The most controversial officiating moments of 2019

The Rams-Saints, the World Series, Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA all saw plenty of controversy in 2019.

Refs take 15 seconds from Saints

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In a regular-season matchup with the Rams, Drew Brees completed a 17-yard pass to Michael Thomas on third-and-17 to the New Orleans 30. The replay official called for a review of the first down ruling, stopping the clock. The play was upheld, but since it was a running clock, the stoppage required either a New Orleans timeout or a 10-second runoff by rule. The Saints elected not to use the timeout, leaving them with 14 seconds. The 10-second runoff was not properly applied. “Unless I am crazy, they really mishandled the replay,” FOX Sports’ Mike Periera wrote. “They should have reset the clock to 41 seconds and then run 10 seconds down to 31. That took 15 seconds away from the Saints.”