What would another NFL season be without a ton of awful officiating calls and NO-CALLS? If you love controversy in football, the zebras certainly didn’t disappoint you!
With that, let’s dive into the 30 worst officiating calls from the 2024 NFL season.
Which officiating calls made you furious in the 2024 NFL season?
Byron Young’s Blatant Facemask On Sam Darnold
The thrilling Los Angeles Rams-Minnesota Vikings Week 8 game Thursday night game was overshadowed by a horrendous no-call by the refs that allowed Sean McVay’s group to seal the deal.
Byron Young sacked Sam Darnold in the end zone for a safety with 1:36 left, extending the Rams’ lead to 10 to ice the game. But somehow, the officials missed the most clear-as-day facemask penalty infraction that you’ll ever see against Young.
Bryan Cook Is Allowed To Bear Hug Kyle Pitts
Let’s just say that the NFL officials didn’t do a very good job in shutting down the notion that they favor the Kansas City Chiefs. No doubt that the defending champs benefitted from a plethora of controversial calls this year, but one can argue that this one takes the cake.
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The Chiefs barely avoided an upset at the hands of Kirk Cousins’ Atlanta Falcons on ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Week 3. A key reason? Bryan Cook got away with a blatant bear hug and defensive pass interference on Kyle Pitts late in the fourth quarter.
Clean Sack On Aaron Rodgers Is A Penalty
There was a time when it was okay to cleanly sack a quarterback. As long as it was a routine tackle without contact to the quarterback’s head, the refs wouldn’t dare throw a penalty for a QB takedown.
But we’re past those days now, as evidenced by this instance where AJ Epenesa was flagged for roughing the passer on Aaron Rodgers in the New York Jets-Buffalo Bills Week 6 game.
“Holding” On Cooper DeJean…How?
You know, the officials really messed up when former referee Walt Anderson publicly acknowledged a mistake made by the zebras.
Such was the case when Philadelphia Eagles rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean was flagged for defensive holding when he barely touched Washington Commanders’ receiver Noah Brown. With calls like that, the NFL may as well ban all defensive backs from being within five yards of a receiver at all times.
Bills Get A 41-Second Play Clock?
Pay close attention to the play clock here. Did the refs really let the Buffalo Bills get an extra second on the clock, leading to a game-changing James Cook rushing score instead of a five-yard penalty? That play changed the tide of the game, with the Bills out-scoring New England 24-7 after giving up the first 14 points.
The result could’ve been way different if the refs remembered the whole 40-second play clock thing…just saying.
Houston, We’ve Got An Officiating Problem
The Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs Week 16 game didn’t exactly live up to the hype, and you can largely thank the officials for that.
Just when it looked like the Texans strip-sacked Patrick Mahomes and took it to the end zone for six, the refs ruled it an incomplete forward pass and threw a flag for roughing the passer. At this rate, the NFL may one day fully ban contact by defensive players.
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Clean Blocking Is Now “Holding”
Offensive holding happens on practically every play, but it usually has to be blatant for the refs to call it.
But in this case involving Daniel Faalele of the Baltimore Ravens, a totally clean block with no holding infraction whatsoever was enough to take a Lamar Jackson rushing TD off the board against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We know the Ravens won the game anyway, but still.
Brenton Cox Jr.’s Roughing The Passer Penalty
We know the Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints 34-0 in Week 16, but it doesn’t excuse one of the worst roughing-the-passer penalties of the year.
Brenton Cox Jr. was penalized for roughing the passer on rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler in a call so bizarre that even Troy Aikman and rules analyst Russell Yurk refused to bite their tongues.
DJ Reed’s Elite Coverage = Defensive PI
Guarding Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is difficult enough to begin with. But when perfectly clean coverage on him results in a defensive pass interference call, what exactly does the NFL want its defenders to do?
Bengals Penalized From Steelers Neutral Zone Infraction?
The Bengals were facing a pivotal 4th-and-1 situation at their own 39-yard line late in the second quarter against the Steelers. Cincy lined up to go for it, but the officials flagged guard Alex Kappa for a false start.
Take a closer look, however, and it’s clear the Steelers should have been flagged for neutral zone infraction. That should have given Cincy a first down, but they wound up having to punt. Pittsburgh would win 44-38, so Bengals fans had every right to feel screwed out of that game.
