Tag: John Hussey

Did John Hussey’s officiating crew miss OPI on the Ravens’ first touchdown?

The Ravens’ first touchdown against the Texans should have not counted due to offensive pass interference, but John Hussey’s officiating crew missed it.

Per Rule 8, Section 5, Article 2 of the 2023 NFL Rule Book, offensive pass interference should be called when a player cuts off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball.

Well, with 9:14 left in the first half of the Baltimore Ravens’ divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans, Lamar Jackson threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor. No problem there, except that it certainly looked as if Baltimore tight end Charlie Kolar committed offensive pass interference as he broke inside to the same side as Agholor’s route. Kolar moved safety Deandre Houston-Carson out of the way so that Agholor could run his route unobstructed.

If that’s the case, referee John Hussey and his all-star playoff crew gave the Ravens quite a gift.

Worst of the Week for Week 15: Pickens and Toney, Sean Payton’s meltdown, Ron Rivera’s folly

MIke Tomlin, Sean Payton, Kadarius Toney, George Pickens, invisible Panthers fans, and the Jets. It’s time for the NFL’s Worst of the Week!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season.

Cowboys fans looking for pro-Eagles bias in Week 14 ref are offside

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Eagles have never lost a game in which John Hussey was the head referee, but that’s not what the Cowboys should be worried about Sunday.

Thanks to the numerous measures the NFL has taken to maintain parity among its 32 teams, any one contest between any two teams generally comes down to a handful of details, a few key moments that typically steer the outcome one way or the other.

Any given Sunday, as they say.

But when the NFL released Week 14 assignments for its officiating crews, many Cowboys fans immediately sensed the universe somehow placing its thumb on the scale in favor of the Eagles, based solely on who will be wearing the white hat at AT&T Stadium come kickoff.

John Hussey, a veteran NFL official with 348 games under his belt and a head referee since 2015, will be leading the crew for Sunday night’s NFC East showdown.

A dive into his all-time record suggested- to some, anyway- that Hussey has some sort of nefarious allegiance to the Eagles.

True, the Eagles have never lost a game in which Hussey was the head referee. And yes, that is statistically anomalous, considering no other team in the NFL is either winless or undefeated with him leading the officiating crew.

But a +7 swing in Philly’s favor does not necessarily a closet Eagles fan make. The Titans, for example, are also +7 in Hussey-called games, having won nine and lost two. The Saints are 8-2. On the flip side, the Panthers are 1-6. The Raiders are just 1-7 with Hussey calling the fouls.

And all the rest of the teams, predictably, fall somewhere in the middle. (Dallas is 4-4 in games he’s called.) That’s not a conspiracy, that’s the law of averages.

In fact, if Cowboys Nation is looking for a reason to pay attention to officiating, the more telling stat may be that Hussey seems to lean toward the home squad. He’s thrown 68 flags on home teams this season, as opposed to 82 on the visitors. That ratio is well off the leaguewide numbers this season (1,148 home penalties versus 1,208).

And Hussey’s calls have skewed heavily toward the home team in other years, too: 72-to-89 last season, 86-to-120 in 2019, 89-to-104 in 2018.

But then again, in 2021 and 2020, his home and away flags were almost equal- a difference of one single penalty in back-to-back years.

You can drive yourself crazy looking for some pattern that tells you how Hussey (or any official) will call his next game, but the most logical answer is that there’s just no there there. Plain and simple, Hussey isn’t secretly making sure that the Eagles (or anyone else) win the one or two games a year in which he’s on the field with them.

And even though Cowboys fans can recall several games in recent memory that were inundated with flags from overzealous crews or perhaps even tainted with questionable calls, Sunday’s clash isn’t already somehow decided because of who drew the referee whistle.

What may be worth looking at, though- especially for the Cowboys, the second-most penalized team in the NFL- is which penalties Hussey’s current crew tends to call more often than other crews.

Hussey’s squad leads the league in thrown flags per game (16.18) as well as accepted penalties per game (13.64) over 11 contests. And just as with most other crews, false start, offensive holding, and defensive pass interference are among his most-called infractions. As expected.

But Hussey does stand out in a few penalty categories. He’s tied for the league lead in defensive offside flags, something Dallas defenders seem to have trouble with every week. The Cowboys have been called for it 14 times this season; six more than the next closest team.

He’s also tied for the lead in face mask calls. Dallas is tied for the league lead in that infraction, too, with five so far in 2023.

Hussey has thrown more intentional grounding calls than any ref, and he’s one of two officials who’s called unsportsmanlike conduct a surprising five times this season. That penalty has been assessed just 21 times across all games for the whole league; Hussey’s crew threw the flag on nearly a quarter of them. And while the Cowboys haven’t committed either penalty yet this season, it’s worth remembering that this crew is particularly quick to call both.

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Leave it to second-year Cowboys offensive lineman Tyler Smith to ultimately be the voice of reason for the team.

