With Week 16 of the 2022 season in full gear, there’s no nice way to put this: NFL officiating has been a complete and total bleepshow of late. Blown calls affect games, and there appears to be in-game confusion about everything from what a catch is to what constitutes roughing the passer. Whether the NFL will do anything about it in the offseason is a matter of conjecture, but we’re getting to the point where the zebras are struggling with the simple things.
With 7:30 left in the third quarter of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle quarterback Geno Smith threw a fourth-down pass to Colby Parkinson that fell short of the sticks. Not that it would have mattered if the play had created a first down, because it was coming back.
Eventually. First, referee Clete Blakeman had to figure out which team to penalize. At first, it was the Chiefs! Then, it was the Seahawks!
NFL Officiating: It’s not for everyone. pic.twitter.com/J1FVlvojvG
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) December 24, 2022
In the end, it was an offensive pass interference call on Seahawks receiver Penny Hart. We just had to wait an extra second for Blakeman to figure that out.