Caleb Williams’ Facemask Goes Uncalled
Count on the refs to not bother calling the Vikings for an obvious facemask on Caleb Williams during the Week 15 Monday night clash between the two bitter NFC North rivals…
Another reminder that nothing went right for the Bears in Williams’ rookie year…tsk tsk.
Harrison Smith’s Clean Block = Illegal Block
Not to be captain obvious here…but an illegal block below the waist has to be, well, below the waste. Or if you’re Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith, such a penalty means a clean block to the midsection of Packers offensive lineman Zach Tom.
Josh Allen’s Flop Draws A Flag
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is drawing a bit of a reputation for being a flopper. Regardless of how you feel about it, there’s no denying that the refs were foolish in falling for this flop that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty against Quinnen Williams of the Jets.
Whatever floats your boat, NFL refs. Whatever floats your boat.
Bryan Cook Stays, Trent Williams Goes
Make no mistake: a punch to the head should always be an ejection in football. But the refs only half-remembered this memo when the Chiefs visited the 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch in Week 7.
Chiefs safety Bryan Cook delivered a punch to 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams as he was getting up. The All-Pro offensive tackle retaliated by slugging Cook back…but only Williams was ejected. Call it both ways, refs. No wonder everyone thinks you’re biased for KC.
Kirk Cousins Makes His Case For Flag Football
Well, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins certainly flopped in year one of the $180 million contract he signed in free agency. It took 14 disappointing starts from the ex-Viking to be benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr., with Atlanta’s playoff hopes quickly fading.
Before his benching, Cousins provided Atlanta with 18 touchdowns and a league-high 16 interceptions. On the bright side, he sold this hit from Robert Spillane enough to draw a roughing the passer penalty…
Definitely not a $180 million flop, but at least he did something good for his NFL team here!
Hart-Braking Call Costs Chargers vs. Cardinals
A late Cameron Dicker field goal put the Chargers up 17-15 on the Arizona Cardinals with 1:54 remaining in their Week 7 Monday nighter. So count on the refs to take center stage in a back-and-forth thriller.
Kyler Murray’s sideline pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. fell incomplete, but the refs penalized Chargers rookie Cam Hart for “unnecessary roughness” when he was really just making a play on the ball.
That awful call allowed Arizona to drive down the field for the game-winning field goal. What can we say? The Chargers were totally robbed by this officiating gaffe.
Xavier Woods Avoids Ejection For Vicious Head Hit
We thought that part of cracking down on cheap shot hits meant ejecting players when they commit such an offense. Not for Xavier Woods with his vicious hit on Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, though.
Woods was penalized AND fined for this hit that knocked Olave out of the game, but someone will need to explain to us why he was an exception for the ejection rule and all.
Early Whistle Costs George Pickens
When you think of early whistles costing an NFL team dearly, well, just ask a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. We all know it: Myles Jack wasn’t down in the 2017 AFC Championship Game, darn it!
The stakes weren’t as high for the Steelers-Chiefs Christmas Day game in Week 17. Still, this was an awfully early whistle on Pittsburgh wideout George Pickens after a catch that prevented a potential game-changing play. Why must refs always be so eager to blow the whistle?!
“Roughing The Kicker” Doesn’t Apply To Steelers
You’d like to think that clear-as-day “roughing the kicker” penalties wouldn’t be missed by the refs..especially when an opposing player knocks him right to the ground by hitting him in the leg.
Not only did the Steelers get away with an obvious roughing the kicker infraction on New York Giants punter Matt Haack, but the no-call allowed Calvin Austin’s game-changing 73-yard punt return TD to hold up…
Talk about going too far with the “let them play” mentality!
Kyler Gordon’s Phantom Horse Collar Tackle Penalty
Remember what we said about nothing going right for the Bears this year? Case in point: This atrocious “horse collar” call against Kyler Gordon for making a clean tackle on Jahmyr Gibbs in the Lions-Bears Thanksgiving Game.
Seriously, the NFL should just ban tackling at this point.
George Pickens’ “Legal” Pushoff
Steelers star wideout George Pickens has made a name for himself as an explosive playmaker who excels in creating separation from opposing defenders. But hey, why rely entirely on your all-world athleticism when the refs will ignore blatant calls on you?
Take, for instance, Pickens pushing off Kyle Hamilton to DRAW separation and make a catch for an easy first down. Spoiler alert: The refs didn’t flag Pickens.