“Discipline is always at a premium,” Smith said this week at The Star. “That’s every week. That’s something Coach McCarthy harps on week in and week out, just being disciplined. I feel like a lot of these tight games are won in the details- not only in between the snaps but before the snap as well. So just being disciplined with our keys, disciplined with our technique, disciplined with our emotions as well is going to be a huge one.”

Indeed. Just like Dallas’s approach to stopping Philadelphia’s tush push is to not get into 4th-and-short situations, the easiest way to make sure the stripes don’t decide the game is by making sure they keep their hankies in their pockets to begin with.

No matter who the head ref is.

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The NFL’s Worst of Week 6: Bad officiating, punter headbutts, angry Brian Daboll!

Massive officiating errors! Angry coaches! Punters starting fights, and announcers jinxing quarterbacks. It’s the NFL’s Worst of the Week for Week 6!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 6 of the 2023 NFL season.

Twitter responds STRONGLY to referee John Hussey’s horrible Browns-49ers game

Referee John Hussey and his crew had an atrocious day in the 49ers-Browns game, and Twitter had a LOT to say about it.

When nobody mentioned an officiating crew, you can assume that the crew did a pretty decent job. When every fan of one team is upset at an officiating crew, you can assume that things were a bit one-sided.

And when everybody watching the NFL on a Sunday is apoplectic over the performance of an officiating crew regardless of partisan status, you can assume that the crew really beefed it all day long.

That was the case for referee John Hussey and his crew in Sunday’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. Hussey made calls ranging from comical to outright inexplicable, and here’s the full rundown:

49ers-Browns referee John Hussey is having a rough day

The Browns won the game 19-17 to drop the 49ers from the realm of the undefeated, but that was NOT the story here. Needless to say, everybody on social media was quite perturbed at Hussey, and nobody was holding back.

49ers-Browns referee John Hussey is having a rough day

49ers-Browns referee John Hussey is having quite an interesting day with blown calls, and getting the teams wrong.

The matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns is one of the most compelling in Week 6, but referee John Hussey might not have gotten the memo. Hussey and his crew have NOT had a great game early on.

You expect missed calls like these at times…

…but when a ref gets the player AND the team wrong on a call, and then has to discuss it with the rest of his crew? That’s no bueno.

Perhaps it’s time to unplug Hussey, plug him back in again, and see what happens.

NFL announces referee assignment for Eagles-49ers title game

NFL announces referee assignment for Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game

Championship Sunday is just days away and the NFL’s officiating crews for the AFC and NFC title games have been announced.

John Hussey will be in Philadelphia for the NFC showdown between the 49ers and Eagles, while Ron Torbert will be in Kansas City for the rematch of last season’s AFC Championship between the Bengals and the Chiefs.

Hussey is in his 21st season as an official and 8th as a referee.

Sunday will mark Hussey’s 16th postseason assignment, including 6 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 4 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLV.

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NFL admits missed crucial pass interference call in Giants-Commanders game

The NFL admitted that referee John Hussey should have called pass interference at a crucial point in the Giants-Commanders game.

With 56 seconds left in Sunday night’s game between the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants, Washington had fourth-and-goal at the New York six-yard line. After a scramble, quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw incomplete to receiver Curtis Samuel. The reason the pass was incomplete is that Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes was draped all over Samuel throughout the play. But there was no flag from referee John Hussey and his crew.

Because the pass was incomplete, the Giants had the ball to end the game, a 20-12 win in their favor. Pass interference would have given the Commanders another chance for a potential game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion.

“Pass interference is a judgment call,” Hussey told pool reporter Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “To the officials, it didn’t rise to what they felt was a restriction, thus they didn’t call it. That’s basically the bottom line there. It’s a judgment call and they didn’t believe it was pass interference.”

But per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the league told the Commanders that pass interference should have been called on Holmes. Which matches up with anybody who saw the play in real time could have said in real time — except for Hussey and his crew.

“It’s clearly a foul,” NBC rules analyst and former NFL official Terry McAulay said right after the game. “Grabs his arm, plays through the back, it’s clearly before the ball gets there. This is defensive pass interference, and it really should be called whether it’s the end of the game, beginning of the game, doesn’t matter. It’s always a foul. It should have been called… if it’s a foul in the first minute of the game, it’s a foul in the last minute of the game. When it’s that obvious, it has to be called.”

Hussey and his crew made several questionable calls against both teams in the game. But that drive seemed to get quite a bit up the Commanders’ collective nose, and for good reason.

With 1:03 left in the game, a rushing touchdown by Brian Robinson was negated by an illegal formation penalty on receiver Terry McLaurin. McAulay said that he wouldn’t have called that one. It looked as if McLaurin checked with line judge Carl Johnson to make sure he was on the line of scrimmage, to no avail.

“That’s just too technical,” McAulay said. “We watch the wide receivers… they’re in the vicinity… technically, he’s off the line, but it’s just too technical. Especially without warning, it shouldn’t have been called.”

Hussey saw it differently… or, to be more specific, he didn’t see it at all.

