NFL Playoffs - Exciting Elimination Tournament for Determining Champion - Essay Sample

Introduction

Across the country, the National Football League (NFL) playoffs rank among the top in the list of the most viewed sports media productions televised in the US. Customarily, the competition begins after the completion of every season of the Nation Football League which starts in September and ends in December annually. The competition is an elimination tournament comprising of six teams for purposes of determining who would be crowned as the NFL Champion. The different teams are derived from the two categories of the NFL league depending on their performances and results at the end of a season.

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Televised Sports Media Production

On a Sunday the 21st of January 2018 at exactly five minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon, televised live on CBS television station, the Patriots under the leadership of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski as well as the Jaguars under the captaincy of Blake Bortles and Leonard Fournette led their team mates into the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts for their long awaited game (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). According to the thousands of fans in attendance and millions of other viewers across the country, the game lived up to its expectations as the Patriots took a firm led in the first quarter through a 31 yard goal form Stephen Gostkowski (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). However, in the second quarter, things got much interesting as the Jaguars clawed their way back into the game. The comeback begun with Marcedes Lewis converting a four yard pass received from the Blake Bortles as a result of a kick from Josh Lambo (CBS, "NFL on CBS").

Afterward, Leonard Fournette was also on the score sheet after converting a four yard run as a result of a Kick form Josh Lambo earning his team a lead of 14 against the Patriot's three points (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). Although the patriots were able to score through James While's 1 yard run, the Jaguars were still in lead at the end of the first quarter (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). In the third, the Jaguars were outstanding in their defense as they did not concede more goals. On the contrary, they were able to extend their lead to 17-10 through Lambo's 54 yard goal (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). However, in the fourth quarter, things changed in favor of the Patriots due to a series of events that took place in the course of the match. After further increasing their lead through another goal form Lambo, the Patriots overtook their competitors through consecutives conversations by Danny Ameondola as a result of passes received from the captain Tom Brady consequently earning the team a place in the Super Bowl (CBS, "NFL on CBS").

Analysis

Regardless of an interesting game that had both the fans in the stadium and viewers across the country on their feet eagerly anticipating for the next goal, various aspects evident in the course of the match portray the aspect of favoritism through bias officiating which is an issue in today's sporting society and culture. For instance, the referee in charge of the fixture made several wrong calls that were highly crucial in the game. Firstly, the referee blew his whistle for an offense too soon than required. While the Patriots ran towards their opponent's defense, the Jaguars player Myles Jack was compelled to change the direction of his run after the Patriots captain made a cunning backward pass to his team mate Danny Amendola who then gave the ball to Dion Lewis (CBS, "NFL on CBS").

After running for 40 yards, Jack caught up and brought down Lewis consequently winning the ball. However, immediately Lewis was brought down by Jack, the referee blew his whistle for a foul despite very little contact between the two players (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). As a consequence, the Jaguars were unable to earn themselves some precious points as Jack would have been able to run to the conversation line and score since no Patriot players were nearby to stop him (Fontenla and Izon 85). Moreover, with only a few seconds left in the fourth quarter, a Patriots player was seen pulling Telvin Smith by his shirt but no call was made in favor of the Jaguars as their opponents were in the lead (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). However, if the call was made, the Jaguars would have been awarded a penalty that could have won them the match (Fontenla and Izon 85).

Secondly, the referee made various inconsistent calls regarding the aspect of pass interference. Throughout the game, the Patriots had no interference calls from the referee against them. However, for their opponents the Jaguars, the referee made two interference calls against them (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). The first call which involved Jalen Ramsey mouling down Brandin Cooks was legitimate. However, the second interference call involving Cooks and Bouye has all the hall marks of favoritism through bias match officiating. As it is the case with the first call in which the referee rushed into pointing out an offense, there was very little contact between Cooks and Bouye (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). However, the match official called for a foul against the Jaguars which thus enabled the Patriots to score and reduce the deficit to 14-10 whereby they would have gone for half-time with a score of 14-3 (CBS, "NFL on CBS"). While awarding the Patriots controversial penalties, the referee overlooked the offences they committed such as blocking the Jaguars defensive players while the ball was still airborne thus giving them a competitive advantage over the opponents (Fontenla and Izon 85).

Contrary to what many NFL fans and lovers may believe, such acts of favoritism through bias officiating negatively affect the integrity of American football as a sport and the NFL as an elite league. Firstly, favoritism through bias match officiating affects integrity of the sport as it works to tarnish the relationship between players from different teams (Stefanidis 180). It creates and environment of tension and hostility which interrupts the attention of players in the course of a game (Stefanidis 180). A good example in this case is evident through the Jaguars player Bouye who was extremely mad at the Patriot players as they were enjoying well as taking advantage of the bias officiating resulting in their win and qualification to the Super Bowl. Secondly, favoritism in the form of bias officiating affects integrity of the sport as it creates a state of confusion which evokes stress and pressure among players as they tend to lose the essence of working hard due to feelings of being discriminated against consequently altering the genuine and honest outcome of a match (Stefanidis 180).

Conclusion

Therefore, as depicted, the 2018 NFL playoffs are an example of a televised sports media production. Through the analysis of this particular media production based on the terms and issues in today's society and culture, it is evident that the aspect of favoritism via bias officiating is a critical issue that affects the integrity of sports. As depicted, the issue affects the integrity of the sport as it tarnishes the aspect of sportsmanship and creates confusion which alter realistic match outcomes.

Works Cited

Fontenla, Matias, and German M. Izon. "The effects of referees on the final score in football." Estudios economicos 35.70 (2018): 79-98. www.revistas.uns.edu.ar/ee/article/view/1098. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.

Stefanidis, Anthony, "Dependability of Referees' Decision Making on Discretionary Penalties in the NFL" (2019). CUNY Academic Works. www.academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/448. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.

CBS (Producer). (2018, January 21). NFL on CBS [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Central Broadcasting Service.