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Oh, the officiating yesterday? It’s perfectly fine.
That’s it. Perfect. Doze off.
Let the xylazine work its magic.
Pat McAfee’s voice plays on a TV overhead.
Four more gambling ads loop as you lose consciousness.
Three days later, you refuse to watch anything else on a perfectly fine Thursday night — forever the ace up the NFL’s sleeve. Shaboozey takes the mic on Amazon Prime’s TNF to sing “Let ‘Em Know,” the Packers beat Carolina, Ryan Fitzpatrick rips his shirt off in a postgame interview and you completely forget how pissed you were five days prior.
This is the basic NFL life cycle. The league’s a machine that relies on its patrons redirecting to the next next shiny object. Nothing compels true change to the infrastructure of officiating. Tom Brady — an NFL owner, a 7-time champ, arguably the greatest player ever — openly trashed the officiating on “America’s Game of the Week” and nothing will happen. His words are akin to a used flossing stick on the sidewalk in front of 345 Park Avenue.
Accountability? Admission of guilt? Ha!
There are no press conferences for officials. Only sorry pool reports like this one.
Devonte Wyatt tackled Amon-Ra St. Brown because he did not hear a whistle.
The head official admits he also didn’t hear a whistle, but declares “the play was over” and that Wyatt was penalized for additional contact. If officials — at any point — raised their hands and admitted they screwed up, perhaps the general public would offer some grace. But it never happens. Pool reports read like third-graders pleading their case to the elementary school principal.
By no means is this a blame-the-refs column. The Packers did a bang-up job losing to the Detroit Lions, 20-17, on their own volition. It’s incumbent upon teams to rise above human error and make plays. That’s pro sports. Trey Smack missed kicks from 26 and 35 yards. Twenty-six! Bo Melton (potential 45-yard reception), Matthew Golden (25 yards) and Josh Jacobs (17-yard TD with 3:34 left) all had critical drops. Matt LaFleur refused to go for it from the Lions’ 3-yard line on his first drive. The Packers’ NFL-worst rushing attack averaged 3.2 yards per carry. St. Brown (153 yards) did whatever he pleased. Love is still pressured too much.
Dan Campbell went for it on fourth and 1 from his own 24, failed and Green Bay came away with zero points.
Packers players must transition to TNF quickly.
But for once, it’d sure be swell if the NFL did a little soul searching of its own. I cannot recall officiating being this heinous in my lifetime. Of course, this is where commissioner Roger Goodell would blame technology and the advancements of instant replay for showing the public angles and zoom-ins their forefathers never experienced. But, no. It’s never been worse. Packers-Lions was simply one of many games bastardized by bureaucracy. Week 7 started with a Bears-Patriots game that had zero flow. The NFL is conditioning viewers to expect flags every other play.
Owners, league execs, players, fans, everyone but refs wearing shmedium attire should agree this product is at its best when officials stay out of the way. More than ever, referees are itching to insert themselves into the action.
Let’s use a simple analogy. As a society, our species agreed long ago that it’s OK to drive 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. Best place to start fixing this officiating problem? Full-timers who use common sense instead conducting themselves as overzealous mall cops. The sport is unlike any in the world. Twenty-two athletes smash into each other at funky angles for three hours. What makes this so maddening is that officials do typically swallow their whistles in the playoffs — so why wait until January? Do officials have a quota of tickets to reach?
The best crews are the ones who barely make themselves known, the ones who only reach for the flag when a driver’s going 85 on the highway and/or swerving out of control. An obvious line is been crossed.
Sunday’s events at Ford Field, in Fox’s prime 4:25 p.m. slot, alerted everyone to this league-wide epidemic. Safety Xavier McKinney was correct to calmly describe it all as “bullshit.”
Where to begin?
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Love was penalized for intentional grounding when Kraft was obviously within range.
