Tag: bad refs

NFL fans thought it was so odd when referee Bill Vinovich seemingly apologized to Josh Allen after missed call

When does this EVER happen?!

When the NFL announced its officiating assignments for the weekend’s wild-card round games, Bills fans were notably upset to see that Bill Vinovich’s crew was tabbed to work Buffalo’s game against the Broncos.

Vinovich has worked some big and controversial Bills losses in recent years, including the 2021 AFC title game loss to the Chiefs. So, the Bills probably braced themselves for some questionable calls come Sunday. And we had just that when the Broncos’ Patrick Surtain II got away with a blatant holding penalty in the end zone.

The Bills had to settle for a field goal due to the no-call, and Allen was justifiably livid with Vinovich.

But during the timeout, the entire exchange took an odd turn when Vinovich went up to Allen on the bench to seemingly take ownership of the missed call.

It’s really not a ref’s responsibility to do that, and it only raised more concerns from NFL fans. It wasn’t a great look — as if the missed call was bad enough.

Update: Allen said after the game that Vinovich wanted the Bills QB to calm down with the criticism.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Bears fans were livid about the uncalled holding penalties during the Commanders’ stunning Hail Mary TD

It was pretty obvious.

It’s always frustrating for fans when refs decide to officiate a game differently at the end than how they would at any other point. A penalty in the first half shouldn’t be easier to call than a penalty in the final few seconds.

But in an effort to avoid a controversial call, the crew working Sunday’s Week 8 game between the Bears and Commanders helped Washington get away with multiple penalties in a successful Hail Mary.

As Jayden Daniels dropped back and scrambled before unleashing a stunning Hail Mary touchdown pass, we could see as the Commanders offensive line got away with several holds — none worse than Andrew Wylie on Jacob Martin.

That’s awfully clear and wouldn’t have been debatable if called. Of course, Chicago should have simply knocked the pass down, but it’s tough to ignore the penalties on the front end.

Bears fans were understandably furious that the uncalled holding penalties made that touchdown possible.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Packers fans loved Carrington Valentine’s defiant response to the blown DPI no-call against the Chiefs

He didn’t see any flag.

The final drive of Sunday night’s game between the Chiefs and Packers was far from the best officiating we’ve seen this season. And while missed calls went against both teams in that drive, no decision was more consequential than the no-call for defensive pass interference that should have been on Carrington Valentine.

You just won’t hear Valentine admit that he got away with one.

The no-call in question came with Patrick Mahomes airing out a pass on first down to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Chiefs receiver made an attempt at the ball but was unable to haul it in with Valentine already draped over his back near the 5-yard line.

It was an obvious penalty and should have been called. But when Valentine was asked about the no-call after the game, he refused to admit that the refs got it wrong. He didn’t see any flag!

I mean, he’s not wrong. Chiefs fans may not enjoy that answer, but Packers fans definitely did. It’s not like he was ever going to take away from his own play after a huge win.

Josh Allen drew a roughing the passer penalty thanks to a wild flop and NFL fans had jokes

The flop deserved an Oscar.

Today’s NFL rules are designed to protect the quarterback. After all, injuries to quarterbacks can derail an entire team’s season, so the league doesn’t want its most marketable players getting hurt.

But the best quarterbacks can use those rules to their advantage. We saw exactly that on Sunday.

As a wild game between the Bills and Eagles went into overtime, Josh Allen extended the Bills’ OT drive with an acting job to draw a roughing penalty on Nicholas Morrow. Though replays did show that Morrow was late to Allen, the contact certainly wasn’t enough to force this reaction from Allen.

That flop was Oscar-worthy — let’s be honest. He sold it and got the call.

The Bills would have to settle for a field goal on the drive, but the Eagles did respond with a game-winning touchdown run by Jalen Hurts.

Still, fans had plenty of jokes about the flop because it was that outrageous.

NFL fans couldn’t believe that the refs robbed the Bills of points after missing a clear horse collar

The ref was staring right at the play and missed it …

Points were tough to come by in the first half of Sunday’s Week 12 matchup between the Bills and Eagles. And referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew didn’t exactly do the Bills any favors.

With the Bills driving in the second quarter deep into Eagles territory, Haason Reddick forced Josh Allen out of the pocket and wrapped up the Bills quarterback as he tried to get the ball away.

Reddick, though, grabbed the front of Allen’s jersey (ripping the jersey!) and pulled Allen down by the horse collar. While horse-collar penalties can’t be called with the quarterback in the pocket, Allen was out of the pocket there. It was a clear penalty.

Instead, the officials would call Allen for the intentional-grounding penalty. And to make matters worse, the ensuing field-goal try was blocked. So, what should have been a first-and-goal opportunity for the Bills turned into zero points thanks to the officiating blunder.

Though the Bills would quickly force a turnover and score a touchdown before the half, fans couldn’t believe that missed call. After all, the ref was *right* there to see it happen.

Colts fans were justifiably livid over the pass interference penalty that set up the Browns’ winning TD

The pass was uncatchable.

While it’s difficult to blame an entire game on one call, there are certain moments where a penalty can absolutely swing a game. And for the Indianapolis Colts, they were on the wrong end of one of those penalties on Sunday.

