Case Keenum Concussion And Poor Football Officiating

The football games on Sunday brought out more discrepancies with the officiating, as one grave mistake had St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum playing with a concussion; a very dangerous thing to do in a high impact sport. It was late in the game as the Rams played against the Baltimore Ravens, when Keenum was tackled, as he was spun around and his head slammed against the ground with a lot of force.

Right after hitting the ground, he immediately grabbed his head, a clear sign that something was wrong. What happened after simply went on to prove that Keenum was not well, as he was unable to stand up, obviously dazed, and even struggled as he got on all fours. He was finally able to stand up, slowly. The important detail to see here is that the game was never stopped. The officials were deciding what penalty to give, while Keenum remained in the game for another two plays.

It was later on that news media learned that he had indeed suffered a concussion, which puts the spot light on the team and league officials that did not see the clear signs of someone injured. NFL writer Sean Wagner-McGough had some insight on the matter,

“Why wasn’t the game stopped? Why didn’t Keenum come out of the game? Even if the Rams official spoke with Keenum and thought that he was fine, why didn’t an NFL concussion spotter stop the game so Keenum could be examined off the field? Could a concussion test really be administered in 30 seconds? Did the Rams even give Keenum a concussion test?”

On top of this, even the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is voicing his disapproval over the inconsistencies with the officials and their penalty calls. This will certainly not help their image as being a violent sport, as well as their poor response towards head trauma. Hopefully Keenum will make a full recovery, as football is nothing without its players.

Power Rankings: Football Week 10

As we move into Week 10 of the regular football season, leaving us with only seven more weeks until the playoffs, the games are starting to matter a lot more. Teams will try to climb the ladder, look for those victories that could get them into the top teams in their Conference, or at least get the Wild Card spot. The way teams play and perform each week reflects heavily on their Power Rankings, and after more than half of the season games have been played, they start to feel the pressure. The top ranked teams, at this point in the season, are very likely going to make the playoffs this season, as the middle and lower ranked teams fight for the remaining open spots.

Rank	Team	Record
1	New England Patriots	8-0
2	Cincinnati Bengals	8-0
3	Carolina Panthers	8-0
4	Minnesota Vikings	6-2
5	Denver Broncos	7-1
6	Arizona Cardinals	6-2
7	Seattle Seahawks	4-4
8	Green Bay Packers	6-2
9	St. Louis Rams	4-4
10	New York Jets	5-3
11	New York Giants	5-4
12	Pittsburgh Steelers	5-4
13	Oakland Raiders	4-4
14	Indianapolis Colts	4-5
15	Philadelphia Eagles	4-4
16	Buffalo Bills	4-4
17	Kansas City Chiefs	3-5
18	Atlanta Falcons	6-3
19	Chicago Bears	3-5
20	New Orleans Saints	4-5
21	Baltimore Ravens	2-6
22	Washington Redskins	3-5
23	Miami Dolphins	3-5
24	Dallas Cowboys	2-6
25	Cleveland Browns	2-7
26	Houston Texans	3-5
27	San Francisco 49ers	3-6
28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3-5
29	Tennessee Titans	2-6
30	Jacksonville Jaguars	2-6
31	San Diego Chargers	2-7
32	Detroit Lions	1-7

There is no doubt as to why the Patriots, Bengals, and Panthers are in the top three spots this week, and could continue to remain there until one of them is defeated; which is not as likely as most would think. Even though some teams, like the Seahawks and Rams do not have such a good record, but are still ranked so high is due to the fact that their victories have been against high ranked teams; with the Rams beating the Seahawks in Week 1. While the Seahawks, using their Super Bowl victory from last season, they have managed to remain in good position despite having a rough start.

For those that use other stats in order to handicap, they could use the Against The Spread stats that each tame has, and see just how well a team does, regardless of whether they win the game or not. Some football teams are too far gone, that even if they manage to win most of the games left in the season, they probably won’t make it to the playoffs.