Most Controversial Calls This NFL Season
February 28, 2019
This NFL Season was full of fun and exciting games, but not all of them were perfect. Some games were slowed down by officiating, boring the audience. Some games had poor officiating, and others had controversial calls that affected the outcome of the game.
Here are some of the worst calls this season in the NFL.
Vikings vs. Rams Week 4
The Vikings were down by 7 midway through the 3rd quarter, needing a stop to stay in the game, when Rams RB Todd Gurley broke off a huge run, helped by a block in back on Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo. The flag for the illegal block in the back was thrown, but was picked up short after. It was an obvious call that could have changed the outcome of the game if the Vikings were able to make a stop.
Packers vs. Redskins Week 3
This penalty didn’t have much affect on this game, but rather affected the entire season. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews bursted through the Redskin’s O-line and sacked quarterback Alex Smith. He landed on top of him, and a flag was thrown for unnecessary roughness. This rule was added this year to try to protect the quarterback, however, no one thought that it would ever be called due to the nature of the game. Sacking a quarterback requires tackling him. This penalty affected the entire league by making players trying to sack the quarterback to be more careful, causing them to miss some of the time.
Rams vs. Saints NFC Championship
The Rams and Saints game had one of the most controversial calls of the entire season. Late in the fourth quarter Drew Brees threw a pass to Tommy Lee Lewis, the pass was perfectly thrown and Lewis beat his defender, Nickell Robey Coleman, he should have caught the pass but Coleman clearly committed pass interference on Lewis. It was an easy call to make, but since the referees did not throw a flag and make the call for pass interference it cost the Saints the game. The call decided who would make it to the Super Bowl and who would go home. In the end, there was no call made and the Rams’ NFC Championship win is still talked about, even more so than the results of Super Bowl LIII.
