Another NFL Sunday, another day of controversial officiating calls (or non-calls) that have fans enraged and upset.
Former NFL referee Terry McAulay, who now serves as a rules analyst for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” programs, was the center of criticism during the Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots game last night.
As a rules analyst, McAulay is often asked for his take on if the NFL officials made the right call or not. On Snday, McAulay drew plenty of ire from fans for simply agreeing with several rulings and calls by the referees.
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There were two calls in the Patriots-Dolphins games that led to fan backlash.
The first was an unnecessary roughness call on Pats’ linebacker Marte Mapu for a hit to the head on Jaylen Waddle, which allowed the Dolphins to bleed more clock. The drive ended with Jason Sanders missing a field goal attempt.
The second ruling was that the Patriots’ fell short of the first down marker on their last play of the game. On 4th-and-4, Mike Gesicki caught a pass from Mac Jones and lateraled it to offensive lineman Cole Strange, who apparently got the first down to keep the game going.
After further review, however, the officials deemed Strange short of the first down. Many fans thought it was the wrong call because they didn’t think there was enough evidence to overturn the initial ruling.
The 63-year-old McAulay served as an NFL referee from 1998 to 2018, working three Super Bowl contests (Super Bowls 39, 43 and 48). After retiring, McAulay made the move into the broadcast booth for NBC, where he now works alongside Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico.
