The Tennessee Titans were defeated 23-13 by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The result was aided by several controversial calls that went against the Titans. It was one of the more lopsided officiating displays in recent memory.
All in all, the Titans were whistled for 13 penalties totaling 91 yards. By comparison, the Vikings were penalized for three infractions. However, it was the manner of Tennessee's penalties that was particularly jarring.
The most controversial call arrived early in the second quarter. The Vikings were facing a 4th-and-1 from Tennessee's one-yard line after converting a fourth down earlier on the drive via a Titans offside penalty. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw a pass to Jordan Addison in the end zone. Titans safety Mike Browned jarred the ball loose via a clean-and-legal hit by definition of the rule book.
Brown was penalized for phantom "roughing," gifting the Vikings a new set of downs, and essentially, a free touchdown. Making matters worse, referee Clete Blakeman and his crew doubled down on the awful call during their post-game pool report. Titans head coach Brian Callahan had to be restrained by his coaching staff.
Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was unimpressed with the officiating,
"You know how the NFL gets when you talk about officiating," Simmons said, initially indicating an unwillingness to discuss the refs' performance before launching into an honest assessment. "At the end of the day, everyone has to be held accountable," insinuating the refs should be held responsible for making such calls.
"Maybe some of them , but a lot of the calls in that game, we disagree with them. At the end of the day, we still had a chance in that game. It's hard when those types of calls are . You're making plays and getting off the field on third down, and you get a penalty. And some of them were late. We're getting off the field, we're celebrating, and here comes the flag. It's out of our control. I think we're cursed when it comes to officiating right now. That's just my opinion on that. We can't speak too much on it. The NFL is waiting to fine us."
#Titans Jeffery Simmons says the team still had the chance to win this game the way they played in the second half, however it feels like the team is “cursed” with the calls against them pic.twitter.com/IVOPxKAW5j
— JT Ruhnke (@jt_ruhnke) November 17, 2024
The call against Brown wasn't the crew's lone miscue. Titans quarterback Will Levis hit a 51-yard touchdown to Calvin Ridley that was called back for a questionable illegal formation penalty. It was a momentum-eraser after Levis had thrown a 98-yard touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine just minutes earlier.
Elsewhere, rookie cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was not once, but twice whistled for illegal contact against superstar receiver Justin Jefferson that helped lead to separate Vikings touchdowns, and eliminated Titans turnovers. Titans rookie linebacker James Williams was also incorrectly called for a 15-yard horse collar tackle on special teams, that was, in fact, not a horse collar.
The NFL needs to address its officiating problem in the offseason.