The Washington Commanders shocked the NFL world, snapping the Philadelphia Eagles’ 10-game winning streak with a 36-33 win on Sunday. One day later, Eagles’ fans complained that NFL officiating cost them the game.
In Sunday’s game between the two NFC East rivals, the Commanders and Eagles were heavily penalized, with 93 and 91 yards, respectively. Plenty of questionable calls went against both teams.
However, the defensive pass interference penalties against Washington cornerback Marshon Lattimore appeared the most questionable. Lattimore was flagged three times for pass interference, one of which gave the Eagles 38 yards. Two plays later, officials flagged Lattimore again, this time for 23 yards. The Eagles eventually kicked a field goal but were aided by a ridiculous 61 yards in penalties.
Former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, now an analyst for Amazon Prime, was having none of it, criticizing NFL officiating for the pass-interference calls on Lattimore.
“The whole world is biased for offensive players, so somebody gotta be based the other way,” Sherman said on the “Richard Sherman Podcast.” “Those PI calls on Lattimore were absolute horses–t. Absolute horses–t. I’m so tired of this game getting so soft and ridiculous and people having the audacity to complain about it. Like, how are those PIs? If the receiver is physical, then you have to let the DB at least defend himself. Don’t be praising these receivers for being, ‘Ohhh, man; he’s so physical. He’s so strong.’ And you see him pushing the corner in the neck and pushing him off and grabbing him by the collar. And then, when the corner gets his hands off of him, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, you can’t grab him.'”
More from Sherman:
“Those P.I. calls on Lattimore were absolute horses***”@RSherman_25 sounds off on the officiating in Eagles-Commanders pic.twitter.com/2Cp6s2utwj
— Richard Sherman Podcast (@RShermanPodcast) December 23, 2024
“What about him grabbing me by the neck while running his route? Because everything’s acceptable for a receiver to do, but there’s nothing acceptable for a corner to do. Let the boys play. I don’t know what you want him to do. You want him to stay close to him while he’s getting pushed and not grab him back? Have you ever been punched in the face and then just kept getting punched in the face, and then they’re like, ‘Hey, don’t worry, if he punch you in the face one more time, we’ll say something.’ They’re not.”
He’s 100% correct. The NFL is geared toward favoring the offense. Everyone wants more scoring. Over the years, the rules have changed to favor the receiver, but nothing was ever changed for the defensive back. The league is always taking from the defense and giving to the offense. Have you seen some of the roughing calls?
Of course, nothing is more costly than defensive pass interference. It’s a spot foul. The officials were so bad that Philadelphia quarterback Kenny Pickett could’ve continued to underthrow A.J. Brown. If Brown and Lattimore had even touched it, they would’ve thrown the flag against Lattimore.
Lattimore and Brown were all over each other. It was good, old-fashioned football between two players among the best at their respective positions. If the NFL continues to insist that defensive pass interference is a spot foul, it must be reviewable moving forward. Of course, that would mean the NFL admitting its mistakes, and we know they hate doing that.