The NFL Admits Referees Blew Two Calls This Season

11/17/2024 10:57 AM

The National Football League's referees have been under fire for several blown calls this season.

Of course, much like players make mistakes and coaches make bad decisions, referees make bad calls from time to time. But rarely, if ever, does the National Football League come out and say that the league's officials blew a call. It finally happened on Sunday morning, though. The voice of the NFL's referees admitted to two blown calls this season.

There were two big blown calls in Thursday night's Eagles vs. Commanders game. Philadelphia topped Washington, 26-18.

Walt Anderson, the NFL's head of officiating, admitted on NFL Network's GameDay Morning that two blown calls happened in the Eagles' win over the Commanders.

From Pro Football Talk:

First, Anderson acknowledged the Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean shouldn't have been flagged for pass interference after he pulled the jersey of Commanders receiver Noah Brown during the opening drive of the third quarter. Anderson acknowledged that, while the pulling of Brown's jersey could have been ruled defensive holding before the ball was thrown, it wasn't a sufficiently significant hindrance to Brown. And thus shouldn't have been called.

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Anderson apparently got tipsy on the first sip, because then he admitted to a missed roughing the passer call for a hit on Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

It would probably help if the NFL did this more often. NFL fans - along with players and coaches - would probably be more forgiving of mistakes, bad calls, etc. if the league would own up to them right away.

Referees are human, after all, so it's crazy to expect them to be perfect every week. 

But it would probably be best for everyone involved to be more upfront moving forward.