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Chiefs-Packers Game Highlights the Need for Changes in Refereeing
Instant replay as helped, but more help is needed.
In Sunday Night’s Chiefs-Packers game, the referees again took the spotlight, and not in a good way. As the Chiefs were making a final drive in an attempt to tie the game, two calls elicited controversy.
After Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a 10-yard game, he took a hard hit on the sideline from Jonathan Owens. Owens was flagged for a 15-yard penalty. Replays indicated Mahomes was in bounds when the hit occurred. Terry McAulay was the NBC’s rules analyst for the game and thought there should not have been a penalty on the play. But the worst was yet to come.
The non-call was bad, but the explanation was worse
With under a minute Patrick Mahomes lofted a long past to Marquez Valdez-Scantling deep in Packers’ territory. Valdez-Scantling failed to come down with the pass. Possibly because he was being mugged by Carrington Valentine at the time.
In the booth, Chris Collinsworth was hollering for a call, and Terry McAulay agreed with him. Of course, despite the protests from the booth, the no call stood.
Over the years it’s become increasingly obvious that refs sometimes swallow their whistles late in the game.
