In today’s National Football League (NFL), everyone loves to hate referees. And based on the sheer number of perceivable bad calls that seem to influence the end of games lately, it’s hard to blame them. However, that’s not always fair and each situation has its unique details. They have a thankless job in their role to keep players safe and ensure a level playing field. Nonetheless, the standard of NFL referee calls is dropping and we’ve seen some shocking decisions over the past couple of seasons.
This standard is seemingly getting worse with each passing week as well. It’s gotten so bad that fans are even accusing the NFL of fixing games because some of the calls seem so blatant. Remember, this isn’t impossible because they are technically a “sports entertainment” company in a legal sense rather than a pure sport. So today we’ll look at some of the most shocking NFL referee calls from the 2022 and 2023 seasons that have fans wondering if the product they watch every Sunday is legit as the league claims. Check them out and decide for yourself here.
Jets vs. Patriots (2023)
Let’s caveat this by saying that the Patriots didn’t play well when they met their division rival New York Jets in 2023. But it also doesn’t help when it seems like the refs are against them. Referees made their presence felt too strongly during this clash. Mac Jones threw a pass to Demario Douglas and defensive back Michael Carter intervened.
Carter blindly groped at the rookie’s mask as he tried to catch the ball. Somehow the officials didn’t think that this constituted pass interference or even illegal use of hands. Everyone watching knew that it was one of the worst NFL referee calls of the season so far (via Fansided).