ...You can't call wht you don't see. Do you want to replay every play in the booth. They got beat...

It's not Hochuli's job to watch the ball in that instance. He's the referee and is responsible for watching the offensive line and any possible cheap shots to the quarterback. The other officials on the field are the ones that blew the call.

LOL, a Broncos fan defending Hochuli

You have all lost sight of the most important aspect of these missed calls... they are costing people valuable fantasy football points.

Interesting discourse! Every post had some validity. We live by statistics. Question: is there a method to (quantitatively) measure referee performance? I have never seen "stats" on officials, but I would imagine they are ranked and noted inn performance by various NFL powers. Maybe like life itself, there are times with many great refs and others with few, and maybe that is what we are seeing.

You can't blame Hochuli for the call on bush. That call should have been made by a back judge or the sideline ref who was a few feet away of what happened. People need to give the man a break on a bad call and stop blaming him for every bad call in future games. What lost N.O. the game was the 10 + penlaties for over 100 yards, 2 missed field goals, fumbles in INT's.

Yes this was blown call, but in the end the Saints were still in a position to win the game and blew that. Calls are missed all the time, it goes with the territory. Get over it and take care of those things which you can control, like getting a new kicker.

All you babies complaining about blown calls. Get over it! Happened to the Vikes when they played Indy, and there were 2 blown calls on the same play!!! 4th and 1, Vikes stopped the rush, caused and recovered fumble. They ruled player down, even though he was still standing, gave a bad spot inside of the 1...giving Indy 1st and goal. Because of the angle, there wasn't enough evidence to overrulle the call! They should put cameras on top of the markers for plays like this!

All you babies complaining about blown calls. Get over it! Happened to the Vikes when they played Indy, and there were 2 blown calls on the same play!!! 4th and 1, Vikes stopped the rush, caused and recovered fumble. They ruled player down, even though he was still standing, gave a bad spot inside of the 1...giving Indy 1st and goal. Because of the angle, there wasn't enough evidence to overrulle the call! They should put cameras on top of the markers for plays like this!

Was Ed Hochuli that fumbled the football or threw an interception in the red zone. Oh yeah it had to be Ed Hochuli who missed two field goals (one blocked and returned for a TD) or no that was the Saints. So who is to blame for the loss? How about the Saints!!!! MNF made such a big deal about Drew Brees performance inside the red zone for the past couple of years. It was that interception that hurt really bad. Now the Saints can recover because the season just started and they have a lot of talent on this team. Drew Brees and Reggie Bush are great players and their errors hurt but they will recover just like the Saints.

Yes, it was a facemask but the officials have to stay within the rules and that rule is not reviewable. I bet if the call was reviewable that Ed Hochuli would have change the call by throwing a flag. Ed Hochuli is one of the best ref you can have calling a game. Yes, he has had some bad calls this year but you know what everybody does once a while.

So it is rarely the officials fault for a loss but the players and coach. It is the players or the coach who let the officials dictate your gameplan. These players and coaches need to let some of the bad calls go and press forward with their gameplan.