Look – I’ll say it up front. I’m not a proponent of the “the fix is in” argument. By and large, I DON’T think that the NFL fixes games. It’d be pretty hard to from an operational standpoint. The Tennessee Titans did NOT lose the AFC Championship because of officiating. That’s a lazy argument that doesn’t hold a lot of water. I get being pissed – hell, I’m upset. But, the game was NOT controlled by the officials. If you’re looking for fodder for that argument, ya ain’t gonna get it here, folks.
That said, it’s perfectly reasonable to say that NFL officials can be complete morons and make some pretty terrible calls. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this one, though:
The ref literally threw the flag for holding against the Titans the moment the ball was snapped. This game is being blatantly rigged for the Chiefs. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/FMusBHL9vC
— bing bong (@bingbong223) January 19, 2020
Dennis Kelly was flagged for holding on this play. I’ve watched this thing a million times at this point. It’s timed perfectly – that flag comes out before Kelly even makes contact with anyone on the Chiefs defense. Even if they attributed the penalty to the wrong player….HOW!?!?! How could anyone have committed a hold in the amount of time it took for that ref to throw that flag?!?!
It just doesn’t make sense – and this is the kind of shit that makes people wonder about the agenda of the NFL. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it wasn’t the only bad call.
This was called pass interference on the Titans. pic.twitter.com/e9JdX56lc0
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) January 19, 2020
Yeah, this one makes a little more sense. I can at least see how, in the heat of the moment, that looks like pass interference. But, I still think it’s bogus. Even watching the play live, it felt like Tramaine Brock got his head around in time to negate the interference. I don’t see him holding Hardman’s hands/arms down. That ball is under-thrown – I don’t know what you ask Brock to do in that situation. It looked like good coverage to me.
Again, I’m not sitting here trying to say that the Titans lost the AFC Championship because of the officials. The Titans didn’t lose this game because of two bad calls.
But, if the NFL wants people to stop criticizing officiating, they have to figure out a way to eliminate shit like this. And, yes – I think the Titans are definitely owed an explanation as to what the fuck happened during that holding call.
People need to be held accountable for this kind of shit.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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