The Browns and Colts played a back-and-forth thriller in Week 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium. And with the Browns driving late down five points, P.J. Walker’s first-and-goal attempt to Donovan Peoples-Jones sailed high and out of the end zone. But a late flag gave the Browns a golden opportunity — one they’d take advantage of.

The refs called Darrell Baker Jr. for pass interference, overlooking that the pass was uncatchable. The penalty set the Browns up at the one-yard line for Kareem Hunt to punch in the go-ahead score.

Here’s a look at the penalty:

That’s just so bad, and it came after the Colts were already called for a questionable illegal contact penalty that erased a turnover.

You can’t blame Colts fans for being upset with the officials after the 39-38 loss.

J.J. Watt ripped the NFL for not holding refs accountable after another missed roughing call

The missed calls are out of control.

It’s not an easy job to be an NFL official. They’re tasked with monitoring so many moving components at incredible speeds, so calls are going to be missed. But at the same time, these are supposed to be the world’s best football officials, and the NFL should hold them to that standard.

J.J. Watt certainly thinks so.

Sunday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants had its share of questionable calls. And before the Giants’ hopes were dashed on a last-play no-call, Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke was flagged for one of the softest roughing the passer penalties we’ll see all season.

From the replay, it was difficult to guess what the officials even thought happened there. Okereke didn’t go to Josh Allen’s head or neck. He didn’t drive him to the ground with his body weight. He didn’t hit him below the knees. All Okereke did was follow through at Allen’s arms. The contact wasn’t late. By all accounts, it should not have been a roughing penalty.

Watt — who had to navigate those rules his entire career — was baffled to see that call go against the Giants.

The lack of accountability isn’t just an NFL issue either. Officials across all of American professional sports are rarely disciplined for game-altering missed calls. NFL officials are part-time employees compared to leagues like MLB, NHL and NBA that employ full-time officials. It’s something that really should change, though, because enough is enough.

Vikings fans were livid at the refs after the Chiefs got away with penalties on crucial 4th-and-12 play

Do they have a reason to be mad?

Over the course of an entire football game, it’s never fair to pinpoint one call as a moment that won or lost a game. But there are certain decisions that can absolutely shape how a game unfolds.

We saw that during Sunday’s Week 5 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings.

With the Vikings facing a fourth-down play and just under five minutes to go in a seven-point game, Kirk Cousins beat the pass rush to get a throw off in the direction of Jordan Addison in the end zone. The initial decision was huge as flags were thrown for an apparent defensive pass interference on L’Jarius Sneed.

But after the refs discussed, they decided to pick up the flag because they didn’t believe that the pass was catchable. Yet, the scene got stranger when Sneed removed his helmet to argue with officials, and instead of being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, Sneed was just told to put his helmet back on.

Now, a correct penalty for removing the helmet would not have impacted the possession as the Chiefs still would have gotten the ball off the fourth-down incompletion. But the whole sequence was not a great look for an officiating crew that clearly knew Sneed should’ve been penalized.

The Vikings were able to get the ball back for a final possession, but the game ended with a sack of Cousins and a 27-20 Chiefs win.

Vikings fans were still quick to blame the crew after the game.

NBA fans crushed ref Scott Foster after he T’d up Jaylen Brown despite Georges Niang grabbing him

The NBA’s worst ref continued to be bad.

You know referees do their job well when fans don’t know their names. Scott Foster is not one of those referees.

When fans saw Foster’s name on the officiating crew for Sunday’s Game 7 between the Sixers and Celtics, controversy seemed inevitable. Foster has a habit of taking over games and missing the simplest of calls in the process. Yet, the NBA continues to give the longtime official marquee assignments.

After all, few officials would handle the incident between Georges Niang and Jaylen Brown worse than Foster.

During the first half, Brown leaped towards the Sixers bench as he successfully saved a long rebound. Brown then turned and had some words for the Sixers, but that was because Niang grabbed Brown’s leg.

Rather than hit Niang with a technical (or a possible ejection) and send the Celtics to the line, Foster called technicals on both Brown and Niang. He essentially punished Brown for being upset about a bench player grabbing his leg. It made no sense. In a close game, the Celtics could have used that point. But with a double technical, neither team gets to shoot free throws.

Fans weren’t pleased with how Foster handled the situation either.

NBA fans were livid with the officiating down the stretch of the Sixers’ Game 4 win against the Celtics

Imagine if the Sixers lost …

The NBA is probably relieved that the Philadelphia 76ers held on in Sunday’s Game 4 against the Boston Celtics because, otherwise, officiating would have been *the* focus heading into Game 5.

It was simply atrocious in overtime.

The 76ers led by as many as 16 points while they tried to avoid going down 3-1 in the series with Boston. The Celtics would rally back and take the lead in the fourth quarter and force overtime. In the extra period, Joel Embiid appeared to give the Sixers the lead, but he was called for an offensive foul as Marcus Smart slid in to take the charge.

The call was reviewed and upheld despite Smart sliding in after Embiid started his gather. It didn’t appear that Smart established position in time either.

The Sixers would have to deal with another huge missed call when Jayson Tatum pushed off Tyrese Maxey before hitting a then-go-ahead three with 38 seconds to go in overtime.

A late three from James Harden saved the Sixers from what would have been a demoralizing loss. But that didn’t stop NBA fans from ripping the officiating down the stretch.

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