The NFL has an officiating problem

By Trevor Speetzen January 02, 2025 04:21 GMT+4 min read

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

Referee’s in the NFL have been heavily scrutinized in the past, but this year has been taken to a whole new level. Some referees like Brad Allen, Ronald Tolbert, Shawn Smith and Clete Blakeman have become household names and for the wrong reasons.

Some referees have become recognizable because it seems like they’re on TV more often than the players and that’s because it seems like they throw a penalty every two plays.

This season has been even more interesting because of one kind of play NFL refs have been cracking down on this year: the run-pass-option, also known as an RPO.

On every RPO play, the offensive lineman go down the field in order to block for the running back. However, quarterbacks will take the pass option during this kind of play and the lineman will still head down the field.

In the past this hasn’t been an issue, but in 2024 referee’s are calling illegal man downfield penalties on teams who run this play. As a result, drives are stalled and referee’s are on television more often than players.

It’s not only that, but the inconsistency this season that NFL referees have shown throughout the year. In the Denver Broncos-Cincinnati Bengals game this year, Denver had seven penalties compared to Cincinnati’s three.

It can be argued that Denver is a more penalized team, but throughout the game there were numerous missed holding calls and illegal contact calls on the Bengals.

The Broncos were always caught with minor penalties while Cincy were never called for their egregious penalties.

While it’s only a conspiracy, fans believe that referee’s favored the Bengals to make the playoffs because the NFL wants to see Joe Burrow in the postseason instead of rookie Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos.

In Washington’s matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, there were a total of 17 penalties called in the game. While a lot of them were legit, there were just as many that had fans scratching their heads.

For example, a late defensive pass interference call on the Commanders put the Falcons in field goal range that nearly won them the game. While the penalty was legit, the type of penalty is in question.

The penalty in question looked more like a defensive hold, a five-yard penalty, instead of defensive pass interference, a spot-foul penalty.

Not only is their inconsistency, but refs are now getting the penalties mixed up. Another issue occurred during the week 17 Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers matchup.

Matt Lefleur was not being granted a timeout by the officials during the end of the first half. Lefleur was eventually granted the timeout, but he had to scream in the ref's face in order to get it.

That same game also had a phantom offside call on Packer player Edgerrin Cooper that had a direct impact on the outcome of the game.

NFL officiating is at an all-time low and some fans expect foul play. If it’s not foul play then NFL referees are simply bad at their job, which is much worse.