![]() The debatable infraction happens, but if it didn’t come with the automatic first down, the Eagles would still have a chance at winning the game. ![]() Should an away-from-the-play, illegal hands to the face call give the offense a fresh set of downs on a third-and-20 screen pass that goes for 5 yards? How could anyone possibly say yes to this? With all the subjectivity in the rulebook, our best shot at limiting the officials’ impact on the game is to make their penalties literally have less impactful, and this is a great place to start. While the primary goal should always be accuracy of calls, we are never going to achieve perfection. The biggest complaints about officiating come on pass interference, roughing the passer, and defensive holding-all extremely subjective penalties that carry the automatic first down designation. The problem is that we are simply giving officials way too much power on very subjective penalties. That’s never going to change-even if it should. ![]() We know the NFL wants more offense and higher-scoring games. The biggest problem isn’t equivalence, though. Offensive holding, pass interference, or any personal foul doesn’t have the same impact on the offense that it does on the defense. There are essentially only two penalties that come with a loss of down-the opposite of an automatic first down: intentional grounding and illegal forward pass. Meanwhile, when the offense gets penalized, there is not the same focus on altering the downs. If you want to keep automatic first downs on personal foul penalties, I won’t push back there. There are a ton of defensive penalties that come with an automatic first down, and the designation almost feels random: any personal foul penalty, defensive holding, illegal contact, pass interference, illegal hands to the face, tripping. A fresh set of downs is far more valuable than the 5 yards, and there’s little rationale to it. Automatic first downs may be the dumbest rule in the NFL rulebook because it gives officiating way too much power. The lesser-talked-about problem with this play is that it comes with an automatic first down. JwCi4laT56- JosinaAnderson February 13, 2023 ![]() With only one timeout for the Eagles, the Chiefs were able to run most of the remaining clock out and kick the game-winning field goal with just eight seconds remaining. A defensive holding on the Eagles gave the Chiefs a fresh set of downs. That never happened because a very late flag came in. With just 1:54 left, the Chiefs would have to settle for a 32-yard field goal and give the ball back to the Eagles with plenty of time-and one timeout-to either tie or win the game. With the game tied and inside the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes tried to loft a deep pass for JuJu Smith-Schuster to run under, but the ball was overthrown and fell incomplete. If you didn’t see it, the controversy surrounds a third-and-8 play for the Kansas City Chiefs. At this point, it almost seems inevitable that at least one call or non-call will be hotly debated when the clock strikes zero, but for it to happen on the biggest stage and essentially end the game is a particularly disastrous outcomes for the NFL-and the Philadelphia Eagles. No matter what commissioner Roger Goodell says, officiating continues to be inconsistent and incredibly impactful on the game of football. It comes as little surprise that Super Bowl 57 was mired in an officiating controversy.
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