“Well, I didn’t see any of that, because I’m in the backfield,” Hussey said.. “What I was told and what has been confirmed is that the ball was snapped at the half-yard line, and he was lined up a yard back at the one-and-a-half-yard line. In order to be deemed legal he needs to break the belt line, the waist of the center, and he was not breaking the waistline of the center. That’s why the penalty was called, because he was not in a legal formation.”

When asked whether Johnson was obligated to tell McLaurin whether he was at the line of scrimmage or not, Hussey said this:

“Not typically, and the official could be doing other things, like counting the offense – there’s a multitude of different duties. So, I can’t confirm whether the official even saw that or not, but he was clearly off the line of scrimmage.”

The win put the Giants at 8-5-1, with an 89% chance of making the playoffs. Washington is now 7-6-1, and as a result of that loss, their playoff odds have slipped to 25.5%.

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The worst officiating moments from a NFL Week 15 that was full of them

Week 15 in the NFL has been full of awful officiating decisions. Here are the three games that were most affected by those mistakes.

Perhaps the NFL’s officials were confused by the fact that there were games on Saturday and Sunday in Week 15. Perhaps the NFL’s officials were thinking about the last-minute things on their holiday shopping lists. Or maybe it was just late-season exhaustion. Whatever it was, there were a lot of really bad calls in the NFL’s Week 15, and that’s in a season where there have been a lot to date.

Bad officiating is especially notable in the 2022 season, and Week 15 really stood out. Here’s why it’s a problem. Through Sunday’s games, there have been an NFL-record 101 games decided by a touchdown or less.

Per NFL Research, 14 of 15 games that have been completed in Week 15 have been within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter and there have been 171 games within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter this season, the most such games through the first 15 weeks in NFL history.

More than ever, the NFL’s idea of competitive balance has come true, but also more than ever, the NFL’s purported idea of officiating competence has been exposed as perhaps an unreachable goal.

Clearly, changes need to be made in the offseason, but before we get into that, let’s review the three games in which the most bad calls happened, and how those calls affected the final result.

Obvious missed pass interference call secures Sunday night win for Giants

More officiating hijinks! Referee John Hussey and his crew got a couple things wrong to the Giants’ benefit over the Commanders.

You’re probably as sick of hearing about bad officiating as we are sick of writing about it. Today, there was already the phantom touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Keelan Cole… and then, on Sunday night, there was the way the game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders ended.

With 56 seconds left, the Commanders had fourth-and-goal from the New York six-yard line. After a scramble, quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw incomplete to receiver Curtis Samuel. The reason the pass was incomplete is that Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes was draped all over Samuel throughout the play. But there was no flag from referee John Hussey and his crew.

“Pass interference is a judgment call,” Hussey told pool reporter Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “To the officials, it didn’t rise to what they felt was a restriction, thus they didn’t call it. That’s basically the bottom line there. It’s a judgment call and they didn’t believe it was pass interference.”

Fascinating that Hussey mentioned “the officials” as if he wasn’t one of them, but whatever.

After two kneeldowns by Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, the game was over, and the Giants won, 20-12.

“It’s clearly a foul,” NBC rules analyst and former NFL official Terry McAulay said right after the game. “Grabs his arm, plays through the back, it’s clearly before the ball gets there. This is defensive pass interference, and it really should be called whether it’s the end of the game, beginning of the game, doesn’t matter. It’s always a foul. It should have been called… if it’s a foul in the first minute of the game, it’s a foul in the last minute of the game. When it’s that obvious, it has to be called.”

McAulay then dove into the touchdown scored by Washington running back Brian Robinson with 1:03 left in the game, that was negated by an illegal formation penalty on receiver Terry McLaurin. McAulay said that he wouldn’t have called that one. It looked as if McLaurin checked with line judge Carl Johnson to make sure he was on the line of scrimmage, to no avail.

“That’s just too technical,” McAulay said. “We watch the wide receivers… they’re in the vicinity… technically, he’s off the line, but it’s just too technical. Especially without warning, it shouldn’t have been called.”

Hussey saw it differently… or, to be more specific, he didn’t see it at all.

“Well, I didn’t see any of that, because I’m in the backfield,” Hussey said.. “What I was told and what has been confirmed is that the ball was snapped at the half-yard line, and he was lined up a yard back at the one-and-a-half-yard line. In order to be deemed legal he needs to break the belt line, the waist of the center, and he was not breaking the waistline of the center. That’s why the penalty was called, because he was not in a legal formation.”

When asked whether Johnson was obligated to tell McLaurin whether he was at the line of scrimmage or not, Hussey said this:

“Not typically, and the official could be doing other things, like counting the offense – there’s a multitude of different duties. So, I can’t confirm whether the official even saw that or not, but he was clearly off the line of scrimmage.”

Washington head coach Ron Rivera wasn’t happy about that call at all, as you might expect.

Rivera was then asked about the no-call on Holmes, and the veteran coach knew that anything he said about it could and would be used against him when it came time to levy fines.

Especially late in the season, when so many games are so close, and these missed calls can affect games to such a degree, it behooves the officials to get things right as often as possible. It seems that we’ve been saying that more this season than in recent years.