Looking back as far as June 8th, 1966 there’ve been some absolutely terrible calls but being able to call plays now with the technology lets start with most of the bad calls on how they started and onto how these calls are happening more frequently this NFL season.
History
The history of these bad calls started in 1998 in the Thanksgiving game between The Steelers and Lions when Referee Phil Luckett asked Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis if he wanted heads or tails. Bettis called “tails” but Luckett said the running back called “heads.” The overtime coin flip landed as tails giving The Lions the ball and the win. The time when Bettis said what he wanted was on live TV when he said tails. The ref obviously made the wrong call, making the wrong call on purpose or it was scripted.
Then in 1999 in the NFC Wild Card when the 49ers were facing the Green Bay Packers when Jerry Rice had a very crucial fumble to the Packers victory and at this time they had several replays that showed the ball was out before his knee hit the ground. The refs then called that his knee hit the ground before the ball came out but the replay showed it from a really good angle, showing that the refs made the wrong call.(According to Gameday News)
Crucial moments ruined by the refs
With the terrible calling happening throughout the years of the NFL here are some crucial moments that were ruined by terrible calling.
Starting with the Catch by Dez Bryant: During the NFL divisional round Dez Bryant caught a pass onto the 1 yard line but the refs called that Dez did not have possession of the ball but the replay obviously shows that he had possession of the ball and the ball only came out as soon as his knees came down. The refs obviously made another bad call to cost a team a chance in the super bowl
Then going with the Tuck Rule Game, this game was the Patriots vs Raiders when a defensive end came in and sacked brad, but when he got sacked the ball came out and the replay showed that brady faked a pass but during the motion of him pulling the ball down, but the refs ruled that Brady was in motion of a pass and it was incomplete then made the tuck rule.
Lastly ending with the Saints Vs Rams NFC Championship during this game with 1:46 on the clock 20 yards away from the end zone Drew Brees throws it to his receiver running down for the first down, but before he could catch it the rams corner came in and hit the receiver before he could even get his hands on the ball. The refs didn’t call the pass interference and the Saints went on and lost the game by three.Starting Corner for the Oakmont Spartans Isaac Castillo said “This was obvious pass interference” (According to Gameday News)
Calls of today
With the crucial moments out of the way then let’s look at the terrible calls that still happen today
Starting with Sam Darnold Face mask This safety sack was a penalty that should’ve been called because the ref was exactly right there seeing the face mask be pulled down. The refs have been missing most penalties this season. We are halfway through the season and there have been many missed calls.Professional Vikings Fan Jayden Brostrum said “I feel like the Refs aren’t that biased against my team even though they were right there when the penalty happened”.
Then with Devonta Smith Helmet Tackle during last Thursday’s game between the Eagles and Commanders the refs missed an easy face helmet tackle by Frankie luvu where he had his whole hand inside of his helmet and tackled him the replay obviously shows the tackle yet the call was missed.
Lastly ending with Joe Burrow Face Mask during the Bengals vs Ravens game Joe Burrow got his face masked and pulled down during a crucial red zone touchdown attempt. Where he threw an incomplete pass to Mike Geisiki that could’ve sealed the game winner for the Bengals.
Is the NFL scripted or are the refs are being biased
After several amounts of evidence showing the terrible calls that could have been made. In my opinion I feel like the NFL refs are being biased when it comes to these calls like how Isaac Castillo said “Watch any chiefs game”. The Chiefs are 9-1 when it comes to the regular season yet Patrick Mahomes is having one of his worst years yet with having 11 interceptions just within the 11 weeks he isn’t the same quarterback he has shown us to be. The Chiefs offense is currently 16th best in the NFL, they’re getting bailed out by the defense who is currently top 5 in the league. Aswell as the NFL being scripted for the Chiefs to win the Super bowl 3 times in a row with all the unnecessary roughness calls being called on the players who are mid tackle then Patrick Mahomes stepping out of bounds to get the penalty called.
Also with the players missing tackles on Mahomes maybe trying to avoid the penalty or its scripted for them to make Mahomes run for a big gain.Then English Teacher Alex Dewhurst said” I don’t think the NFL is scripted or the refs are biased because they have to make difficult decisions and there are several penalties missed in each play”. While that is true with the refs having to make a hip drop tackle call in real time with all the new rules they placed having to remember all of them it seems like alot to remember. Even though these refs still have to remember every penalty they should be able to still call the penalties with the ability to review the play.
With sundays games over the Chiefs barely beat the Panthers who are the 2nd worst team in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes is either gonna win any playoff game because of the refs or the NFL is truly scripted.