Throughout the entirety of the NFL season, NFL refs have been missing calls, letting some things slide and other things not slide, and throwing questionable flags. After throwing flags that are soft or not throwing flags on plays that affect the game. These calls/no calls raise questions such as, “Is the NFL rigged”, “Is the NFL scripted”, and “Do NFL Refs throw games for Vegas odds?”.

A lot of the calls that slide is play clock hitting 0:00 and the NFL Refs won’t throw the flag even 2 seconds after the clock hits 0:00. Holding is on every play, especially in the trenches, however, defensive holding on DB’s are mostly soft calls. It’s gotten so bad that WRs and QBs will bait DBs into PI (pass interference).
Two weeks ago, Rams vs. Lions in the NFC Wildcard game there was a no-call that affected the game for the Rams which would have put the Rams in field goal range at 1 and 10 on the Lions’ side of the field. As we know, the Rams got knocked out of the playoffs resulting in a 23-24 loss.

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As we know, NFL Refs have a lot of power to impact the game. For example, in week 17 the Lions played the Cowboys in an important game due to NFC Playoff seeding. The Lions scored a touchdown in the final moments in the game and Dan Campbell decides to go for a two-point conversion. Now this was a gutsy call which initially looked to be a successful try; however, the Refs called it back because Taylor Decker, did not report eligible to catch the ball thus making Decker an “Ineligible receiver”. Even after reports came out showing how Decker reported the NFL did act just not as serious as the NFL could/should have done. All the NFL did was ban that officiating crew from officiating a Playoff game.
As it appears, the NFL was very light with their punishment. Players can say or do something and get fined a huge sum of money, but NFL Refs can make calls that affect a game or a season and walk away Scott free. Joey Bosa, a defensive end for the Los Angeles Chargers, said “I think there just needs to be more accountability.” Joey Bosa is right if NFL Refs were held more accountable, we would be seeing way less bad calls.

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On the flip side of things, the NFL is too strict on celebratory dances, showboating, and things players do after a big play. The NFL is almost ruining the game in the entertainment side of things by flagging players for various reasons that are mostly questionable. Players work their whole lives to get the pros and get to the position they are at; I say let them celebrate a big play/accomplishment that the player or their teammates made. The NFL goes a step further and fines these players.
A solution to this is, the NFL should hire all Refs as full-time employees of the NFL. This would ensure that the NFL Refs would be more cautious and less likely to ruin a game due to a bad call or a no-call even. If the NFL were to do this, I believe we would see a rapid decline in bad calls and see the results of that, being a well-officiated game. Again, Joey Bosa made a great point talking about Refs being more accountable for their actions and calls. If Refs were fined for bad or missed calls we would see more accountability leading to better officiating.

Author: Seth Ballenger