NFL Playoffs Expose Major Officiating Problem
The National Football League has a major officiating problem, and during the Divisional Round of the Playoffs this past weekend, that problem was on display across National Television.
Before people begin complaining that this article is a conspiracy theory about the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs, you need to look at the whole season. This season, there were some major officiating errors, not just when the Kansas City Chiefs played.
It was league-wide. The questionable roughing of the passer calls on the quarterbacks, and the pass interference calls on the defensive backs and safety. It seems like any contact with the quarterback, whether he is a runner or not, results in a flag.
While we are for player safety, the NFL game has turned into flag football. Quarterbacks should wear flags so they can’t get hit. Now, hits to the head when defenders lead with their helmets are penalties, but quarterbacks are taking advantage of the rules, and defenders are not sure if they are defenceless or not.
Let’s go to the Divisional Round, specifically on Saturday. In both games, there were missed calls. Let’s start with Kansas City. The Will Anderson Jr. roughing the passer was an egregious flag. Houston’s defense was stopping the Chiefs’s offense.
You can see from the video that Anderson makes contact with the shoulder of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Even ESPN Broadcasters Joe Buck and Troy Aikman questioned that call along with their rules expert.
But the roughing of the passer later in the game was more of a miscarriage of justice. When Mahomes didn’t get hit and did not slide to give himself up, the two Houston defenders tried to tackle him, and he fell to the ground.
Those are not reasons why the Houston Texans lost the game, but it is every game with the Chiefs. Not to mention, the Chiefs are 7-0 when that head official officiates their games. So you see, the evidence is there.
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In today’s gambling world, many wonder if he favours the Chiefs and if there is a gambling connection. If this were the NBA, they would investigate the situation. The NFL has yet to do that, which is a problem.
NFL Officiating Rules Analyst Walt Anderson was on NFL Gameday morning and said the officials got the calls right. Even the officials doubling down after the game just makes things worse when the video evidence shows something else.
Replay is there to assist officials, but sometimes, it needs to override the call on the field when it is wrong. It is just a bad look for a team going for a three-peat and getting all the calls.
Even Saturday night, when the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders played, Jared Goff threw an interception and then got rocked by a Washington defender. The defender should have been flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, as Goff was a defenseless player. That was missed.
Go to the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens game. Off a Ravens turnover, there is a pass interference call going Buffalo’s way. Josh Allen throws a ball to Keon Coleman and is in a race with Ka’dar Hollman of Baltimore. The video shows Coleman shoving Hollman, but it is Baltimore who is called for the penalty.
Even the broadcasters Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, along with rules expert Gene Steratore, said that there was more pass interference on the offence, not on the defence.
Social media does not help. And sometimes, it blows things out of proportion. However, you see the TV replays, and TV does not lie.
But when rules experts are on the broadcasts, and others say opposite things, it shows that the NFL has lost its understanding of penalties.
The NFL has a glaring problem with its officiating. It is time to fix it.