What was up with the officiating in Week 6 of the NFL season? Was it in the script to make two unbeaten teams lose and have several bad calls go against them?
Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, but when you look at the full scope, one can only wonder if something is going on behind the scenes and why officiating was clearly under the microscope all Sunday long, and that's not including Monday Night Football between Dallas and the LA Chargers.
How does one define a bad call? The answer is quite simple. Does it have an impact towards the outcome of the game. Was it called late? Was there really an issue that warranted a flag? All of that is taken into consideration.
But what about the calls that were not called and were so blatantly obvious?
Let's take a look at three calls that were so egregious, they deserve further examination.
49ers screwed over with late-game flag
This was a stunner. 3rd-and-10 at Cleveland's 26 yard line with Tashaun Gipson Sr. being called for unnecessary roughness on Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore. What was Gipson really supposed to do?
That wasn't a headhunting shot as it was supposedly made out to be. What made it all the more painful is that it gave the Browns new life and ultimately, they went down the field and scored. The 49ers did have a chance to win at the end, but Jake Moody, the rookie kicker out of Michigan, missed the game-winning kick in Ohio.
Ouch. Now, the 49ers lost a game, and with Deebo Samuel hurt and Christian McCaffrey also limited, questions are rising with the Bay Area team.
But that was a bad call, and frankly, Niners fans should be upset. They should not have put themselves in that position and played better, but these types of calls impact the outcomes of games.
NY Giants no-call costs them another opportunity
What was that? How do the officials not recognize that Taron Johnson held up Darren Waller on the final play of Giants-Bills on national television? Had that been called, Tyrod Taylor and the Giants would've had another chance at victory.
Granted, the Giants didn't do themselves any favors throughout the game, but the Bills? They are very fortunate the whistle wasn't blown. Sadly for New York, there was no time for a make-up call.
Still, the fact that the whistle was not blown really ticked off a lot of fans, and the Giants had a chance to win the game, but lost out. Granted, the G-Men messed up in the red zone to end the first half and had they made amends there, it would not have come down to that last play.
Who knows?
A flop of the year for the Miami Dolphins
Can anyone fault Johnny Hekker for getting frustrated? The former Super Bowl champion got flagged because Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Cameron Goode decided to deliver a flop that would leave Willy the Whale howling with laughter.
Did that impact the outcome of the game? Nope, because the Dolphins were just a better team despite going down 14-0. But c'mon. You had to know that this was a flop and while fans weren't as outraged as they were with the other games, this had to be one of the wackiest calls of the week.
It's already been a rough season for the Panthers. They have not won a single game this year. Their first-round pick is in the hands of the Chicago, and it looks like the Bears could move on and take USC's Caleb Williams, even though his performance vs Notre Dame was largely putrid.
It's not looking great for Carolina, and the worst may be yet to come.
