The Seahawks will play the 49ers to kick off the NFL’s postseason action on Saturday, but the game won’t come without a bit of controversy before things start.
There’s no question that bad officiating led to the Seahawks‘ success against the Rams in their win-or-go-home matchup for week 18. There was a mixture of bad calls and missed calls that ultimately benefitted Seattle on their way to a win.
Bad calls happen. Officials are human and humans make mistakes. It is what it is. But, apparently, these calls were so egregious that, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, NFL officials are “under scrutiny” after the officiating crew’s poor performance in that game.
NFL officiating is under scrutiny after controversial calls from the playoff-shaping Seahawks-Rams game:https://t.co/YagmJBvlV6
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2023
That’s a pretty big deal and could impact the way games are officiated moving forward. Let’s go over what’s being reported, what caused all this and how things might move forward.
Wait, so the league is unhappy with officials right now?
Yes, it seems to be so. According to ESPN, multiple league executives and coaches believe the NFL needs to be more careful in how it chooses and trains officials moving forward.
“After multiple controversial officiating decisions in Sunday’s playoff-shaping game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, multiple executives and coaches said the NFL needs to reevaluate how it chooses and trains its officiating staff for future seasons.”
It sounds like this will almost certainly be a point of discussion this offseason.
Why is it such a big deal right now?
This seems to be something that has been brewing for some time, but it all came to a head in week 18 because of how crucial that game was.
Ultimately, the official’s poor job from the Seahawks game impacted the future of two different teams. Not only did it help send the Seahawks to the playoffs, but it also kept the Lions out of the playoffs after they beat the Green Bay Packers.
The Rams, Lions and the NFL’s competition committee were reportedly bothered by the job officials did.
Are those the only parties concerned?
That doesn’t seem to be the case. Folks from around the league are bothered by the officiating performances week to week, in general. This sentiment is shared around the league, per Schefter’s reporting.
One executive quoted in the story said there’s a “groundswell of unhappiness” with the officiating overall.
“Another team executive not associated with either the Rams or Lions told ESPN there is ‘a real groundswell of unhappiness with officiating that is much deeper than I’ve seen and frankly, I haven’t seen in this league in years.’,”
What are the calls in question here?
There was a missed penalty after DK Metcalf poked his finger in Jalen Ramsey’s facemask.
Jalen Ramsey was flagged for the hit on Geno Smith out of bounds, DK Metcalf came in and shoved Ramsey's facemask and Ramsey flopped LMAOOOOO pic.twitter.com/ouN8IksxdO
— 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 @𝗙𝗧𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱𝟳 (@FTBeard7) January 9, 2023
There was also a missed taunting call on Quandre Diggs after he pointed at the Rams’ sideline following an interception that should’ve pushed Seattle back another 15 yards, ultimately keeping them out of field goal range.
Baker picked pic.twitter.com/ANXaKktzQo
— alex (@highlghtheaven) January 9, 2023
There’s also the running into the kicker penalty the Rams got that extended the Seahawks’ drive after someone was blocked into punter Michael Dickson.
"This was not roughing the kicker." #NFL rules expert @DeanBlandino explains what happened in the #Rams vs. #Seahawks game pic.twitter.com/CYF7kaCbih
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 9, 2023
Just lots of questionable calls all around.
So what happens now?
Nothing in the immediate future. The Seahawks have obviously moved on and will play the 49ers on Saturday.
But moving forward into the future, you can be sure that the way the game is officiated and — more specifically — who officiates the game will be looked at in closer depth this offseason.
It’s pretty clear the league wants some changes here. They’ll be coming soon.