Adam Thielen’s TD Is “Incomplete”
If you’re new to the NFL and wonder why there’s so much outrage and confusion over the “catch” debate…May we just present this Adam Thielen touchdown that was ruled incomplete in a crushing OT loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Forty years ago, this ruling would have been somewhat excusable. But with replay and the freedom to overturn, how in the WORLD does this stand as an incomplete pass?
Man, Carolina fans can’t have nice things.
Vikings Get 3 On Packers Phantom Offside Call
The Vikings defeated the archrival Packers 27-25 in Week 17 to secure a rare season-series sweep. Take Will Reichard’s 50-yard field goal to close out the half, however, and you’d probably have a different result.
Initially, Reichard missed a 55-yarder that should have kept Minny’s lead at 10-3 going into the half. However, Edgerrin Cooper was issued a phantom offside penalty, allowing Reichard to make good on his second chance.
Someone wanna play referee here and tell us how exactly this was offside?
Nevermind, Just An Ignored Facemask Call Against KC
We know the Bills defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 30-21 in their thrilling Week 11 showdown. Still, we can’t just give the refs a “pass” since their pathetic miscue didn’t affect the outcome of the game.
What we just wanna know is how the refs ignored the blatant facemask penalty against Chris Jones during this Ty Johnson. Did they need it to happen in slow motion to throw the darn laundry?
Play Good Coverage, Get A Flag
Now, we could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure little contact, getting your head around, and a pass being totally uncatchable don’t count as pass interference. But the refs forgot the memo in the Ravens-Texans Christmas Day NFL game, with Marlon Humphrey getting flagged for playing great coverage on Robert Woods.
How To Stop DeVonta Smith: Rely On The Refs!
Eagles star wide receiver DeVonta Smith is one of the hardest guys to cover in the game because of his lightning-quick speed and elite route-running tree.
But if you’re Cowboys rookie Marist Liufau, here’s how you can stop Smith: Deliver an illegal block in the back and hope the refs don’t call it.
The play injured Smith and took him out of the game. Thanks to the refs for missing that obvious defensive penalty, though.
Hey Refs: THIS IS Roughing The Passer
Do you know how we’ve shown you several pathetic roughing-the-passer penalties on this list already? Well if you’re like us and you’ve become fed up with the lack of consistency, well, we’re not done yet.
Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell took an unnecessary hit from Bucs’ defensive end, Calijah Kancey, which knocked him out of the game. Notice how Kancey hit O’Connell like 10 years after he threw the ball.
That hit knocked O’Connell out of the game. So much for protecting your QBs, huh, NFL?
THIS IS Roughing The Passer, Part II
If there’s one NFL quarterback that needs a little special treatment, it’s Miami Dolphins signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa. He missed four games with another concussion that was suffered in Week 2 against the Bills.
If someone could tell us how this isn’t roughing the passer on Rashan Gary for a vicious cheap shot on Tua Tagovailoa, then what is?
Good grief.
Mysterious Clock Stoppage In NOLA
Yes, yes. The Commanders wound up defeating the Saints at the Caesars Superdome in Week 15 anyway, so the officiating miscue didn’t matter. But this is still one of the most inexcusable clock operating mishaps we have ever seen.
Trailing by a touchdown with 17 ticks remaining, Spencer Rattler hit Foster Moreau for a seven-yard gain to convert on fourth down. He was tackled with 11 seconds left and no timeouts…but the clock operator inexplicably gave the Saints three extra seconds.
The bonus three seconds allowed the Saints to spike the ball for one more play. Rattler hit Moreau for the TD, but the Saints’ two-point conversion attempt for the win fell incomplete and saved the officials from further scrutiny.
After the game, referee Shawn Hochuli acknowledged the mistake and said the clock shouldn’t have stopped. For the officials’ sake, it’s a good thing the Commanders wound up winning.
Ravens Beat Bengals With TWO No Calls
The Bengals-Ravens Week 10 Thursday nighter certainly lived up to the hype. It’s too bad that it had to be decided by another inexcusable officiating mistake.
Trailing by a touchdown with 38 ticks remaining, Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for six. Rather than play for the tie, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor called for a two-point conversion attempt that fell incomplete.
And when we say incomplete, we mean the referees are missing two obvious penalties in Baltimore. That’s one way to decide a Game of the Year candidate like this one!
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