Just when you thought NFL officiating couldn’t get any worse, it truly and spectacularly does.
Early in the second quarter of the Dolphins game against the Baltimore Ravens on Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football, and long before the game got out of hand, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa completed a deep pass to Jaylen Waddle.
Or, so it seemed.
Before the Dolphins could race down the field to capitalize on their huge gain, an official threw a flag on Miami running back Ollie Gordon II for tripping. The only problem? Gordon didn’t trip anyone.
As you can tell from the replay, Gordon stumbled before throwing a completely legal block. The only person tripping on this play was the referee.
The horrendous error not only cost Miami 15 yards but also negated Waddle’s huge gain and significantly impacted the outcome of the game.
The errant call earned Gordon a hot reception on the sidelines, as Dolphins running backs coach Eric Studesville greeted him with an undeserved expletive-laced tirade.
“Terry, do you mind hopping in here? I didn’t see his leg whip or any trip at all,” Kirk Herbstreit asked rules analyst Terry McAulay.
“Now Kirk, that’s not a foul,” McAulay, a former NFL official, replied. “He gets him with the lower part of his rear end, torso, or whatever. He doesn’t raise his leg and impede or obstruct the opponent. It’s an incorrect call.”
To add injury to the insult, Gordon suffered an ankle injury later in the game while blocking near the sideline. He did not return to the game.
The play kept it a one-score game until quarterback Lamar Jackson hit his stride in the second half, and Baltimore eventually pulled away.
It’s unclear why the NFL didn’t use replay assist to overturn the obviously incorrect call.
The NFL has seen several instances of comically bad officiating this year. Well, it would be comical, except no one is laughing.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.