Emmanuel Sanders unloads: ‘What the heck is going on with these refs?’

New Orleans Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders called for an explanation over bad calls against his team on the “17 Weeks” podcast from SiriusXM.

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Emmanuel Sanders has seen a lot in his long NFL career. When he suits up for Sunday’s game with the Detroit Lions, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver will be taking the field for his 159th career game in his 11th year at the pro level.

So he’s as perplexed as anyone at how his games have been officiated. In an appearance on the “17 Weeks” SiriusXM podcast, Sanders called into question whether the NFL’s officials are dealing with the Saints and their opponents with an even hand.

“I’ve never seen the type of calls that they’re calling on the team over and over and over,” Sanders said, via Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. “I’ve never been part of a team where we’re the second most penalized team.”

Sanders pointed to fouls for defensive holding and pass interference, noting that he’s seen inconsistent officiating from the sidelines: “I’ve been in the league 11 years, I’ve never seen the calls that they make and then the calls that we don’t get, you know? Like, I see a running back running down the sideline and I see the cornerback get held and I know the refs see it but they don’t throw it. Sometimes I sit back and analyze like what the heck is going on with these refs?”

The numbers back it up. The Saints lead the league in penalty yards for defensive pass interference after the first three weeks, and by quite a large margin. They’re a statistical outlier:

So either their coaching staff is teaching players to work differently — and illegally — than 31 other teams, or three different officiating crews have each happened to throw more flags against the Saints defense than anyone else. We’ll see what happens in Week 4 against the Detroit Lions, with third-year referee Shawn Smith working his third career Saints game.

This is the sort of problem that should regress to the norm after a few more weeks, but the Saints have dealt with more scrutiny from officials before. It’s either a coaching flaw from the Saints coaches, consistent bad luck, or as Sanders suggests, a series of bad calls. Here’s hoping the issue, whatever it is, clears up soon.

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