The NFL had the nerve to defend the roughing the passer penalty on Kamalei Correa, but didn’t say a word about Marcus Mariota getting hit in the head and his facemask grabbed by Josh Allen.
NFL referees had no problem calling a ticky-tack roughing the passer penalty on Kamalei Correa during the Week 3 game between the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, but missed Marcus Mariota getting a blow to the head and his facemask grabbed on Thursday night.
While there were crickets from the league on the Mariota hit on Friday, the NFL came out and defended its referees on the Correa flag with this statement.
“In #TENvsJAX, there was helmet contact to Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew’s chin, therefore roughing the passer was called.” - AL pic.twitter.com/u70IpR5Viw
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) September 20, 2019
Please. Even announcer Troy Aikman said this was a clean hit at the time, so I’m not exactly sure what the refs or the league see on this one.
And if it wasn’t a clean hit, what do we call this “hit” on Mariota that amounts to a blow to his head, or at least a facemask penalty?
You can see the play from multiple angles in the video below, and it’s clear that not only does Jags rookie Josh Allen hit Mariota in the head, he also gets two fingers under his facemask.
OUTRO SACK DA DEFESA DO JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS, QUE VAI ENGOLINDO MARCUS MARIOTA! Este foi o 5º sack da equipe no jogo, e desta vez quem o derruba é o calouro Josh Allen. #NFLBrasil #NFL100 #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/Ks6aHbzNjX
— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) September 20, 2019
The play happened in the fourth quarter and no flag was thrown. Not that we need it, but here’s another angle.
Of course, Allen didn’t mean to hit the Titans quarterback in the head, but that doesn’t erase the fact that a flag should have been thrown. It two bad misses in one by the zebras in a game in which they called just about everything else.
It’s not a good look for the league when referees are ruining a game, which they did on Thursday night. Because of all the ridiculous penalties, the game was slowed down to a snail’s pace and it was impossible to enjoy, and that’s simply not good for the NFL product.
Just ask Tom Brady, who had to speak out on Twitter after what we all had to witness.
Too many penalties. Just let us play!!!! #TENvsJAC
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 20, 2019
Brady got to the point where he had to turn the game off, which is something I would have done if I wasn’t a writer for one of the teams competing in the contest.
I’m turning off this game I can’t watch these ridiculous penalties anymore #TENvsJAC
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 20, 2019
The bad calls were one thing, but some of the missed calls were just as bad. This officiating crew needs to get its act together, or the NFL must figure something out because games like this only hurt the brand.