Super Bowl LVIII showed once again the NFL has an officiating problem
Feb 13, 2023, 6:27 AM
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Nobody likes the “blame the refs” guy. That’s a given.
It’s a loser’s lament. It’s putting too much emphasis on a play or two, rather than the hundred or so other plays that came before it.
There are plenty of chances for the players to dictate the game. Don’t let it come down to the officials.
Yada. Yada. Yada.
It all sounds good. That’s a mentality that makes sense. It feels like the way a true competitor should think.
But that doesn’t mean it’s correct in all circumstances. It doesn’t have a 100 percent accuracy rate.
Super Bowl LVII proved that point. An epic game between the Chiefs and Eagles, one that was tied at 35-35 at the two-minute warning to play feels wholly unsatisfying now that it’s over.
Why? Because on third-and-nine with 1:54 to play, an extremely borderline holding call against Philadelphia turned an incompletion into a first down. As a result, Kansas City kicked the game-winning field goal with eight seconds to play, preventing the Eagles from having a last-minute shot or tying the game.
Was it a terrible call? Maybe not if it was the first quarter of a preseason game. But with the Super Bowl on the line, it was nowhere near egregious enough that it should determine the outcome of the biggest game of the season.
Everyone outside of Kansas City felt robbed. The Philly faithful were livid, feeling cheated. Neutral observers lost out on the rightful finish to a great game; they were jobbed out of a potentially memorable final minute.
Instead, the NFL gave everyone a moment that they’d like everyone to forget. Instead of a classic, the league had a whitewash.
As soon as the flag was thrown, the FOX announcers were moving on. The NFL media machine rolled right into the postgame, trumpeting the Chiefs as the champs without a mention of the call that cemented the game.
It was eerily reminiscent of two weeks ago. Late in the AFC title game, Kansas City was the beneficiary of several more favorable calls.
Cincinnati had every right to feel like their Super Bowl shot was stolen from them. The league and its media partners quickly turned the page to their next batch of storylines.
It felt like a cover up. It led to plenty of people crying foul, the most outrageous of which was former Texans running back Arian Foster saying that NFL games were “scripted.”
That led to a lot of sarcastic comments. Most scoffed at the notion. Few gave it much credence.
That’s because people failed to see Foster’s point. He wasn’t suggesting that every moment was pre-written like a movie. He was saying that the outcomes of games are influenced by officials, going in a direction that suits the league’s interests.
Anyone who doesn’t think that’s possible hasn’t been paying attention. They’re naive to a fault.
The Tim Donaghy scandal is proof that nothing should be dismissed without serious questions. Prior to that, most would’ve laughed at the idea that NBA referees were making calls to influence the outcomes of the games, helping certain teams cover point spreads.
The crooked refs were able to get away with it for years because the league is full of judgement calls. It’s hard to prove that someone is intentionally choosing one side on 50/50 calls.
The same situation exists in the NFL. The pace of games, and sometimes the outcomes, are often determined by how officials call offensive holding and pass interference / defensive holding.
To some extent, referees could call those penalties on every play. The battles in the trenches rarely don’t include some degree of holding. And contact between receives and defensive backs occurs on every play.
Need to stall a drive? Throw a flag for holding. Need to sustain a drive? Call an infraction against a defensive back.
It happens every week, in every game. The league wants competitive, close games. The enforcement of the rules is one way to ensure that they get them.
Unfortunately for the NFL, their wild inconsistency has been on display in the most-watched games of the season. And in the Super Bowl, it went against the league’s loudest fan base.
Good luck getting the Eagles faithful to shut up about the call against James Bradberry. They’ll be talking about it for decades.
And that’s a good thing. It’s time to shine a light on the NFL’s officiating problem.
Are NFL games fixed? That’s a stretch.
Do a lot of things happen that make the outcomes seem fishy? Without a doubt.
That fact alone should be considered a crisis by the league. A threat to the integrity of games is something that can’t be ignored.
Too many more outcomes like Super Bowl LVII will kill the golden goose. If people don’t think the result is on the up and up, they’ll stop tuning in, wagering and caring.
The Chiefs played great in the second half. They’re were nearly flawless. That should be the conversation today.
Instead, the focus is on a late-game flag. That’s a problem.
The NFL can keep laughing at those who point it out, using their media machine to change the narrative. Or they can address the problem before it ruins the game.
The first option is less painful, but the second one is the right thing to do.
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