The theme of NFL Week 5 was officiating. Simply put, it outshined the actual games, and not for good reason. What took place on Monday Night Football between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs was another tale of inconsistencies and discrepancies. It was the figurative cherry on top of another week of referees hijacking the action.
Raiders News: Recounting how the NFL officiating crew performed
Raider Nation has historically held a grudge with NFL referees. They like to point to the inherent bias towards the Raiders since the days of Al Davis. Well, the Silver and Black were actually the benefactors of a terrible call by the game’s officials in the second quarter. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones appeared to have a strip-sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery on Derek Carr. Instead, Jones was called for roughing-the-passer. The penalty gave the Raiders 15 yards and a first down. Of course, that led to an imposing chorus of boos by those in attendance at Arrowhead Stadium. ESPN published the explanation given by the referees. Essentially, Jones’s landing with his full body weight on Carr led to the flag.
Brady watching Derek Carr get the roughing the passer penalty pic.twitter.com/7HaTwqKAx2
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) October 11, 2022
What followed was, to put it mildly, inconsistent at best.
Following that call, the Raiders were then treated to a night of non-calls and a poor performance by the referees. I mean, at one point, Maxx Crosby was getting absolutely mauled in the red zone by the Chiefs’ tackle in the third quarter. A play that led to Travis Kelce scoring as Patrick Mahomes had more than enough time to move around and make the throw. It was a bad night.
Even former NFL head coach Sean Payton called out the official NFL officiating Twitter account after a rough outing on Monday night. It was almost as if the referees were scared to call anything on the Chiefs after botching the call on Jones. In fact, the numbers paint a horrible picture. By the game’s conclusion, the Raiders had been flagged eight times since the Jones call. Meanwhile, the Chiefs had had zero flags thrown against them. Looking at the film, you can make the argument that three of Kelce’s touchdowns (including the aforementioned score) should’ve been called for holding.
At the end of the day, the flag on Jones was one of the worst flags ever thrown. However, you don’t turn around and try to make up for it by blatantly making bad calls. Trying to cancel out one terrible call with a bunch of bad calls isn’t how that works, refs. You have to wonder if, at some point, the league’s brass will do something. But they’re in a tough spot as they can’t undermine NFL officiating either. This might continue to get worse before it gets better.
*Top Photo: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