Karl Brooks and Brenton Cox Jr. both received roughing the passer penalties that defy gravity. If these hits sincerely warrant 15-yard infractions, it’s time for Goodell to make referees visit all 32 teams in training camp to prop up Mathias Kiwanuka’s infamous play vs. Tennessee in 2006 on the projector as the official teaching tape. You remember the Giants defensive end wrapping up Vince Young on fourth and 10, only to completely let him go. Apparently, this was Brooks’ only option: Give up.
Wyatt’s unnecessary roughness in the third quarter was a Key and Peele sketch brought to life. St. Brown didn’t hear a whistle, head official Alex Moore didn’t hear a whistle, Wyatt didn’t hear a whistle. If you’re Wyatt and you don’t tackle St. Brown — you let him race for a touchdown — congratulations. You are synonymous with this play forever.
Again, the message to a Packers defender is simple: Give up.
Instead of forcing a third and 7, the Lions were gifted a first down and scored a go-ahead TD.
Good on Wyatt saying afterward he’d do the same thing “100 times over.”
The defiance of umpire Terry Killens Jr. throwing a flag from his back also hinted at the dramatic ridiculousness of modern officiating.
For those counting at home, the Packers have been flagged for eight roughing the passer penalties this season. Their opponents? None. For reasons unknown, Love doesn’t get the calls of other quarterbacks — all while getting hit more than any QB in the NFL. Amid the confetti of laundry, you’d think one call would go his way.
McKinney knows his words come with a hefty fine. He doesn’t care.
“These are critical drives,” the Packers safety told reporters inside the visiting locker room. “It’s annoying even talking about it because these are critical drives throughout the game and we might have a drive where we’re getting stops but you’re calling penalties. And it’s like, this is not a penalty. To me, it doesn’t really make any sense and it’s killing our momentum. It’s killing our drives and it’s kind of fucking up the games, if I’m being honest.”
The chef’s kiss to this 10-course manure feast was a hysterical double-standard. When the Lions got Green Bay to jump offsides on their final game-winning drive, they danced and pranced and pointed and mocked the Packers. The NFL’s own Twitter/X account celebrated the occasion. Which wouldn’t be noteworthy at all if officials hadn’t flagged Golden one week prior for having the audacity to flex his biceps after a reception.
LaFleur refused to call out the officiating afterward. It would’ve been nice if the Packers head coach ate the fine and went scorched earth, but I don’t blame him. He’s got to get this team ready to play a game on a short week and, as noted, the Packers made plenty of mistakes themselves.
His loyalty to Smack could prove costly. The rookie from Florida has already missed seven kicks in seven games.
This team is far from alone, too.
Cruise through games any given Sunday and you’re inundated with lunacy. In Bengals-Ravens, linebacker Boye Mafe was cut by Ravens running back Derrick Henry and tumbled into a Ravens lineman on his way down. Officials penalized him 15 yards for an illegal block. Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor justifiably blew a gasket. CBS color man J.J. Watt, like Brady, refused to bend the knee. The three-time defensive player of the year ripped the call in real time and refused to relent as rules analyst Gene Steratore (once again) offered a lame justification for the flag.
It’s refreshing to hear announcers get so disgusted but, uh, yeah, let’s not hold our breath for the NFL to prioritize its officiating as a problem.
They’re too busy spamming you with gambling advertisements, sowing doubt into their own product. They’ve got new international territory to explore.
So, welcome all conspiracy theories. Hell, bring on the Saudi money.
Let people lose their minds. Come Monday, Roger will have the tranquilizer in his hand, Shaboozey on the dial and more football to pour down the beer funnel.
ICYMI:
Travis Glover, calm in the storm
GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Fourteen minutes into conversation at pristine Plae Bistro, a few blocks from the Fox River, his voice quivers and trails off. A single tear from his left eye rolls down his cheek. Then, a second from his right eye. He doesn’t bother dabbing either one dry.
Not to mention the uncalled head hunting by Branch on Kraft's early reception.
What's called versus uncalled makes no sense. Too much speed to the game for part-time officials. Agree that gambling money has impact. NFL should not be in bed with gambling, period.
With the NFL leaning into gambling they've got to get this cleaned up. Time for robot/AI refs.