Baker Mayfield Airs Grievances Against NFL Officials After MNF Debacle: ‘I’m Gonna Let Somebody Know’

Some quarterbacks won’t publicly name or call out NFL officials for fear of getting fined, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield is not one of them.

Following a disappointing 24-9 loss on Monday Night Football, during which more than one questionable call significantly impacted the game’s outcome, Mayfield went to the podium and criticized the referees, naming one of them.

“A third down defensive holding call that wasn’t called, and also I’m still pretty damn confused about the double review,” Mayfield said. “A lot of things in that game that were a little questionable. A lot of frustration at the end of that. It might be displaced onto John Hussey in the moment, but I work my ass off and I put a lot into this game, so when things I don’t seem are deemed fair, I’m gonna let somebody know.”

While Mayfield cited a few missed or blown calls, the “double review” he referenced occurred early in the fourth quarter on a fourth-down play where the officials initially ruled that Mayfield had completed a pass to tight end Cade Otton for a first down.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell challenged the play, not to see whether Otton had made the line-to-gain, but to determine whether Otton had caught the ball at all. Referee John Hussey returned from the replay screen to announce that the ruling of a catch was upheld. However, he then said that Otton had gone down short of the line-to-gain and took away the Buccaneers first down.

Mayfield and much of the television-watching audience were shocked, as Campbell’s challenge had nothing to do with the spot of the ball, and the official changed the ruling of a first down without a challenge.

The Buccaneers did get the ball back. So, the “double review” wasn’t one of the calls that altered the game. However, it does set a potentially ominous precedent. Like the NFL league office’s decision to take away a touchdown from the Lions last week against the Chiefs, it marks another example of the league overreaching its customary bounds in officiating on the field and what they see on replay.

When officials review calls, they are expected to focus only on the specific challenge to the play in question. They do not – or at least, have not- re-officiated the play based on new things they see when they go to review. If referees are going to start re-officiating entire plays when they go to review, that is definitely not in keeping with the letter or spirit of the challenge system as we’ve come to understand it.