It’s become a familiar sight this season as NFL officials have come under heavy criticism seemingly every week for missed calls, unusual calls, or a general lack of consistency.
Things may have reached a peak on ABC’s national broadcast of Monday Night Football when Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman called out the officiating crew for taking too long to come to a decision on a seemingly easy play.
With under a minute to go in the first half, a kickoff hit New York Giants special teamer Lawrence Cager’s leg and bounced out of bounds. Refs did not see it and they threw a penalty flag.
“The problem with all of this is just make a call. I mean there’s 13 seconds in the half, just make a decision,” Aikman said as officials looked at whether a kickoff went out of bounds on its own or if it bounced off another player.
“This is what stops all these games. And the officials, I know, they’ve been talked about every week but this is ridiculous what we’re watching right now.”
It took several minutes for the crew to come to the conclusion that the ball did, in fact, hit Cager and there was no penalty on the play.
Aikman is not known for his hot takes in the broadcast booth, so him lashing out at refs was shocking.
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Just brutal honesty.
Aikman and Buck were on the call last week when the Packers and Kansas City Chiefs ended in controversy after Patrick Mahomes’ Hail Mary to Marquez Valdes-Scantling was broken up, but it appeared Green Bay defensive back Jonathan Owens hit the receiver early.
Mahomes kept his composure on this night but was upset Sunday night as an offensive offsides call on Kadarius Toney spoiled a touchdown and took crucial points off the board. Even though the call was correct, Mahomes criticized officials at the postgame podium and exploded at refs on the sidelines.
